TRENTON - Ed Forchion once brought new meaning to the words "high culture." The down-with-earth marijuana activist last year opened his own restaurant, NJ Weedman's Joint, providing Trenton with a unique blend of cannabis and cuisine. Now, NJ Weedman is coming down from a bad high and looking for the courts to save his life and keep alive his once-bustling downtown Trenton businesses. Forchion and attorney Edward Heyburn have put the city on notice of their intent to sue over Forchion's "false arrest," which he says tarnished his reputation and cast a police-produced pall over his restaurant, smoke shop and pot temple, according to a tort claim notice obtained by The Trentonian. [continues 748 words]
TRENTON - Marijuana activist Ed Forchion gave a famous Los Angeles graffiti artist $300 cash, an ounce of weed and an expensive bong to paint a political statement on the side of his "Weedmobile" in 2008. The provocative portrait showed NJ Weedman blowing smoke into Uncle Sam's face. The van would later become a rolling billboard for Forchion's Trenton restaurant and pot temple, capturing in cartoonishly large candor his pro-marijuana views and disdain for New Jersey's "hypocritical" drug laws. [continues 930 words]
The Obama administration's decision to expand opportunities for scientific research of medical marijuana, while leaving cannabis classification under its longtime most-dangerous-drug status, strikes us as an important step, but hardly a solution. The decision is hopeful in that it signals an attempt to end the bureaucratic hurdles that prevent scientific study of the drug that so many advocates claim has curative powers. But leaving in place the stigma and legal problems that a Schedule I designation creates makes the administration's attempt to find some middle ground difficult to truly appreciate. [continues 380 words]
MILITARY VETERANS and New Jersey lawmakers are lobbying Gov. Christie with new vigor to approve a bipartisan bill that would allow marijuana use to treat posttraumatic stress disorder. In the past, the Christie administration had rebuffed requests to add the condition to the list of ailments that qualify for cannabis use. But Christie did not rule out signing the bill when asked about it two weeks ago at a news conference. "I'll read it," he said, softening a bit from his oft-repeated previous statements that he would veto any expansion of the six-year-old medical marijuana program. [continues 802 words]
TRENTON - Marijuana legalization activist Ed Forchion and his attorney took turns bashing police and prosecutors for alleged perjury and gamesmanship and demanded the resignation of the county's top law enforcement official during an impromptu news conference outside criminal court Thursday. Wearing a burgundy pinstripe suit, Forchion, known as NJ Weedman, took a hit from a bong and handed out jury nullification pamphlets following his first appearance in Mercer County Superior Court. He railed against the tactics of Trenton Police and Acting Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri and discussed how his attorney, Edward Heyburn, was at a disadvantage to argue his case in court without a crucial sworn affidavit of probable cause. [continues 854 words]
TRENTON - Facing an 11-count indictment on drug charges, Ed Forchion, aka NJ Weedman, is not breaking a sweat. In fact, the pro-marijuana activist has challenged acting Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri to take the lead on the case. "I'm ready for it," Forchion said Tuesday shortly after learning of the indictment. "I really hope that Prosecutor Onofri presents this case and takes this ass whooping himself." Onofri announced Tuesday in a press release that a grand jury returned the indictment charging the 52-year-old with numerous drug offenses stemming from a raid on April 27 at his restaurant and pot temple directly across from City Hall on East State Street. [continues 630 words]
The digital age is bringing new challenges to the Fourth Amendment. But a key decision last week bolsters this right. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution is crucial to liberty because it protects the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures." The digital age is bringing new challenges to the Fourth Amendment. But a key decision last week bolsters this right. At issue are devices such as the StingRay by Harris Corp. that, in the company's description, among other things performs "dialed number and registration collection, mobile interrogation and target tracking and location" of cell phones. [continues 288 words]
TRENTON - In the sticky heat of his downtown restaurant, Ed "NJ Weedman" Forchion sat at a table and wiped the plastic cloth covering absentmindedly. He had three things on his mind - first his broken air conditioning, then the broken plumbing, then the cops. Money is tight at the Trenton staple, which is aptly named "Weedman's Joint." Months ago a series of police raids and activity at the combination restaurant and "pot temple" scared many of his customers away, Forchion said. [continues 967 words]
TRENTON - Trenton Police's Facebook status is nonexistent. The department removed its Facebook page sometime Thursday amid allegations that negativity hurled at the department, partially over the arrest of a lightning rod marijuana activist, was being scrubbed from its social media page. That led some activists - working in concert with Ed Forchion, also known as NJ Weedman - to paper the city with public records requests regarding the social media page. One is Steven Wronko, a Spotswood man who earned the national spotlight after being escorted out of Helmetta town hall by police while filing a records request about animal abuses at the borough's beleaguered animal shelter. [continues 819 words]
EDITOR'S NOTE: Legalizing recreational marijuana is being considered in New Jersey. The most recent Rutgers-Eagleton poll shows public support for legalizing recreational marijuana in New Jersey is 58 percent - the highest it's ever been - with 39 percent opposed. Although Gov. Chris Christie has said he would not sign a bill legalizing recreational marijuana, both the state Senate and Assembly are working on legislation. This is the third in a three-part series that will explore the issue of legalizing recreational marijuana and its potential effects on Sussex County and the surrounding area. The series looks at the economic, public health and criminal justice impact legalization could have. All three parts can be viewed at www.njherald.com. [continues 1781 words]
EDITOR'S NOTE: Legalizing recreational marijuana is being seriously considered in New Jersey. The most recent Rutgers-Eagleton poll shows public support for legalizing recreational marijuana in New Jersey is 58 percent -- the highest it's ever been -- with 39 percent opposed. Although Gov. Chris Christie has said he would not sign a bill legalizing recreational marijuana, both the state Senate and Assembly are working on legislation. This is the second in a three-part series that will explore the issue of legalizing recreational marijuana and its potential effects on Sussex County and the surrounding area. The series will look at the economic, public health and criminal justice impact legalization could have. [continues 2557 words]
EDITOR'S NOTE: A bill has been introduced in the New Jersey Assembly to legalize recreational marijuana, allowing adults over the age of 21 to possess, use and grow marijuana. The state Senate had a bill in the last legislative session that never advanced. The bill's primary sponsor, state Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-22nd Dist., has said he will reintroduce legislation soon. A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing held in November 2015 offered advocates of legalization a chance to present their side and another hearing will be held for those opposed. [continues 2174 words]
Regarding the May 29 point-counterpoint relating to drug use between Elaine Pozycki and Jeffrey Miron ("At Issue: Is N.J. winning war on heroin?," I fully support Miron's view that drugs should be legalized. It is absurd to continue this silly crusade against what people want to do.The government should let people make their own decisions on what they consume, good or bad. Pozycki's slant is we should not only continue prohibitions against drug use but increase laws against people's personal desires, as if the government is their parent and they are children. It is apparent, though, that Pozycki is part of the massive "anti-drug" industry that has grown up around the use of opiates. In effect, people like Pozycki are in league with their so-called "opposite" number, the drug cartels, in not wanting drugs legalized. Legalization would destroy their respective livelihoods. [continues 65 words]
TRENTON - New Jersey's famous marijuana activist has claimed responsibility for putting out pamphlets this week that encouraged prospective jurors in a murder trial to vote their conscience and "acquit, even when the evidence proves the defendant 'did it.'" Ed Forchion, better known as NJ Weedman, doesn't need another target on his back. But the marijuana legalization activist says he has been forced to act following a drug raid last month on his capital city business. "I'm getting ready to put on another William Penn trial," said Forchion, referring to the prominent Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania who was arrested in 1670 because his religious preaching ran contrary to the Church of England. [continues 641 words]
Advocates Say Recreational Use Would Pay Off. New Jersey would gain at least $300 million a year in taxes if it followed the lead of four other states and legalized marijuana for recreational use, according to a report released Tuesday by New Jersey Policy Perspective and New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform. The revenue projection is based on imposing an eventual 25 percent sales tax on consumers, who would have to be at least 21 years old. The organizations represent a coalition of advocacy groups working for legalization in New Jersey. They analyzed available data on the number of people who purchase the drug illegally in New Jersey, and examined the experiences of states that recently approved legalization. [continues 422 words]
NEPTUNE - Gov. Chris Christie addressed more than 200 medical and law-enforcement professionals about opioid and opiate addiction, treatment and recovery Thursday, joining a dais that included a pharmaceutical manufacturer, a Massachusetts police chief and an addiction specialist. Christie made it personal. The governor retold a story - about his law school friend, now dead after an apparent overdose on opiates complicated by alcohol - that went viral in November. He said his friend - whom he has never named - was at the head of his law school study group and the first to find success after graduation, and nobody could have foreseen his descent into prescription drug abuse and the implosion of his personal and professional lives. [continues 752 words]
TRENTON - Police say summonses charging Ed Forchion for smoking marijuana in city council chambers last year were signed by officials the day following the incident and sent to him via "regular mail." But Forchion's attorney says that claim doesn't make sense because police must have a record showing they served a complaint before a warrant can be issued for failing to appear in court. "You can't send it regular mail; they might as well just put it in the shredder because it has the same legal effect," Forchion's attorney Ed Heyburn said. "They either deliver it in person, or they send it certified mail and someone has to sign for it. When they go before a judge and request a warrant, they'll be asked to show when they served the complaint." [continues 535 words]
FACT I'M NEITHER PROUD NOR ASHAMED OF: I used to smoke a lot of marijuana. I was pretty much high all the time from September 1990 (when I was a freshman in college) until June of 1999, at which point I decided I didn't want to be high all the time. And really: I was high all the time. I also managed to graduate college, write a book, win journalism awards, meet my future wife, land full time jobs, and be a decent member of society. [continues 514 words]
TRENTON - On Nov. 5, 2015, the local businessman known as NJ Weedman shocked public officials when he lit up a joint and smoked his precious marijuana inside City Council Chambers at Trenton City Hall. This week, Ed Forchion received summonses in the mail charging him with smoking inside a public building in violation of a city ordinance and smoking in public in violation of state law. Trenton Police Capt. Edelmiro Gonzalez, who was one of the many witnesses who saw Forchion smoke inside City Hall, signed the summonses against Forchion, according to Trenton Police Lt. Stephen Varn. [continues 304 words]
TRENTON - Two charges filed by a city police officer against Edward Forchion, aka NJ Weedman, may go up in smoke. The criminal activity allegedly occurred when Forchion appeared in a video that was shot outside his restaurant on May 10 and was subsequently posted to social media. In the clip, Trenton cops are at his restaurant when the weed advocate repeatedly calls officer Herbert Flowers a "pedophile" and a "big boy who (expletive) with little girls." In the video, Flowers appears to laugh off the verbal assault and at one point puts his arms in the arm with a smile, responding "Yep, you said it." [continues 952 words]
Inside New Jersey
