HEMPSTOCK CZAR SHOULD LISTEN TO JUDGE'S ORDER

It might seem a bit incongruous to expect the organizer of a pro- marijuana
festival to live completely within the law.

But Don Christen, the founding organizer of Hempstock, could at least
pretend that judges and courts matter to him.

To start, Christen should stop flouting the court by ignoring an order
preventing him from organizing, promoting or holding Hempstock XII, which
is scheduled to begin Thursday.

Despite that court order, Christen says his four-day festival in Starks
will go on.

Earlier this week, Somerset County Superior Court Justice Joseph M. Jabar
ruled that Christen and his pro-marijuana group, Maine Vocals, were in
contempt of court for organizing and promoting an event that could violate
Starks' mass gathering ordinance.

Jabar also denied their bid to overturn the Starks Planning Board's refusal
to approve a mass gathering permit for Hempstock.

Minutes after Jabar issued his rulings, which came at the end of a
five-hour hearing at Somerset County Superior Court, Christen pretty much
told the judge what he could do with his decisions.

"Oh, we're still going to hold Hempstock," a defiant Christen told a reporter.

This is the kind of belligerence and disregard for laws that have
characterized Christen's behavior over the years.

He continues to thumb his nose at the court and at Starks' ordinances.

Last year, Starks officials beefed up the town's mass-gathering rules in an
effort to gain better control over the crowds at certain activities - most
notably, Hempstock.

The new ordinance requires that a permit be obtained for events at which
750 people or more are expected to gather for at least six hours.

The old rule required permits for gatherings of at least 2,000 people that
were expected to last 12 hours or more.

In the past, Hempstock has drawn as many as 7,000 people in a day.

In court on Thursday, Christen's lawyer said his client had come up with a
plan that would satisfy the ordinance. That plan calls for allowing only
700 campers to stay over at the festival site for the length of the
festival. They would be issued special wrist bracelets.

Christen would then admit as many as 3,800 people before the start of each
of the five-hour concerts being held twice each day.

In between the concerts, Christen would have everyone except the 700
campers leave. And after a break of an hour or two, 3,800 people would be
let back in and the music would resume.

Understandably, Jabar said he doubted that Christen would be able to get
thousands of people to leave between shows.

Thus, the judge told Christen that Hempstock XII would violate Starks'
ordinance. Jabar reaffirmed the court's order that Christen not hold the
pro-pot festival.

Jabar continued the case for a week to see if Christen adheres to the
order. If he proceeds with Hempstock XII, Christen will be in blatant
violation of that order.

Jabar will then decide Christen's punishment.

And in the end, we fear, the nonsense will only continue.