Caught with a pound of reefer, "NJ Weedman" says cops "racially profiled" him

MOUNT HOLLY —“NJ Weedman” Ed Forchion said he wishes he hadn’t been driving with a pound of herb in his car on April Fools’ Day. But he’s also charging police with racially profiling him.

Forchion, 45, was arrested at 10:15 p.m. April 1 on several pot possession charges after getting stopped on Route 38 in Mount Holly, according to state police.

Trooper Ken Rayhan pulled Forchion over on the highway near Pine Street on allegations Forchion stopped his his car at a red light and proceeded to drive before the light turned green.

But the routine traffic stop turned into a criminal investigation when the trooper “smelt burnt marijuana coming from the car” and “saw a glass smoking pipe on the rear floor,” said state police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones.

Forchion, who sports a dreadlocks hairdo, admits to possessing the pound of weed — “I clearly use marijuana” — but he accuses Rayhan of initiating a “straight profile stop.”

Rayhan has been on the state police force for about six years. He stopped Forchion “for no other reason than he disobeyed traffic laws,” Jones said.

Forchion was driving in the right lane of the highway and stopped his vehicle “basically in the middle of the intersection” upon realizing the traffic light of his lane was red while the left-hand turn signal turned green, Jones said in explaining the motor vehicle stop.

Forchion is a Burlington County native and self-described “weed capitalist” who moved to the West Coast two years ago to open up a medical marijuana dispensary in Hollywood. He has a history of multiple failed bids for elected office in New Jersey, centering his campaigns around legalizing pot for everyone, not just for the “walking dead.”

“I wasn’t even in town 24 hours and the state arrested me,” said Forchion, a father of five. He services patients, including celebrities, with his legal weed joint in California, but “I come to town every other month to visit my kids.”

The author of “Public Enemy No. 420,” a narrative on pot, Forchion said he “made the mistake of not having a hat on” when he was arrested here last week. He said his hat would have concealed his dreads, which he said would have minimized suspicion of wrongdoing.

Weedman said he will fight to get his charges dropped and he said he will also file a lawsuit against the state to overturn the state’s medical marijuana law. Forchion said he believes the law is unconstitutional for allowing terminally ill people to possess marijuana while state criminal law prohibits anyone else from possessing pot.

“The state should not be able to have two legal descriptions of the same substance,” Forchion said. “How can the state be allowed to have it both ways?”

State police said Forchion was driving while suspended in a 1991 Pontiac Grand Prix that was rented in someone else’s name. Police said they found the weed after scouring through the car on a search warrant.

The pot activist was charged with possession of marijuana over 50 grams, possession with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to obey a traffic signal, driving while suspended and driving with a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle, state police said. Weedman was also jailed on two unrelated warrants: one for $10,000 in unpaid child support and a $350 traffic warrant, state police confirmed. Forchion said he was released Monday after paying the $10,000 child support and posting the 10 percent of his $50,000 bail.

Forchion said the state “opened up a can of worms, because I’m gonna fight. I’m looking forward to my day in court.”

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