When Gerrit Cain, Jennifer Copeland and Patrick Head handed out hemp pretzels and energy bars in front of the Syracuse Public Safety Building last December, an Onondaga County Sheriff arrested the three on unlawful possession of marijuana.

Three months later, the trio and their lawyers anticipate that the case against them will be dropped.

Craig Schlanger, Copeland’s attorney, said the Onondaga County District Attorney is likely to dismiss the case because of a lack of evidence. Initial field tests of the food revealed traces of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the substance that makes marijuana hallucinogenic. Because field tests cannot be entered as evidence in a trial, the food had to undergo additional police lab testing. The second test found no presence of THC.

“He’s got nothing to go on so he really can’t object to dismissing,” Schlanger said.

Cain, a junior at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Head, a junior at Syracuse University; and Copeland, a Syracuse resident, were handing out the food as part of an organized protest against federal regulations prohibiting edible hemp. Similar protests were held in 70 other cities across the country, but Cain, Copeland and Head were the only three arrested anywhere in connection with the protests, Head said.

“I think it was probably an overreaction at the very least and I think that some degree of ignorance may have been involved as well,” Schlanger said. “Just looking at these hemp products and coming to the conclusion that there’s something illegal about them isn’t very well-educated.”

Director of Legal Services Gary Sommer, who is representing Cain and Head, said he is not worried about the charges against the three.

“We were never too concerned about it,” he said. “I think they should have never been charged in the first place.”

The case was supposed to have gone to court Feb. 28, but was dismissed until the end of March for administrative reasons. If convicted, Cain, Copeland and Head could face a $100 fine, Schlanger said. He also said the three indicated that they might want to file civil charges against the Onondaga County Sheriff’s office because of the arrest, but they haven’t discussed the possibilities in great detail.

The protesting was organized as a function of the SU chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Head said. He also said food containing hemp should not be outlawed because it has nutritional value.

“It’s so good for you and there’s no logical reason why it should be illegal,” he said.

Cain agreed, and argued the case should not have gone to court because the food cannot make a person who eats it react adversely.

“It’s such a farce,” he said. “You’d have to eat boxes and boxes of these products in order to even get a slight buzz off of them.”

Published on March 3, 2002 at 12:00 pm