Pubdate: Wed, 07 Apr 2010
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2010 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author: Sam Wood

'NJ WEEDMAN' WELCOMES HIS ARREST ON MARIJUANA CHARGES

Ed Forchion doesn't deny it. There was a pound of  marijuana - 
"high-grade California Kush" - in the trunk  of his rent-a-wreck when 
he was stopped in Mount Holly  on Thursday night by a state trooper.

The dreadlocked Rastafarian, better known as "NJ  Weedman," who ran 
unsuccessfully for New Jersey  governor and U.S. and state 
representative on the  Marijuana Party ticket, was released from the 
Burlington County jail on Tuesday after posting $50,000  bail on drug 
possession and distribution charges.

He did not intend to be arrested, said Forchion, 45.  "But now that 
I've been charged, it feels like destiny.  That's exactly what I wanted to do."

Forchion, who moved from Browns Mills two years ago to  open a 
medical-marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles  called the Liberty Bell 
Temple, said he returned to  South Jersey last week "to spend a 
little time in the  courts."

Forchion has been a vocal critic of the New Jersey law,  passed in 
January, that legalized marijuana use by  patients with cancer, AIDS, 
glaucoma and other  debilitating diseases.

"I was coming home on a mission to file some paperwork  and challenge 
it," Forchion said on Tuesday.

The criminal statute in New Jersey states that  marijuana has no 
medicinal value. The new measure does  recognize a medical use for 
the drug, but only gives "a  certain class of people" permission to 
use it, he said.

Forchion said the new law violates the equal protection  clause of 
the 14th Amendment.

His arrest gives him the opportunity to take his stand  to the New 
Jersey courts, he said.

"I'm going to fight," Forchion said, acknowledging that  he could be 
sentenced to seven years in prison if  convicted. "I'm not afraid to 
go to jail. I think I can  win."

Forchion was driving a rented 2001 Pontiac Grand Am  Thursday after 
10 p.m. when he pulled up to a stop  light on Route 38. He said he 
had been visiting his  children in Burlington County and was headed 
to Camden  County, where he planned to stay with other relatives.

A trooper who pulled alongside Forchion said the  Pontiac rolled into 
the intersection before the light  turned green, said Sgt. Steve 
Jones, a state police  spokesman.

After stopping the Pontiac, the officer smelled burned  marijuana and 
saw a glass smoking pipe on the rear  floor. Forchion says the pound 
of marijuana troopers  found in a suitcase was for personal use. He 
denied he  had any intention of selling it.

"A pound of marijuana is like a carton of cigarettes to  me. What do 
they think I was going to do? Sell nickel  bags on the corner?" he 
scoffed. "I'm the Weedman."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart