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In 1995 I ruined my relationship with my then
girlfriend Linda Holden and mother of my daughter (Ajanea)
by having a relationship with my current wife. She ended the relationship
and tried to end my father-hood. This had nothing to do with marijuana,
she didn't care that I smoked marijuana. I was well into a
two year custody fight when I was arrested Nov. 24th, 1997. I decided
to fight those charges with a defense of JURY NULLIFICATION
and ran for office where I expressed my 1st Amendment Right to "FREE
SPEECH" by voicing my opinion on the drug laws and engaged
in acts of civil dis-obedience. I also revealed my choice in religions.
In Sept 1998 Linda took my public exploits and news-stories to court and had all custody and visitation rights taken because of my choice in RELIGION "RASTAFARI" and public support for "LEGALIZATION". Remember in America your supposed to be innocent until proven guilty which didn't happen to me until Dec. 2000, two years later. I detail this "FREEDOM OF RELIGION VIOLATION" on my website at: http://www.njweedman.com/jbell.htm .
Imagine that advocating changing a law can result in the Government taking your child. See the story that appeared in the Canadian Magazine Cannabis-Culture about America's dirty secret: |
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THE BURLINGTON COUNTY TIMES ( 5/28/2002) "WEEDMAN" protests child-vistiation ruling Pot advocate can only see his daughter once a week By
John Reitmeyer and Mike Mathis Just weeks out of state prison, marijuana advocate Ed "njweedman'' Forchion was back on the public protest circuit yesterday. Forchion picketed the Burlington County courts complex in Mount Holly and the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton to draw attention to a judge's recent decision that restricts his visits with his 6-year-old daughter. Forchion, a Pemberton Township resident, is a follower of the Rastafari religion and maintains that marijuana is needed for its rituals. A Superior Court judge assigned to the family division in Mount Holly, however, has limited him to only one supervised visit with his daughter each week because Forchion openly calls for the legalization of marijuana. "I guess the only way I can see my daughter is to become a Christian and start parroting the lies of the government about marijuana,'' Forchion wrote in a four-page leaflet he handed out during his protests. Meanwhile, a judge assigned to the Superior Court's family division in Camden awarded Forchion custody of his 16-year-old daughter last month, according to court documents. Forchion, a former candidate for the Burlington County Board of Freeholders and U.S. Congress, is a veteran of public protests. He's smoked marijuana at the Liberty Bell monument in Philadelphia, inside the Statehouse and outside the Burlington County courts complex. His protests yesterday were not as dramatic. Forchion carried a sign calling for "freedom of speech and freedom of religion,'' and quietly discussed the issue with passersby. He did not, however, speak to reporters because he said his state probation program prevents him from discussing marijuana legalization with the media. Forchion's legal troubles stem primarily from a 1997 charge that he tried to help his brother and another man pick up 40 pounds of marijuana shipped from a supplier in Arizona via Federal Express to a Camden County industrial park. Forchion pleaded guilty during his trial in October 2000. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in December 2000, but was released last month after serving 16 months. Forchion is now enrolled in a probation program that forces him to undergo regular urine testing.
THE TRENTONIAN ( 5/28/2002)
"WEEDMAN" protests outside courthouse Forchion, a Rastafarian, also fears being tossed back in jail for talking to the press, a risk he said he is prepared to take in order to set the record straight. Although his religion advocates smoking marijuana, Forchion said he would be thrown back in jail if he exercised the ritual. "They won't let me see my daughter because I advocated legalizing marijuana," said Forchion, who was released from his incarceration April 3 after serving 18 months at the Riverfront State Prison in Camden for possession of 25 pounds of pot. He said he hasn't smoked pot in 20 months. Yesterday, Forchion passed out over 100 fliers at the courthouse. Only three people, he said, openly disagreed with his message. In addition to his allegations that the U.S. legal system discriminates against Rastafarians, Forchion took the opportunity to launch invectives against his ex-girlfriend, Linda Holden, the mother of his 6-year-old daughter. Holden was "a scorned woman," he said. "The way our relationship broke up ... I admit I blew it, I got caught. And she has never gotten over it," he said. "Being Mr. Weedman got me. I've done my time. I got out." Forchion has been trying for six years to see his daughter, Ajanea Forchion, who was 5 months old when he broke up with Holden. He has been married for four years and lives with three other children, including another 6-year-old. "Rastafarians are being persecuted," he said. "We are no different than Falun Gong; they have their kids taken, they are arrested, go to re-education camps. We are forced to go to NA meetings, Narcotics Anonymous." Rastafarianism is considered an illegal religion, he said, because of the war on marijuana, an "an herb, grown by God, that's natural and beneficial. "The Christians have something against me. The court system is run by [Christians] ... They can't control what we believe." Forchion said he is being forced to renounce his religious beliefs so he can see his daughter. "You can't take my kid from me for what I believe," he said.
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