BELFAST, Maine — The Waldo County courthouse appeared to be bursting at the seams Friday morning with medical marijuana growers and activists who came out to support two of their own — Randy and Margot Hayes, a Montville couple facing charges of felony drug trafficking and misdemeanor marijuana cultivation.
The Hayeses, whose 57 medical marijuana plants were seized by agents of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency in August, pleaded not guilty in their initial appearance before Judge Patricia Worth at Waldo County Unified Court.
The judge expressed displeasure with some supporters who crowded into the courtroom during the brief hearing — one man’s phone rang, and others were talking during proceedings.
“I have noticed that the people who came with the Hayeses today are not following court directives,” Worth said shortly before ejecting several from the room. “It’s not helpful to the Hayeses at all. … It’s a surprise to me to see people behaving badly. We haven’t had so much of this in the court in years.”
However, longtime medical marijuana growers and activists such as Will Neils of Appleton and G.W. Martin of Montville said that it was important for the group to make a show of force in the court.
“I always say the No. 1 thief of marijuana in the state of Maine is mold, and law enforcement is No. 2,” Martin said. “The backbone of the medical marijuana industry is behind Mr. Hayes.”
Neils, who described the 30 or so people in the courthouse as “our local redneck caregivers,” said that police have an uneasy relationship with smaller, legal growers. He described the Hayeses, who each have a card identifying them as medical marijuana patients, as such growers.
“[Law enforcement officials] are preying on the people who are some of the most isolated, weak, poor, rural patients. These are our local redneck caregivers,” he said. “Support is crucial. You need the emotional support. You need to know you’re not alone. We have to make sure the people who are being targeted by the government are not alone.”
Waldo County Assistant District Attorney Neil McLean told the judge that Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agents spotted the Hayeses’ marijuana plants from the road outside their home.
“The officers saw there was insufficient enclosure and noticed two other individuals smoking marijuana,” he said, adding that another person who came to the property told police that he purchased marijuana from the Hayeses.
The officers executed a search warrant and seized 11 pounds of marijuana from the property. Efforts on Friday to learn more details about the incident from the Maine DEA were not immediately successful.
But Portland-based defense attorney Chris McCabe told the judge that under the state’s Medical Use of Marijuana Act, a patient with a valid medical marijuana card is allowed to have up to 8 pounds of the substance, meaning that together, the couple could have legally had up to 16 pounds on their property. He also disputed the agents’ finding that the Hayeses’ fence was insufficient.
“We have confusion around what is allowed,” he said. “In the meantime, we have criminal charges to deal with and a raided life.”
Worth set bail for the couple at $500 unsecured each, with the condition that they cannot use or possess illegal drugs. They are subject to search and testing only under articulable suspicion, she specified.
After the initial appearance, Randy Hayes said he and his wife also provide space for five other medical marijuana patients to grow their own plants on his property, which he calls Five Star Pharm. Recently he gave medical marijuana to veterans on Veterans Day, as long as they had their medical marijuana cards.
“We are philanthropic,” he said. “We give marijuana away.”
McCabe said that he believes the charges against his clients are part of a broader matter. Maine’s medical marijuana caregivers are regulated by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, but it seems to his clients that the department’s regulations in fact were harshly enforced by DEA agents last August.
“It’s a civil law issue,” McCabe said. “This is a legislative issue at its core. There’s an incredibly gray area around when you can search, and when you can’t. There’s a lack of clarity.”