Pubdate: Thu, 30 Jan 2014
Source: Burlington County Times (NJ)
Copyright: 2014 Calkins Newspapers. Inc.
Contact: https://phillyburbs-dot-com.bloxcms-ny1.com/contact/
Website: http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2128
Author: Danielle Camilli, Staff writer Burlington County Times

JUDGE LETS 'NJWEEDMAN' OUT OF THE JOINT

Longtime marijuana activist Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion has been sprung 
from the joint.

Superior Court Judge Charles Delehey vacated Forchion's 270-day 
sentence during a hearing Thursday at the Burlington County 
Courthouse in Mount Holly. Delehey instead imposed a time-served 
sentence, meaning the Rastafarian author and self-proclaimed 
"Superhero to Potheads" is officially done his term at the Burlington 
County Jail after serving 130 days.

The hearing effectively ended four years of legal wranglings, 
including two trials, after Forchion, a resident of both Pemberton 
Township and California, was arrested following a traffic stop in 
Mount Holly in 2010, when an officer found a pound brick of pot in 
the trunk of his rental car.

At the time, NJWeedman was in self-imposed "exile" from the Garden 
State over his stance and support of the legalization of marijuana. 
He was living in California and running a legal medical marijuana 
dispensary there.

He claimed the pot, found in his trunk with his luggage while on a 
trip to New Jersey to see family, was his "medicine," allowed as a 
licensed medical marijuana user in California. The state contended 
that even as a cardholder on the West Coast, the drug was, and still 
is, illegal in New Jersey. The outspoken activist was prosecuted on a 
charge of possession and a more serious offense of drug distribution.

After two trials, Forchion was found guilty of only fourth-degree possession.

Delehey originally sentenced him to a probationary term - one that 
even allowed him to use marijuana. But Forchion violated the sentence 
when he never reported for probation, leading the judge to impose the 
270-day sentence.

However, the sentence was fashioned to allow Forchion to serve 20 
days a month in jail and 10 days out so he could travel to California 
for injections for painful bone tumors in his legs. While he uses 
marijuana for pain management, his treatments do not involve medical marijuana.

Forchion said despite being given the get-out-of-jail-free card each 
month for his treatments, his sentence interrupted his access to the 
care he needed, including time to have medical testing done and raise 
cash for his flights.

In November, he petitioned Gov. Chris Christie for medical clemency, 
claiming, "I'm a (medical marijuana) patient in California and a 
prisoner in New Jersey."

The staggered jail sentence continued, and Forchion was released 
Tuesday from the Mount Holly jail and was due back Feb. 6 to serve 
his next 20 days.

Attorney Donald Ackerman of the Public Defender's Office filed a 
motion for the judge to reconsider the sentence, since Forchion had 
yet to be paroled from his county jail sentence. Inmates are 
typically paroled after serving a portion of their sentences, and 
officials have said nine-month terms on average result in 90-day sentences.

Forchion served 130 days and said he was never seen by a state parole 
officer to consider his early release.

Delehey said Thursday that Forchion had served more time than he 
suspected when he sentenced him back in September and would release 
him on a time-served sentence.

"It was the court's thought that he would probably be required to 
serve about 90 days on a 270-day sentence, and the court is aware Mr. 
Forchion travels back and forth for medical treatment," Delehey said, 
noting that he considered the defendant's illness and that the state 
was not objecting. "The court is satisfied that no useful purpose 
will be served by his continued incarceration."

While Forchion no longer faces more time behind bars, he is still 
pursuing his appeal, which argues that the state's criminalization of 
marijuana is unconstitutional, given the passage of its medical 
marijuana law, signed just months after his 2010 arrest.

Despite the law, which has been slow to be implemented, Forchion 
would not be covered because it does not recognize medical marijuana 
users from other states.

However, at trial, Forchion was allowed to present a defense that he 
was a licensed medical marijuana user. He is believed to be the first 
in the state to have been allowed to put that evidence before a jury.

"I'm happy it's finally over. ... It's been basically a nightmare, 
and I have lost everything I had. I lost my business in California, 
relationships, lost friends, and finally I lost a bit of freedom," he 
said, noting that his appeal will ultimately change the law in New 
Jersey. "I've suffered a bit to get here."

After the hearing, Forchion registered to vote, something he couldn't 
do while serving his sentence. He also said he plans a run for the 
U.S. Congressional seat now held by Republican Jon Runyan, who is not 
seeking re-election.

Forchion said ultimately he wants to return to California, but still 
has a pending municipal case in Evesham for possession of marijuana 
from a car stop in April 2013, when he allegedly had two joints on 
him. A conviction could send him back to jail.

"It was the same thing," he said. "It's for medical use." 
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