Christopher Younger lacked a suit, a tie and a law degree as he strode into Pittsburgh Municipal Court, preparing to represent himself against charges that he illegally sold marijuana at his Pittsburgh vape shops.
The 42-year-old Hippie Town store owner sported a white T-shirt and blue sweatpants, his white socks peeking out above low-top black sneakers. On one ankle, Younger wore a black electronic monitoring device — a condition in one of several ongoing criminal court cases. He lugged a large satchel overflowing with his handwritten notes about Pennsylvania and federal law.
During a hearing that stretched three hours, the Wilkinsburg man — sometimes laughing, sometimes shouting — verbally dueled with a prosecutor and District Judge Xander Orenstein.
When Younger raised his voice — “You don’t have jurisdiction right now!” he repeatedly shouted at Orenstein — sheriff’s deputies flanked him.
Younger argued that the type of cannabis he sells at his shops Downtown and on Pittsburgh’s North Side is legal. Pittsburgh police say crime lab tests prove otherwise.
THC-A, which Younger said he sells through Hippie Town, does not have mind-altering qualities when consumed in an unprocessed form, according to the Hanley Center, a Florida group that treats substance abuse