cannabisnews.com: Advocate of Legalizing Marijuana Sues Comcast





Advocate of Legalizing Marijuana Sues Comcast
Posted by CN Staff on March 19, 2003 at 09:26:44 PT
By Renee Winkler, Courier-Post Staff 
Source: Courier-Post 
Camden, N.J. -- R. Edward Forchion Jr., a marijuana legalization advocate who goes by the nickname Weedman, has sued the area's largest cable TV provider, claiming it censored his ads and libeled him in the media.Forchion said he had a contract with Comcast Corp. to broadcast "political issue ads" last summer. But the company yanked the ads from its lineup and told members of the media that Forchion was proposing the illegal use of drugs, the Browns Mills man claims in a federal lawsuit filed last week.
The contract covered 260 TV spots at a total cost of $5,710.The ads were similar in content, Forchion said, to those he bought in 1999 and 2000 when seeking election to Congress, the state Assembly and the Burlington County freeholder board.A year ago, Forchion was denied an application to have his name changed to: http://www.NJWeedman.comIn his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court here, Forchion seeks $420,000 as compensation from Comcast. Comcast officials said Tuesday they could not comment on a matter in litigation.The logo for Forchion's Legalize Marijuana Party is a marijuana leaf, and he said it's not unlike the images or logos of elephants and donkeys used by the Republican and Democratic parties. He claims Comcast violated his civil rights by censoring his political statements, breaching a contract with him and libeling him by referring to Forchion in published news accounts as someone who promoted illegal drug use.Forchion said he no longer uses marijuana and is fighting only to legalize the drug. He said he has never has encouraged its illegal use by others.The lawsuit is assigned for trial to U.S. District Judge Joseph Irenas.Source: Courier-Post (NJ)Author: Renee Winkler, Courier-Post Staff Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2003Copyright: 2003 Courier-PostContact: cpedit courierpostonline.comWebsite: http://www.courierpostonline.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Legalize Marijuana Partyhttp://www.tlmp.org/NJWeedman.comhttp://www.njweedman.com CRRH Video's - Weedman Takes Cause To TVhttp://www.crrh.org/hemptv/misc_weedman.html‘Weedman’ Set To Ruin The Law http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15676.shtmlNJ Weedman Wins Right to Advocate Reform http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15336.shtml
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