Maine Vocals

The Maine Vocals primary objectives:
The Maine Vocals is Maine's Cannabis Action Network for the Re-Legalization of Cannabis, Hemp/Marijuana.


What the Maine Vocals wants
The Maine vocals are working togethert towards the end of cannabis phohibiton and its criminalization via the use of political action,informational pamphlets, petitions, letter writing and by by many other ways including educating many as to the folly of prohibition and enlightening the public to the aspect of medical marijuana which enabled Maine citizens to make an informed decision about medical marijuana when it came time to vote on an medical marijuana initiative in 1999. Citizens were educated and ready to pass the citizens initiative when presented to them and did so by over 63% of the voters in Maine in great part to the work done by the Maine Voclas.


What Maine Vocals believes

• That marijuana is not a drug.
• Marijuana has medical value that in some cases exceeds that of addictive and deadly pharmaceuticals.
• People should not be labeled a criminal because of marijuana use/sale or possession.

What the Maine Vocals does
Aside from petition drives and public education Maine vocals has many anti-prohibition festivals known for there lax ,they started there festivals with Hempstock in the start of 1991. Harvest Festival started a couple of years later in 1994, both at Harry Brown's Farm in Starks Maine. Then Maine Vocals built Freedom Festival a few years later. All Festivals are held as fundraisers to finance there endeavors for ending prohibition. These festivals continue today, with the addition of Somerset County Jam Fest and Webejammin Fest which were started in Norridgewock at the Red Barn Rd. location. Besides the original funding for starting and running the Maine Vocals, which was funded with money from marijuana growing in those years, these festivals have solely supported there work here in Maine.


Where Maine Vocals comes from
MAINE VOCALS was started in late 1989 to end marijuana prohibition,new englanders were becoming tired of being criminals for the simple fact that they grew/sold marijuana. In the founders own words:

I read the Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer, which enlightened me as to all the other reasons for re-legalizing marijuana, which is actually Cannabis- Hemp, Marijuana. This book really blew our minds as to the real reasons for the prohibition of Cannabis, and made all who read it very aware that we were actually getting screwed by our government and the Corporations that benefited from its ban all for their profits and financial gains at the peoples expense. So we immediately went into a different mode for legalization and it was to re-legalize Cannabis-Hemp Marijuana for medicinal use, to bring back the hemp industry, and free ourselves from the oppression of the ridiculous laws that make us criminals for nothing other than greed and corruption at the highest levels of government and business.

Persecution of Maine vocals by law enforcement
During the years of operation, Maine Vocals have been harassed by the police many times at there festivals, and a couple of times in 2003 and 2004 they obtained warrants to come onto the property to see if Maine Vocals were violating the Towns Mass Gathering Ordinance for having too many people on the site. When they came to count the the crowd was told to get up and move around and not stay in one place which made it impossible for the cops to count the people. So they left in defeat, and after a couple of years of that and not being able to say that we were in violation of the ordinance, they were not able to get warrants to search since that time. The cops have at times flooded the roads leading to the Farm with cruisers stopping many in hopes to scare off the people, but the people have kept on coming much to the dismay of the authorities who want to stop this form of activism and mission of re-legalization. They have not flooded the roads with cruisers/cops for some years now as we have a smaller crowd coming but is at capacity for Hempstock and Harvest Fest, with the other shows catching up to them with larger crowds each year and all will be at capacity before long.

In 2004 Maine vocals founder Donnie christian was charged with 2 trafficking charges and cultivation, which they aggravated because of a former marijuana bust, The marijuana was legally growing and in possession of a person with care giver status for a medical marijuana patients. This case is now on its way to the Supreme Court of Maine, which many are confident that it will prevail. the case was won by getting a not guilty verdict for the trafficking charges but the defendant had to admitted to growing the marijuana legally but the jury never considered the legal paperwork, which the law court will. Meanwhile Donny was once again busted for the same thing, this time with less plants and with different patients legal paperwork, which a judge has since determined that the medical paperwork was indeed OK and "the best good faith effort I could offer with the law as hard to follow as it is."

How to contact Maine vocals:
maine vocals@msn.com
Don Christen
Founder, Maine Vocals
207.696.4444