The Smoke Down Prohibition march and rally last June 30 in Philadelphia resulted in nine busts, including well-known local marijuana reformer Chris Goldstein.
The main protest takes place in Independence Park at the Liberty Bell where some attendees light up at 4:20. Goldstein told CelebStoner that he was charged with "misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance on National Park property," that "all of the citations were misdemeanors" and that no one was "taken into physical custody."
Updates: Two months later, Goldstein was cited again for smoking marijuana in the same location.
Rather than allow him to pay fines for the two charges, Goldstein was requited to go to trial, which he did on Mar. 23. Goldstein sent th following statement to the media after his court appearance:
"Judge Jacob Hart handed down the following sentence to me today: two years supervised probation, $3,000 fine to be paid within 30 days and a ban from 100 feet of Independence Hall National Historic Park during any future marijuana demonstration. My probation officer noted it was the harshest sentence for misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance on federal land he's ever seen. This will require me to stay within New Jersey and submit to drug testing. Judge Hart said he considered strongly incarcerating me for 30 days and would not hesitate to send me to prison for any violation of probation. His outrage was at certain tweets and my persistent, peaceful demonstration at the park in 2013."
