1st annual


Camden County Freeholder Candidate wants Pot legalized Edward "njweedman" Forchion on the Legalize Marijuana Party ticket. By JEFF BEACH Courier-Post Staff CAMDEN (April 25th,1998) - Don Canning talks of marijuana "opening doors that were closed to me" when he suffered brain damage in an accident four years ago in which he was ejected from the passenger seat of a Jeep. "It relieves the stress, the frustration, the depression. It's medicine for all that," said Canning, 31, of West Deptford. "I believe God put it here on earth for a reason. Some people like Ed, also use it for religious reasons" Canning, wearing rings another Jewelry fashioned to resemble marijuana leaves, was among the earliest visitors to Monday's daylong pro-marijuana rally at Wiggins Park. The rally was organized by Edward "njweedman" Forchion of Chesilhurst, who's running for Camden County freeholder on the "Legalize Marijuana Party" ticket. Under the watchful eyes of mounted Camden County Park Police - as well as three men dressed in street clothes who rally attendees were certain were undercover police officers - a mostly younger, mostly male crowd mired around the Wiggins promenade, listened to music both live and recorded and talked among themselves about their desire to see marijuana legalized. Shawn Madjeski, 23, of Cherry Hill, wore a T-shirt reading, 'It's Time For Another Tea Party," with an American flag that sported a maituana leaf where the 50 stars normally would be. Madjeski, who has accompanied Forchion on some campaign events, said residents seem to be responding positively to their roadside set-ups where information about marijuana legalization and voter registration are provided. "It's better doing it that way than going door-to-door because we're not shoving it down people's throats,' Madjeski said. 'We get all kinds of people, from 18 straight up to 70. We don't want to just preach to the choir." Among the more seasoned attendees at the rally was Barry Perlman of Moorestown, chairman of the Burlington County Libertarian Party and husband of state Libertarian Party Chairwoman Janice Presser. Perlman lamented the lack of any real change in marijuana laws since he and his contemporaries were staging similar protests in the 1960s. The only thing that has changed in 30 years is that now I'm older than the cops," he said, before turning serious about U.S. drug policy. "there no such thing as a war on drugs; it's a "war on us", we the people. There are no Camden Police marching through feilds searching for pot. They're arresting people". Forchion sporting a T-shirt that read, "Marijuana: It's OK, It's Just Illegal," acknowledged that rthe rally drew far fewer than the 2,000 people he hoped would show up, estimating that the crowd at anyone time reached only as high as 200. Last week, he made the rounds to various Camden County political offices and smoked marijuana cigarettes in attempt to get arrested and draw attention to his campaign and the rally. Although failing to get arrested at (D) Congressman Rob Andrews, Haddon Heights office the first time he went on April 27, he returned a few hours later and re - demononstrated his chose of medication". He finally was busted. The next day he went to The Democratic Party Headquarters in Cherry Hill where he was again busted after having to call police on himself. Early Saturday, he and Majeski got arrested- this time without trying - after his campaigne "VAN" -the one decorated in Marijuana leaves and Pro-legalization slogan's was stopped. Forchion was charged with possesion of a controlled dangerous substance, possesion of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest, Madjeski with possesion of CDS and drug paraphernalia. Forchion admits leaning on the horn of his van and screaming that he does not consent to a search. He said he just wanted witness's to the illegal search. He was then maced. Gloucester Township Cheif John Stollsteimer confirmed, that the officer Edward Byrant sprayed Forchion before arresting him. "I'm sure the officer's a good guy," Forchion said. "He's just trying to enforce a bad law." One tote, one vote! Voter can be toters too, candidate say's It's a good cause, but the candidate's a little fuzzy on the details. by Howard Altman Of : The City Paper The first question a lot of people will ask about Edward Forchion, candidate for Camden County freeholder, is, "What's he smoking?" It is a question that I normally ask of anyone running for the Board of Freeholders. Why are you doing this? What are you smoking? The answer in Forchion's case is easy, and one he readily admits. He smokes pot. Which is no surprise, considering that Forchion is running under the green-leafed banner of the Legalize Marijuana Party, an entity, shockingly enough, of his own creation. Forchion's candidacy is yet another good news/bad news conundrum. The good news is that someone running for public office is calling for a change in the way our society deals with marijuana. The bad news is that it is Forchion and his tie-dyed band of pierced political pollyannas. It is a misty day at the front end of our two-week monsoon season and Forchion and his band are milling about Wiggins Waterfront Park, a grassy knoll sloping downward from the Aquarium promenade down to the Delaware. Under a tent, a collective of Jerry Garcia wannabes twang out a clashing cacophony of highly amplified space music as Forchion's political supporters, all 20 of them, groove and toke and enjoy the mid-day spritz. Like all politicians, Forchion, an admitted neophyte, is running purely because of self-interest. Unlike most politicians, he is not shy to acknowledge that fact. "I have a real interest in legalizing marijuana," says Forchion, wearing a marijuana-leaf-emblazoned baseball cap and a T-shirt with the message, "Marijuana: It's OK, Just Illegal." Forchion and his brother were arrested last November for transporting 45 pounds of pot into New Jersey from Arizona. They were the first arrested under New Jersey Gov. Christy Whitman's tough new anti-drug law. Edward says he and his brother face 20 years in prison and a possible $300,000 fine. "There's no support for that kind of penalty," says the 33-year-old Forchion. "The man who killed my grandfather when I was 15 will probably get out of jail before I do if I am convicted and sentenced to the full term." Forchion, whose campaign staff car is a beat-up black van, points to a table with a water cooler bottle partly filled with coins and paper money, and says that he is having no trouble attracting people who agree with his position. "There's about $200 in there right now," he says proudly. "We have about $1,500, $1,600 total." Forchion's campaign brochure epitomizes his effort. The only semi-cogent information is a reprint from the Web page of a group called the Fully Informed Jury Association Inc., which argues that the Constitution allows juries to overturn bad law on a case-by-case basis. The rest of the flyer contains newspaper accounts of his drug-fueled misadventures, the margins decorated with drawings of marijuana leaves and his scrawled opinions of drug laws, including the statement "Marijuana Doesn't Fit, You've Got To Acquit." The flyer's cover, however, offers the best hint about why they call it dope. The big red number 2 after November is replaced with a markered-over number 3. "When we first did this, I didn't know the date of the election," says Forchion. "I thought it was Nov. 2. I later found out it is Nov. 3." One electoral quality Forchion does possess is persistence. Aside from his arrest for possession, Forchion was recently arrested for disturbing the peace. But he worked really hard at it, trying not once, but twice. In a display never before seen in the annals of New Jersey politics, Forchion decided to make a point by lighting up at two major seats of power in Camden County. On Tuesday, April 28, Forchion sparked a joint at the Camden County Democratic Party headquarters. This occurred after Forchion was thwarted in his efforts to get arrested by smoking two joints at Congressman Rob Andrews' Haddon Heights office one day earlier. Over the wailings of the would-be Grateful Dead, Forchion says that he went as far as calling the police after puffing the first joint at Andrews' office and, waiting for the law, lit up again. The police, however, never showed. Being a quick study, Forchion says he changed his tactic the next day at the party office. He started banging on the window until the cops arrived and charged him with disorderly conduct. A former ATF agent, who now works for the Camden County Parks and Recreation Department, sits in his van and looks on with bemused bewilderment. "Don't want to talk about my personal feelings," he says, his voice cutting through the thick haze of pot smoke that fills the park. "I don't like it," he says of Forchion's stance, without getting specific. "I don't think marijuana should be legal." Even so, the former agent, who does not want to give his name, says that even if he were still carrying a badge and a gun, he wouldn't arrest any of the demonstrators brazenly smoking dope in the open. "What's the point?" he asks. "Who are they harming but themselves?" Though a large percentage of Forchion's force on this misty day is either too young to vote or registered outside his district, there are a few seeds of political promise planted. Marc Gulizio, a scraggly bearded 19-year-old from Gloucester City, is involved in his first political campaign. "It's a good cause," he says, before launching into a discussion with his friend Leah Hall about the merits of legal hemp. "One acre of hemp grows as much fiber as four acres of trees," says Gulizio. "I thought it was three acres of trees," says Hall. "No, it's four," says Gulizio, who, like everyone else at the rally, speaks without benefit of any real statistics, which is probably the most disappointing aspect of Forchion's campaign. When asked for information to corroborate his comments that pot isn't bad for you and that it actually has some medical benefits, Forchion points to the table which includes his flyer and a copy of Why Marijuana Should Be Legal, an informative and well-annotated pamphlet by one of the editors of High Times magazine. Other than that, Forchion speaks in broad, pleasant platitudes, offering nothing while sounding great. Wait a minute. This guy sounds like the perfect freeholder after all. Back to home page