STATE LAW LACKS HERB CLAUSE

Rastafarian set to be tried on 'drug' charges in Craig County.

Possession of the herbs mullein and rosemary may mean that a Vermont man
will serve time for being under the influence of an intoxicating substance
in a case involving an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper in Craig County.

The herbs were initially misidentified by the trooper as marijuana, George
Singleton of Putney, Vt., said.

He is charged with driving while under the influence of intoxicants and
failure to display a current license tag. Both are misdemeanors.

Craig County District Attorney Gene Haynes said a blood test that Singleton
took for common narcotics such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine and
methamphetamine came up negative. In filing the charges, however, he said he
is relying on OHP Trooper Alvin Lavender's account of the arrest.

"It is an unusual case because of the fact that we don't have proof of any
illegal substance. But . . . we're continuing to pursue it because we feel
he was under some type of influence that rendered him a danger on the
roadway," Haynes said.

Singleton, who is a Rastafarian, said Thursday that he believes his looks
dictated his initial traffic stop. He wears his hair in waistlong
dreadlocks.

He said he has been stopped before in other states because of his looks. "I
fit all the drug (courier) profiles," he said.

Singleton, 49, spent 25 days in the Craig County jail following his Feb. 27
traffic stop on the Will Rogers Turnpike because he could not come up with
the $850 bail.

He said that when he was pulled over by Lavender, he was first told that he
had been speeding, then that he had been swerving in traffic lanes. However,
he has never received a traffic ticket or been charged with any traffic
offense other than the tag violation.

Singleton initially was charged with being under the influence of a
controlled substance, but that charge was amended to being under the
influence of an intoxicant when his blood test came back negative.

"I was humiliatingly taken into the general hospital of Craig County with my
arms handcuffed behind my back," he said.

Singleton, who has a bachelor of science degree in biology from the
University of Chicago and has studied herbology, said the only blood test
that came back positive was for tuberculosis. He told the trooper that he
uses the mullein and rosemary to make a tea to help with his illness, he
said.

Rosemary is "an evergreen herb of the mint family . . . used in perfumes, in
cooking, etc.," and mullein is "any of the genus of tall plants of the
figwort family, with spikes of yellow, lavender or white flowers," according
to Webster's New World College Dictionary.

Singleton said the late-model Volkswagen van he was driving had current
registration but that the registration papers were being processed during
his trip.

Singleton is the executive director of the Hope LA/USA Project, which is an
effort to teach biological gardening in urban settings.

He teaches inner-city children the nutritional benefits of a healthy
lifestyle, which include staying away from illegal drugs.

"It's totally crazy," Singleton said about the case. "They should have just
dropped it."

A story about Singleton's arrest in the Brattleboro (Vt.) Reformer has
generated several editorials and letters to the editor.

An editorial by Doug Bruce said, "Oklahoma has one of those lovely,
bust-the-Bill-of- Rights, `zero-tolerance' drug laws, and anyone can lose
his or her freedom because of mere suspicion."

Jim Austin wrote that Singleton "may have thought he had entered a time
warp. He was back in the '30s where to be black was to be subjugated. Where
to be black was a crime if the law was having a slow day. Oklahoma, where
driving while black and having the temerity to question officials of the
state would garner a stint in the county lockup."

Singleton goes to trial Thursday.

Rik Espinosa can be reached at 581-8313.

Checked-by: Don Beck