The
Issues
A
campaign of marijuana smoking April
29th, 1998
A Camden County freeholder board
candidate inhales and gets himself arrested.
By Angela
Couloumbis
INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT
CHERRY HILL --
Baseball cap pulled low on his brow, a lit joint dangling
from his lips, Camden County Freeholder hopeful Edward
Forchion was about to demonstrate his version of
political stumping.
Standing before the
locked front door of the county's Democratic
headquarters, independent candidate Forchion took a drag
off his marijuana cigarette, lifted his fists, and
pounded on the glass door. "Hey, buddy, can I come
in," Forchion, asked between puffs, spotting the
shadow of a person scurrying from his view.
Silence.
"Hey, I'm
standing out here smoking a joint," Forchion yelled
into the glass. "Aren't you going to call the police
on me?" Forchion, who is running for
freeholder under a "Legalize Marijuana"
platform, wasn't going to let the county Democrats'
inaction spoil his fun. He hopped into his black van, the
one he's decorated with green stickers of cannabis
leaves, drove to the nearest public phone, and called the
police himself.
"He called us
saying he was going to be at county headquarters, toking
on a roach," said Cherry Hill Lt. Christopher D.
Harty. "A couple of our guys went out there and
arrested him on a disorderly persons offense."
And that, said
Forchion, was precisely the intended outcome.
The 33-year-old
Chesilhurst resident wanted to make a statement, a
statement that is the centerpiece and lone purpose of his
solo campaign: that marijuana must be legalized, and
arresting people smoking marijuana is just downright
dumb. It is a statement, he says, he intends to take to
several prominent candidates' offices between now and the
November election. And if he gets arrested again, all the
better, he says.
"I'm going to
pick a different person every time," said Forchion,
a former truck driver who is now unemployed. "I want
people to know that I am against the punitive approach to
drug use."But why show people that by smoking a
joint at Democratic headquarters?
"I'm
protesting [ U.S. ] Congressman [ Rob ] Andrews'
opposition to a bill that would legalize the medical use
of marijuana," Forchion said, adding that he is
gathering signatures to run for Congress against Andrews.
Forchion said he had walked into Andrews' congressional
office in Haddon Heights
on
Monday smoking a joint and asked his staffers to arrest
him. When Andrews' congressional staff hesitated,
Forchion left the office, called police, and then
returned to smoke a second joint, waiting for the men in
blue to show.
Haddon Heights
police could not be reached for comment yesterday. Bill
Caruso, special assistant to Andrews, said simply:
"The police came, and we are cooperating with the
investigation." At Democratic headquarters
yesterday, county Democratic chairman David Luthman shook
his head, watching silently as
Cherry Hill police officers took statements from two
county Democratic employees. Luthman then retreated into
his office.
"We live in a
society of laws, and even if you disagree with those
laws, that doesn't give you license to violate
them," Luthman said, adding that his office also
called police on Forchion."There are other means by
which you can lobby for changes in those laws. I'm not
sure what he's trying to prove."
Forchion doesn't
suffer from the same uncertainty."This is a civil
disobedience that goes on every day," he said. For
yesterday's arrest, Forchion will face a municipal judge
by the end of next month, police said. And doesn't he
think a record full of arrests will hurt his chances of
getting elected in Camden County? "Nope," Forchion said simply.
"There are a lot of marijuana users out there who
would love to see the drug legalized."
UPDATE
- Feb. 27, 2000
It took nearly
two years - but
eventually the
case was heard!
MARCH 13th, 2000"NJWEEDMAN" & son
"KING"
confronts Babylon(click picture for story)
 |
Ed
Forchion waits outside Cherry Hill Municipal Court
(Feb. 23rd) with his son "KING". Forchion
is appealing a recent marijuana conviction, con -
tending he needs the drug for pain relief and as part
of his religious beliefs, and practice's.
Sunday, February
27, 2000
Adam L. Cataldo (Staff Writer)
Philadelphia Inquirer
"NJWEEDMAN"
suffers setback, but vows appeal
(Cherry
Hill NJ) - As
Edward Forchion, self-styled drug reformer and
erstwhile political candidate, waited in a hallway
outside Cherry Hill Municipal Court early Wednesday
(Feb 23rd) morning, the stress of another court
appearance was taking its toll.
"I didn't
have a joint this morning"Forchion said with a
laugh, trying to explian the look on his face. By the
end of the day, the self-proclaimed
"NJWEEDMAN" had more reason to look
distressed.
Forchion's
motion to have marijuana-possesion charges against
him dismissed on the grounds of religious freedom was
denied, and Forchion pleaded guilty to possesion of
marijuana.
Now he plans to
appeal. If he wins, his guilty plea will be thrown
out. He was arrested in April 1998 while
demonstrating before the Camden County Democratic
Party Headquarter's here in Cherry Hill. ( He lit joint) . He was running for
both the 1st dist. Congressional seat held by (d) Rob
Andrews, and Camden County freeholder.
In 1999 he ran
simultaneously - for the Camden County Freeholder's
board again, as well as for The state assembly 8th
dist.. Each time attracting several thousands votes.
In his campaign, he pressed for an overhaul of the
states marijuana laws.
Cherry Hill
municipal prosecutor Judy Charny said Forchion faces
a fine but no jail time. He's basically saying,
"I can do whatever I want because my religion
say's it's OK," Charny said. "That kind of
logic can be taken to extreme."
THESE
CASE'S ARE NOW BEFORE THE N.J. SUPREME COURT
as DOCKET NO. -
51,963
the court
should rule in summer 2002 !
Issues for
disabled are candidate forum focus
Friday, October 16,
1998
By Lisa Oshop
Staff
Writer
DEPTFORD TWP. One
freeholder candidate told disabled people Thursday
that it would be good if group homes notified their
neighbors when moving into a community, even though
federal law calls that discrimination.
Another freeholder
candidate told a questioner that advocates for the
disabled should offer "incentives" to
persuade municipalities not to use zoning laws to
shut out group homes.
These candidates
were two of 10 political hopefuls who participated in
an Arc-Gloucester forum designed to help local
government understand the issues facing people with
disabilities. An independent candidate joined
Republicans and Democrats on the panel.
These examples of
well-meaning advice demonstrate that candidates for
local office still have a lot to learn about serving
their disabled constituents, the president of
Arc-Gloucester said afterward. "You don't want
to begrudge them that lack of knowledge. You have to
help them," said Suzanne Dalton.
Edward Forchion, an
independent candidate for Congress, said he wanted to
attend because his mother owns a group home in
Chesilhurst that was a source of contention for
neighbors who didn't want to live near people with
disabilities. At one point, Forchion, in response to
a question, said he opposed institutionalizing people
with disabilities.
Incumbent
Republican Freeholder Ginny Weber, noting that she is
liaison to the county Board of Mental Health, said
people resent not being told when group homes are
coming into their neighborhood. "One of the
problems is when people are not aware of it,"
she said.
After the meeting,
Weber said the problem of community notification is a
"Catch-22." "Federal law says
you can't do that," Weber said. "I don't
think (people) necessarily have the right to know,
but it helps to notify. When something is hidden,
people become suspicious," she said.
When Jackie Love,
director of the Gloucester County Office for the
Disabled, asked whether any candidates supported
using zoning laws to limit group homes, all the
candidates who responded said no. Earlier, when Love
asked how to cope with municipalities that use zoning
laws to limit group homes, Republican freeholder
candidate
Phillip S. Rhudy suggested that advocates sell
municipalities on having the homes there.
"You have to
give them incentives," Rhudy said. Democratic
Freeholder Stephen Sweeney, sitting in the audience
with Freeholder James Atkinson, protested. "As a
father of a child with a disability, I think as
family members we shouldn't have to offer any
incentives other than we have rights the same as
everybody else," Sweeney said to applause from
the audience.
"I just wanted
them to look at it from all angles," Rhudy
replied. One woman asked freeholder candidates
whether the county plans to expand transportation
services. Weber said transportation should be
expanded in the county. She rode the bus through the
county to determine which routes were needed and
lobbied to maintain the bus stop at Gloucester County
College.
Woodbury Mayor
Donald Sanderson, a Republican running for
reelection, said he is pressing the state to bring
light rail trains with routes to Trenton and
Philadelphia to the area. "They're talking about
regular transportation. I was going to go on that
route Weber talked about but I couldn't get on the
bus. It wasn't accessible," said a member of the
audience who uses a wheelchair.
Another audience
member said her disabled daughter could not cross
Route 42 to catch a bus. Afterwards, Love gave the
candidates a mixed review. "I felt some had
limited experience on the issues," she said. The
biggest problems facing people with disabilities
involve access to housing and transportation, said
Janis Risch, a spokeswoman for Arc-Gloucester.
"This
forum served the purpose of introducing our issues to
the candidates," she said afterwards.
 ">Contact Ed Forchion
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LEGALIZE MARIJUANA PARTY of SOUTH JERSEY
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