cannabisnews.com: Candidate is After Jurors, Not Voters 





Candidate is After Jurors, Not Voters 
Posted by FoM on October 25, 1999 at 06:00:50 PT
By Shannon O'Boye, Inquirer Suburban Staff
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Ed Forchion is running for two offices in November, but he doesn't think he is going to win. In fact, he doesn't even want to win. Ed Forchion of the Legalize Marijuana Party is using his campaign to draw attention to his approaching drug trial. 
Representing the Legalize Marijuana Party, he is running for an Eighth District Assembly seat and a seat on the Camden County Board of Freeholders because, he said, it is the best way to reach potential jurors at his forthcoming trial in Camden County Superior Court.The last two years of Forchion's life have been consumed by his trying to convince people that he is not "just another black drug dealer." "I view myself as a freedom fighter with the dedication of Martin Luther King, the independence of Malcolm X," said Forchion, 35. "But I will probably spend close to the amount of time in jail as did Nelson Mandela unless jury nullification is used."Forchion faces more than 20 years in prison and $300,000 in fines after being arrested during a drug raid in Bellmawr on Nov. 24, 1997. He was charged with, among other things, possession with the intent to distribute more than 25 pounds of marijuana, which Gov. Whitman had made a first-degree offense in August 1997.Forchion, a former cross-country truck driver, said he had, in the past, delivered marijuana to groups in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that he said used the drug for medical purposes. He denies ever selling the drug for profit.On the day of his arrest, Forchion said, he knew a shipment of marijuana was to come in and had a hunch that authorities had their eye on the package. So he went to the drop-off point, he said, to see what would happen.The Prosecutor's Office said Forchion and his brother Russell, 30, were arrested a short distance from the Bellmawr Industrial Park with 45 pounds of marijuana in their van. Another man, Eric Poole, 41, who worked at the factory and who signed for the FedEx package containing the marijuana, was arrested at the park.Russell Forchion and Poole pleaded guilty to lesser offenses.Forchion pleaded not guilty and said he would like to mount a defense based on jury nullification - under which jurors refuse to convict because they believe the law that a person is accused of violating is unconstitutional - and freedom of religion. (Forchion is a Rastafarian and views marijuana as sacred in much the way that Christians, he said, view "the grapes" used to make the sacrament of Holy Communion.)Forchion has been appointed a private attorney because the Public Defender's Office refused to prepare a defense for him on those grounds."Maybe it's because I'm so independent," he said. "How can the government tell me what I can put in my body?"Forchion, whose pretrial court date is scheduled for next Monday - the day before Election Day - said he had not met his attorney. "I should be allowed to say what I want to say in court," he said as he snacked on a hot fudge sundae during an interview. He said he had smoked a marijuana joint before entering the restaurant and still got a craving for food when he was high, even though he said he had been smoking marijuana since he was 15."I think I have a plan, if I could just find legal help," said Forchion, who stands 6 feet tall, weighs about 240 pounds, and wears dreadlocks and a long goatee. Forchion describes himself as a "nerd" who likes to study the Constitution. He said he had lived in anonymity, smoking marijuana every day, and would have continued to do so if not for his arrest.Aside from researching and preparing his defense, Forchion spends much of his time maintaining his "Legalize Marijuana" Web site and trying to draw attention to his cause by running for office. He does not campaign much. He has virtually no money and few campaign workers, but he said he sometimes handed out flyers and recently made a commercial that he said would be carried on a local cable station starting tomorrow.Annette Castiglione-Degan and Riletta Cream, the two Democratic freeholders running for reelection against Forchion and Republicans Orlando L. Chandler and Joseph J. Rosenello, said Forchion had the right to run for office, but they condemned him for preaching the legalization of marijuana."It's outrageous to even say in a county that represents a city that we know is infested with drug activity," Castiglione-Degan said."Certainly you can respect anyone's right to free speech - that goes without saying - but do I respect his position? Absolutely not. As a mother of teenagers, as a teacher of teenagers, as a citizen, as an elected official - with any of the hats that I wear - I cannot accept that position or understand it."Forchion's wife, Janice, 38, the mother of two of his four children, said that she was not a marijuana user but that she did not understand "what the fuss is over weed that you can grow in your backyard."She said authorities should "go after cocaine, crack and heroin. Those are the drugs that kill people.""If he goes to jail, who's the victim?" she asked. "My kids are. . . . I don't think that's fair."Forchion said he realized that some people think he is crazy, but he called himself "a little eccentric." He said people used to consider his hobbies - collecting guns, buying exotic fish and growing marijuana - "neat," but now they view him differently.October 25, 1999The Philadelphia Inquirer© 1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. Related Articles & Web Site:Legalize Marijuana Partyhttp://www.jersey.net/~njdevil/ Candidate for State Assembly Seat Charged with MJ - 10/17/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3314.shtmlN.J. League Site Puts Candidates On The Internet - 10/14/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3272.shtmlAssembly Candidate is Arrested in Stratford - 10/13/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3263.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by Brenda Young on August 29, 2000 at 23:04:13 PT:
Hair
Hey Ed its Brenda,I've been out of town my mom was sick email me at my sisters address. I'll check it throughout the week.PeaceLegalize!!!!!
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Comment #2 posted by Edward Forchion on October 26, 1999 at 06:28:46 PT:
- The history of Jury Nullification
http://www.seventhquest.net/isil.org/pamphlet/fija-2.htm - Hi, this is Ed "njweedman" Forchion from the Philadelphia News story above. This link here is to a short but very informative site dealing with JURY NULLIFICATION. 
The History of Jury Nullification
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Comment #1 posted by observer on October 25, 1999 at 13:27:05 PT
more on Jury Nullification here!
''Forchion pleaded not guilty and said he would like to mount a defense based on jury nullification - under which jurors refuse to convict because they believe the law that a person is accused of violating is unconstitutional ... ''see "the official web site of the Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA)"http://www.fija.org/
THE JURY POWER PAGE!
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