Patrons of Music Festival in Starks, Maine, Face Drug Charges

By Brian Cole

Published on June 20, 2006

Farmingham police officer Brian Ross pulled over a station wagon with a loud exhaust and smelled a strong scent of marijuana as he approached the vehicle. According to police, the driver, Trisha Clough, 19, consented to a search and conceded that she had a small amount of marijuana in her purse, but nothing more. Ross was then given permission to search the glove box where he found $800.

Ross said that he received permission to search the rest of the vehicle and subsequently found two, two-foot tall pot plants, more marijuana, narcotics, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and scales, as well as several boxes of drug paraphernalia.

The suspects were attending the two day music festival, Freedom Fest, sponsored by the Maine Vocals, a group that supports marijuana legalization.

Three occupants in the vehicle have been charged with drug offenses, including a misdemeanor charge of marijuana cultivation, a felony possession of a scheduled drug and a class C felony of trafficking a scheduled drug.

A 15-year-old girl was also in the vehicle.