Self-proclaimed weedman and activist Ed Forchion takes on New Jersey about the legalizing marijuana after he was arrested for transporting a pound of weed in his car. Forchion, who is also known as the NJWeedman, was arrested on April 1 (April Fools Day) after police discovered a pound of California-Kush in his trunk. The discovery came after Forchion was stopped by a state trooper for failing to stop at a red light. Although the arrest is making headlines, this arrest will actually be Forchion’s second bid to bring the issue of jury nullification to the forefront of the judicial system. A practicing Rastafarian, he faced up to 30 years in prison back in 1997 when he was arrested and charged with conspiracy and possession of over 40 pounds of marijuana.
“[I didn’t plan on getting arrested for weed possision],”Forchion stated in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But now that I’ve been charged, it feels like destiny. That’s exactly what I wanted to do.” “The state should not be able to have two legal descriptions of the same substance,” Forchion states. “How can the state be allowed to have it both ways arresting some people on criminal laws that state marijuana has no medical value while also allowing others to use marijuana for medical use? Isn’t that a violation of the 14th amendment right to equal protection of the law,” cites Forchion. “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.”
Forchion, who has been distributing and selling medicinal marijuana in Los Angeles, California for two-years and even owns a medical marijuana dispensary, stated that ironically he was visiting his home state to file paperwork against the New Jersey bill that legalized marijuana for medicinal use in AIDS, glaucoma and cancer patients only.
