Pubdate: Fri, 12 Sep 2014
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2014 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Author: Dan Nakaso
Page: A17

PRISON PAU, PAKALOLO CHAMPION HOT FOR POT

Roger Christie Enters a Halfway House As His Term Ends, and He Plans a
Federal Appeal

Marijuana ministry advocate Roger Christie emerged from four years in
federal custody Thursday and said he's looking forward to his first
hit of marijuana - "when I'm legally allowed to do so."

"I want to juice it, I want to eat it, I want to wear it," Christie
said in a brief interview before checking into an Iwilei halfway house
called Mahoney Hale, where he will stay until his Nov. 14 "expiration
of sentence date." Then Christie will be on four years of federal
probation and supervised release.

The terms of Christie's sentence allow him to restart his Hilo
ministry. But he is barred from using cannabis as a "sacrament" - or
from being around people who possess marijuana, said Jeff Davis,
Christie's friend and a Libertarian candidate for Hawaii governor.

Christie, 65, and his wife, Sherryanne Christie, ran the now-defunct
Hilo marijuana ministry called the Hawaii Cannabis Ministry. In July
2010 he was arrested on a drug-trafficking indictment and in September
2013 pleaded guilty to federal charges of marijuana trafficking and
failing to file tax returns.

Christie gave two brief media interviews before turning himself in to
Mahoney Hale. Former Honolulu Councilman Tom Berg, a Christie
supporter who is now running for the state House as a Libertarian
representing Ewa Beach-West Loch Estates, took video of the interviews
and showed the footage to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, which relied
on the videotape for Christie's comments.

On Thursday, Christie grinned as he held up a copy of the morning's
Star-Advertiser that featured a story on his release under the
headline "Pot advocate moving to halfway house," and said he was happy
to once again breathe "the fresh air."

In all, Christie said he was held in federal custody for "over 50
months - five-zero months" for "doing my righteous meaningful work
that I was put on Earth to do."

He said he was denied bail eight times, and called the case against
him "a fraud."

Federal prosecutors argued that Christie's ministry was a front to
mask his marijuana enterprise.

Sherryanne Christie acknowledged she was an "intermediate" leader in
the ministry and pleaded guilty to a lesser marijuana trafficking charge.

On Thursday, Roger Christie emerged from the Federal Detention Center
where he was greeted by Berg and Davis, who said Christie's case "was
not a prosecution. It was a persecution."

Berg said he picked up Christie and drove him to Mahoney Hale because
"I support everyone who's fighting for justice and the capacity to
liberate this herb from persecution and the efforts to regulate
cannabis like wine."

Davis said Christie plans to appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals and will argue that wiretaps used against him should not have
been approved - and that marijuana is improperly included in federal
guidelines as a Schedule 1 controlled substance along with "the most
dangerous drugs" that have "no currently accepted medical use and a
high potential for abuse," according to the Drug Enforcement
Administration.

By comparison, Schedule II drugs that have "less abuse potential than
Schedule 1 drugs" include cocaine, methamphetamine and oxycodone,
according to the DEA.

While he proceeds with his appeal, Christie said he "is stuck and
can't leave" Mahoney Hale for seven days.

His attorney, Thomas Otake, said Christie eventually will be allowed
out during the day but will have to Roger Christie, left, with his
press liaison, Jeff Davis, was all smiles Thursday after being
released from prison in Honolulu. The ordained minister and marijuana
advocate served four years on drug and tax convictions. return each
night.

"It's a transitional housing place where people who have been in
custody are given an opportunity to transition back to society," Otake
said. "He'll be allowed to work and allowed to leave to see family at
times."

In the meantime, Christie is following news of the lava flow from
Kilauea Volcano that on Thursday was less than a half-mile from the
Kaohe Homesteads subdivision boundary, where he has a farm.

"It's a great day to be released," Christie said. "Hopefully, Pele
will avoid our farm."
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MAP posted-by: Matt