In January, 2009, Andrew was arrested for holding a plant in his hand. He told government people and the media in advance that he would hold a bud of marijuana in his hand in public to demonstrate the violence inherent in the "war on drugs." Andrew not only did not ingest that marijuana, but does not ingest marijuana as a rule in his life. The police reduced their charge from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class B even before they released him from the police station a couple hours later.
Andrew attended the government people's rial for him and made moral and constitutional arguments for the right to hold a plant in one's hands, but the judge did not want to hear it. He found Andrew guilty and sentenced him to a US$350.00 fine with a 20% penalty assessment (for a total of US$420.00), but Andrew refused to pay. The judge suggested community service as a penalty, but Andrew told the judge that he would volunteer to serve his community on his own time, not on the court's demand.
On June 2, Andrew and ~15 supporters walked from Keene to Westmoreland where he turned himself into the jail to serve 9 days for his "crime." He was released on June 10 and was awarded his balls that night.