POT ACTIVIST HAS NO LUCK GETTING ARRESTED

Portland, Maine - A pot activist couldn't get arrested if he wanted to. And
he wants to. Michael Dee stood on a sidewalk Wednesday holding a marijuana
plant and yelling at motorists to notify police. Two officers told him not
to block traffic but they didn't arrest him, he said.

Dee, who has flooded the courts with so many legal documents that a judge
ordered him to stop, wants to be prosecuted so he will have legal standing
to challenge state and federal marijuana laws.

His plan Thursday was to walk from Morrill's Corner into downtown Portland
to confront Police Chief Michael Chitwood after the officers declined to
haul him away.

But his protest came to an abrupt end.

Dee said his plant was beginning to wilt, so he went into a store to buy
some bottled water. He left the plant outside to avoid any hassles inside
the store, but it was not there when he returned.

''I come back out wasn't very long and my plant was gone. So that ruined my
whole day,'' Dee said.

Police Chief Michael Chitwood, who opposes a proposal on Tuesday's state
referendum ballot to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes, offered an
explanation for why the officers didn't arrest Dee on the spot.

''Maybe he should get a bigger plant,'' the chief said.

In Maine, it is a civil infraction not a criminal offense to possess an
ounce-and-a-quarter of marijuana or less. Whether to issue a summons to
appear in court is up to the officer, Chitwood said.