NJ Weedman Runs for Governor

TRENTON — In the past, Edward Forchion has run for office to promote the legalization of marijuana.

This year, he is taking a more extreme stance in his bid for governor.

"This time it's a whole angrier thing," said Forchion, 41. "I'm openly advocating that my whole reason for running for office is to specifically give the finger to the attorney general, the Republicans and the Democrats."

Forchion, of Browns Mills in Pemberton Township, is angry over being jailed for five months in late 2002 for filming ads advocating the legalization of marijuana while he was on probation for possession and intent to distribute the drug.

He had served 16 months of a 10-year sentence before his parole.

A federal judge ultimately ruled the arrest for the videos was a violation of his free speech rights. Forchion hopes his candidacy — and its surrounding publicity — will stick it to state and federal officials.

And if he's elected?

"I'd pardon every single pothead that was arrested. I'd do that all day," said Forchion. "I'm a news junkie. I could talk about a lot of things, but for the sake of this campaign, I am openly advocating for all the potheads."

Forchion, who once tried to change his legal name to njweedman.com so that judges would have to call him "Mr. Weedman," has long promoted the legalization of marijuana and believes it should be allowed on free speech grounds, saying it is tied to his Rastafari religion.

"You don't have to smoke marijuana to believe that you shouldn't be put in a cage for smoking marijuana," Forchion said. "The weedman in every community is providing a service. . . . The fact of the matter is, we, the people, want drugs."

Although his stance would surely qualify him as soft on crime in many voters' eyes, Forchion insists that he is a conservative.

"To be a conservative you have to believe that the government should not be dictating your life," Forchion said. "All these conservatives who support the war on drugs are hypocrites."

Forchion has had many brushes with the law, several stemming from publicity stunts, including a citation while smoking at the Liberty Bell and being escorted from the New Jersey Statehouse after lighting up in the balcony of the Assembly. He said police have frequently chased him away while he campaigns, including an incident in which he was refused access to press row in the Statehouse.

His first dose of censorship, he said, was in his Waterford high school yearbook, where his quote "We smoke pot, we drink brew, we're the class of '82," was left out.

For now, Forchion has temporarily stopped smoking marijuana for his truck-driving job, but he said it is only "a temporary affliction."

In what he said is likely his last run for New Jersey office, Forchion hopes ads on cable channels like Comedy Central and music channels will draw young voters. But he said the constant battles with the law have worn him down.

"This is my last hurrah. I've been doing this for like, eight or nine years now, I'm still a one-man gang. I've never been able to spark the reefer revolution," Forchion said. "I've kind of lost my fire."