Up in Smoke

Two legalization backers get sentenced for their Liberty Bell marijuana rallies.

by Cory Frolik

Edward Forchion and Patrick Duff pretty much figured John Q. Law wouldn't be happy with them for lighting a joint near the Liberty Bell—not once, but thrice.

Turns out, they were right.

Last week, U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Arnold Rapoport sentenced Duff and Forchion—aka N.J. Weedman—to a year's probation and fined them $150 for their smoke-outs. The pair is also barred from Independence Mall and will be subject to random drug testing, a prospect that leaves Forchion fearing the worst is yet to come.

"Pencil me in jail," says Forchion, who has no designs on passing any drug screening anytime soon. "When they gave me probation, what they really gave me was jail time."

Forchion and Duff had been arguing that, as Rastafarians, they were entitled to smoke marijuana as a "sacrament." Further, as they were exercising their right to religious expression, they couldn't be prohibited from smoking near the Liberty Bell since the 1993 Religious Freedom Act holds that Rastafarians can't be persecuted for using marijuana on federal property [Fine Print, "What's His Kryptonite?" Morris Bracy IV, March 25, 2004].

Forchion and Duff took those arguments to the federal courthouse at Sixth and Market streets, along with their pro-bono attorney, Michael Coard, for a hearing last Wednesday.

There, Forchion—a former truck driver turned marijuana-legalization activist who ran for a U.S. House seat in New Jersey—was asked to verify that he is in fact a Rastafarian. The defense then presented videotapes of the pair's Liberty Bell visits which depict Duff attacking the "war on drugs" through a bullhorn. After praying together, Forchion and Duff are shown sparking a joint.

The two were cleared on charges of hindering governmental functions and disturbing the peace. However, Rapoport found them both guilty of drug possession. They had to return to court last Friday for a sentencing hearing at which Forchion denounced both the American government for not understanding Rastafarians and the judge for obeying fundamentally "Christian laws."

"If we'd have paid the citation, we'd be fine," says Duff, who maintained they now face steeper sentences because they had the audacity to publicly question the government. Duff says they plan to appeal the sentence to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. He predicts that while their case might seem small for the time being, "it's going to be huge."