cannabisnews.com: Is Marijuana Law in U.S. Wrong? Let a Jury Decide 





Is Marijuana Law in U.S. Wrong? Let a Jury Decide 
Posted by FoM on July 12, 1999 at 07:44:20 PT
By Edward Forchion
Source: Philadelphia Enquirer 
I know about "jury nullification" because of a field trip to Philadelphia that my parents took our family on in July 1976. I asked my mother, "Who's that statue on top of City Hall anyway?" She said William Penn. But when I asked who he was, she told me to look him up.
Earlier that year, my parents had bought us the Encyclopaedia Britannica, so I read about Penn and the trial of his life, which eventually led to the First Amendment. It was a very appropriate project; America's Bicentennial celebration was going full-blast.Penn, a Quaker, was charged with illegally teaching a religion other than the king's official religion as taught by the Church of England.He pleaded with his jurors that it was his right as a human being to believe in whatever he wanted.The jury knew that was against the king's law, but it acquitted Penn, and its members suffered for their decision. The jurors were tortured, even denied food and water for days; still they refused to change their minds.Eventually the jurors were released, and the concept of "jury nullification" -- a jury's making a decision that appears to ignore the law -- was born.I remembered William Penn when I was arrested on Nov. 24, 1997. I knew as I sat in the Bellmawr police station, charged with a ridiculous crime, that I was going to openly advocate to my jury that it nullify the law. The law is wrong; no one should be imprisoned for possessing marijuana.The marijuana laws, or for that matter the whole "War on Drugs," are a violation of our Bill of Rights. I have never complied with the marijuana laws; compliance is acceptance.I have always regarded the laws as too intrusive. Who gave the State of New Jersey, the federal government or their stooge police agencies the authority to regulate what a citizen can put in his body?As a Rastafarian believer, I espouse the benefits of marijuana; thus I, too, am now going to face a jury because of my religious views -- just like William Penn.Although I have always taken this view, it wasn't until I became involved in the legalize-medical-marijuana movement that I decided to advocate breaking an unjust law.I've had people tell me that the only reason I'm squealing so loudly is because I was caught. So what? Do you think Betty Ford cared about having a drug treatment center before she got addicted to legal drugs that are far more harmful than marijuana?Jury nullification is a constitutionally acceptable function of a jury, but you can bet the prosecutors in Camden County who want to send me to prison don't want the jury to know that.The prosecutors don't want the jury to know its rights, but that's common for government workers. Whether they are Internal Revenue Service agents, Environmental Protection Agency functionaries or workers in some other government agency, they believe that only what the government says is law is law. Yet the government is supposed to be ruled by the people.I'm Rastafarian. My religion recognizes the benefits of marijuana; it is a sacrament in our faith, so the marijuana laws violate my right to religious freedom.The Bill of Rights says Congress shall not make a law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Yet that is exactly what marijuana laws do to all whose religions regard marijuana as a sacrament.Why are Native Americans allowed to use peyote? Because of their First Amendment rights. Yet I'm denied my right to smoke marijuana, which is far less addictive or dangerous than peyote.In 1997, Gov. Whitman signed a law making the intent to distribute 25 or more pounds of marijuana a first-degree crime. I, as an open advocate of marijuana legalization, was one of the first individuals arrested under this law. This is the perfect avenue for jury nullification.Last year, I ran for Congress and the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders under the Legalize Marijuana Party banner as a way to reach my potential jurors.This year, I'm again on the ballot, for state Assembly in the Eighth District. I will espouse the concept of jury nullification as well as marijuana legalization as ways to end the War on Us.Edward Forchion, a former long-haul truck driver, writes from Chesilhurst.His email address is njweedman jersey.netPubdate: July 12, 1999©1999 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/99/Jul/12/sj/JCOL12.htm
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Comment #4 posted by Pastor Manuel on May 02, 2001 at 15:37:38 PT
Legal or illegal.
Whether it is legal or illegal, hordes or people are going to smoke pot. Lets make up two people. Lets call them Jim and Larry. They're both about 26. Jim is a very successful tax attorney. He is married to a lovely brunette who likes long walks on the beach and good literature. Jim and his wife smoke pot every Tuesday at 9:30pm. Jim even has a couple plants in his attic so he doesn't have to get mixed up with shady dealers and whatnot. Larry works at a car repair place. He is not married and he lives in the basement of his brother's house. He drinks a 6-pack of beer before he goes to work every morning and another case after he gets home. Then he drives wildly around city in his trans-am looking for barwhores he hasn't done yet.Picture Jim and his wife peacefully laying in bed smoking a joint, talking about literature....Now picture a drunken Larry, barely staying on the road as he continues his wild search for woman.Then one day, as Larry is doing a 60 year old prostitute against the side of a Denny's at 2am in a drunken stupor, a policeman knocks on the door of Jim's house and asks him if his high electricity bill is caused by lights shining on a couple of pot plants in his attic. Jim, the successful tax attorney is fined heavily and sent to jail for a while. Larry, the alcoholic wakes up the next day and goes out into the world, free as a drunken bird.It really happens.
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Comment #3 posted by Howard Oakes on March 28, 2001 at 15:37:41 PT:
Legalization of Marijuana!!!
Yes I think that the use of Marijuana should be made legal, but only for a MEDICAL purpose. Any other use of the drug would just be stupid. Like the government is goin to let us sit around and get high and then go to our jobs and try to work yea ok whatever. Those who think that need to wake-up. 
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Comment #2 posted by RACHEL on June 18, 2000 at 23:22:40 PT:
legalizing marijuana
I think that marijuana should DEFINATELY be legalized. Sure, it should have some restrictions, but I think that once your old enough to understand the "evil" effects of it, youre ready to use it. Besides, if alchohol is legal, there is somethin wrong here. It is a fact that there has never been one recorded death from marijuana alone.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 12, 1999 at 09:41:28 PT:
Ed Forchion's Legalize Marijuana Party!
Here is a link to Ed Forchion's Home Page.
Ed Forchion's Home Page
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