Pubdate: Sat, 28 Mar 2015
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Column: Passing the Joint
Copyright: 2015 The Trentonian
Contact:  http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: Ed Forchion, NJWeedman.com For The Trentonian

NJ WEEDMAN HAS A DIFFERENT VIEW OF CHRISTIE'S STORY

On Monday Gov. Chris Christie was in Ewing taping the Ask the 
Governor show on NJ 101.5, I was feeling all butt happy at the 
success of the great Spring Smoke-out held last Saturday at the 
Statehouse. I wanted to call-in and ask The Gov, why is it that 400 
citizens could smoke marijuana at the statehouse without arrest yet 
22,000 others were arrested last year on the streets of New Jersey, 
but the screeners wouldn't let me.

So I thought tactically - I'll meet him outside the studio and use 
the Pa system on The Weed mobil to ask him my own uncensored question 
and video tape it. That plot was extremely successful and went 
semi-viral, being watched by over 5000 in less than 24 hours and 
several national news media outlets ran stories about our confrontation.

So on Wednesday Gov. Chris Christie held a press conference in 
Manahawkin, where the Daytop treatment center was having a grand 
opening for its new outpatient location. This was his first New 
Jersey press conference since Oct. 2014 so he had a full house. He 
has been giving press conferences around the country but not in his 
home state. Surprisingly because of those news reports he dedicated 
three minutes to talking about his "old friend" Weedman and marijuana 
legalization in New Jersey. Now I found that extremely pleasing, and 
proof that my tactics are effective. But the "old friend" story he 
cheerfully, playfully told to the press was not truthful! Gov. 
Christie lied by omission.

The old saying about there are two sides to every story is relevant 
here. What Mr. Christie recited to the press wasn't the complete 
story I remembered.

Before I explain Gov. Christie's lie by omission I have to give you 
the back story, then my side of the same story.

In my "Paul Harvey" voice  Now for the rest of the story.

Back story - I've always engaged in unorthodox tactics and methods to 
get my point across and to present my views to the public. I call it 
thinking outta the bong. Jeff Edelstein "The Trentonian Master 
Columnist" was one of the first members of the state press corps to 
notice this. I admit his early articles led me to today where I'm 
practically a legendary living breathing counter culture nationally 
known weed-lebrity. I'm now a contemporary of his because of him. 
Example: He was the reporter I called when I decided to "smoke a 
joint" in the Statehouse (3/16/2000), before the entire state 
assembly. That was a classic.

In 2000 I was sentenced to 10 years in prison for knowing the truth 
about marijuana and willingly providing marijuana to those who wanted 
it. After a total waste of 18 months of my life for that; I was 
released into the state Intensive Supervision Program (ISP). Again I 
informed Jeff that two state officials; Harry Goldstein and Thomas 
Bartlett were threatening to imprison me if I didn't stop talking to 
the press or about marijuana (which is protected speech). I described 
this as an unconstitutional pissing contest between me and the state. 
I gave Jeff copies of three pro-marijuana legalization TV public 
service ads I had contracted with Comcast network to air on August 
19th 2002. A few days before airing Jeff wrote a story about my ads, 
"Weedman takes to the air." These two state officials immediately 
convinced Comcast to yank them and then they illegally conspired with 
Ocean County Judge Giovine to have me confined in the Burlington 
County jail until I could be processed back into the state prison 
system to serve the remainder of my 10 year sentence; for making 
public service ads about marijuana.

These two officials told Judge Giovine that my actions amounted to 
advocating criminal activity. It was a bogus, malicious claim to 
which there wasn't even a criminal statute against it.

To make a long story short  In the BC Jail I went on a hunger strike 
and filed a Pro Se "writ of habeas corpus" with the federal court in 
Camden only eating after Federal Judge Irenas accepted my writ. He 
ordered these state officials to respond to my allegations of this 
gross First Amendment violation. It took five months of federal court 
proceedings, the help of the ACLU of NJ, and Clifton attorney John 
Vincent Saykanic to win my freedom. Jeff reported on each of these 
proceedings including the Jan 24th, 2003 hearing where Judge Irenas 
ordered the state of New Jersey to release me, ruling my imprisonment 
a violation of my free speech rights.

Note: Upon this release I went to the department of Justice and 
attempted to filed federal criminal charges against Mr. Goldstein and 
Bartlett with the U.S. Attorneys office - my friend - Mr. Christie. 
About 6 months later I received a letter from Mr. Christie's office 
saying he was declining to prosecute these two state employed 
criminals for the illegal acts they persecuted upon me and my family. 
I was jailed for telling the truth about marijuana and was rightfully 
angry, and I was angry with U.S. Attorney Christie too now.

So in August 2004 almost a year to the day I was illegally jailed by 
these state officials I began exercising my 1st amendment rights 
again, this time by protesting then U.S. Attorney Christie for not 
prosecuting Goldstein/Bartlett. Like Mr. Christie said at his press 
conference, "I held signs in front of his Newark office by myself 
with his face on it calling him a fat hypocrite."

This is where Mr. Christie during his three-minute cheerful rendition 
differs from my painful recollection, he omits what then happened.

So the rest of the story: My old friend Mr. Christie bullied me and 
failed to mention to the press assembled that I was arrested each 
time I protested him - by myself. For three weeks in a row I was 
roughly arrested, specifically I was hogcuffed. This is where your 
handcuffed behind your back with your feet cuffed. I was painfully 
carried into his office by the cuffs, and held for a couple hours 
until after U.S. Attorney Christie left for home and didn't have to 
see me when he left.

I was off every Monday so on Mondays August 4, 11 and 18 I protested 
him. Each time my arrest got progressively rougher. Finally when I 
showed up on August 25th his security detail met me outside with riot 
gear on which finally convinced me stop trying to exercise free 
speech at Christie's U.S. Attorney's office.

Mr. Christie conveniently also doesn't tell that I also represented 
myself before Judge Martone and got each of these charges dismissed - 
again on free speech grounds. The only press that covered this was 
the New Jersey Law Journal.

He after omitting the rest of the story my old friend Chris said the 
argument to legalize marijuana because alcohol is legal "is not an 
excuse" and leads to a "slippery slope" of advocating decriminalizing 
other drugs.... Blah blah blah ...This should not be permitted in our 
society. It sends the wrong message.

In direct contradiction to what Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the current 
Surgeon General says he also bloated out... "Every bit of objective 
data we have tells us that it's a gateway drug to other drugs. He 
said states that have legalized marijuana did so "mostly in pursuit 
of tax riches"....." cash business"... blah blah blah. I'm governor 
of New Jersey, there won't be legalized marijuana. To me, that's 
blood money. I'm not going to put the lives of children and citizens 
at risk to put a little bit more money into the state coffers. At 
least not on my watch," he said.

How backwards and antiquated he sounds. Please someone tell him. The 
world is round, there are no witches in Salem and Marijuana is good 
for you. ------The Garden State? Meanwhile 200 miles south in the 
nations capital last Thursday 800 people received free legal 
marijuana seeds to home grow.

Unless he flipflops on his reefer madness mentally he will never be 
elected to the Presidency just because of his marijuana policies. 
Ironically, Christie recently stressed the need to elect candidates 
who believe in protecting individual liberties, which he said should 
be protected - not dictated - by government. 'Those are not given to 
us by the government,' he said. 'Those are given by God and the 
government is supposed to be there to enforce and protect those 
liberties and freedoms, not to determine how we exercise them.' "

God gave us this herb Mr. Christie.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom