cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Advocate is Sentenced To Prison Marijuana Advocate is Sentenced To Prison Posted by FoM on December 02, 2000 at 09:58:16 PT By Aamer Madhani, Inquirer Suburban Staff Source: Philadelphia Inquirer The highly unusual drug case involving marijuana-legalization advocate Edward Forchion came to a conclusion yesterday as he was sentenced to prison for his part in brokering a drug deal for his brother.With Forchion's wife, Janice, and two of his young children in the courtroom, Camden County Superior Court Judge Stephen W. Thompson sentenced Forchion to a 10-year prison term. Forchion will be eligible for parole in slightly less than two years, and he could apply for intensive supervisory parole in six months."I don't smoke marijuana," Janice Forchion said after the trial. "But I don't understand why they let murderers, rapists and pedophiles off so quickly and put away marijuana smokers."If Forchion, of Browns Mills, pursues the supervisory parole option, he could be tested at any time under the program.Forchion - who has been cited for lighting marijuana joints in the chambers of the New Jersey Legislature and the office of U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D., N.J.) - says he remains an unapologetic marijuana smoker.A Rastafarian, Forchion has said he smokes marijuana for religious reasons, to relieve physical ailments, and to soothe chronic depression. Since the mid-1990s, Forchion, a former cross-country truck driver, has been an outspoken advocate of legalizing marijuana.In November, he ran unsuccessfully for the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders and a U.S. House seat under the Legalize Marijuana Party.Assistant Prosecutor John Wynne Jr. said the Prosecutor's Office would not contest Forchion's application for the parole.When he entered a guilty plea in September, Forchion acknowledged that he introduced his brother, Russell, to a marijuana supplier in Arizona and had flown to Tucson on behalf of his brother in October 1997 to seal the sale of about 40 pounds of marijuana.The shipment was delivered to the Bellmawr Industrial Park by Federal Express. Shortly after picking up the marijuana, Russell Forchion was arrested as he drove away from the park, authorities said. Edward Forchion, who was driving behind him, was also arrested.A third man, Eric Poole, who signed for the package, was convicted of a lesser crime. Russell Forchion testified for the prosecution, and served about five months in prison before being placed on intensive supervisory parole.In his September trial, Edward Forchion served as his own attorney. In his opening statement, he criticized what he said were unjust marijuana laws and asked jurors to invoke jury nullification, in which a jury can set aside the law it believes that the law is unjust. Jury nullification cannot be advertised to a jury under New Jersey law, but Wynne did not object during the proceeding.The trial ended when Wynne offered Forchion what both said was a good deal - potentially spending as little as six months in prison.But before the sentencing yesterday, the judge heard a motion from Forchion to withdraw his guilty plea. Forchion said that he did not get a proper trial, because the Public Defender's Office refused to pay for expert witnesses to testify on his behalf. He said he wanted a new trial.Wynne successfully countered that if Forchion were given a new trial, the first trial would have been essentially a practice run, something that every attorney would like but that collides with the integrity of the system.The judge denied Forchion's motion to withdraw."In the middle of the trial, you elected to plead guilty, sir," Thompson said.Forchion said that he pondered not showing up in court yesterday. Last week, he called news organizations in South Jersey to say he had fled to Canada and was seeking asylum at the Cuban Embassy there.By Wednesday, he sent e-mails to the media that he would appear for his sentencing."I didn't want [my wife] to lose the house," said Forchion, referring to the home she put up to post his $65,000 bail.Thompson said he believed Forchion was sincere in his advocacy for reform of marijuana laws. But he noted that Forchion did break the law."Your beliefs at this juncture are misguided," Thompson said.Aamer Madhani's e-mail address is: amadhani phillynews.com Source: Inquirer (PA)Author: Aamer Madhani, Inquirer Suburban StaffPublished: Saturday, December 2, 2000Copyright: 2000 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.Address: 400 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19101Contact: Inquirer.Letters phillynews.comWebsite: http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/home/Forum: http://interactive.phillynews.com/talk-show/Related Articles & Web Site:Legalize Marijuana Partyhttp://www.tlmp.org/Up In Smokehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7782.shtmlAdvocate For Legal Marijuana Leaves Country http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7757.shtmlLegal Marijuana Advocate Flees To Canada http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7751.shtmlMarijuana Candidate Finds Plea a Bargainhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7122.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Ed Forchionhttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Forchion Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by Rev. Jonathan Adler on December 03, 2000 at 09:53:25 PT: Ed Forchion Aloha Brother Ed! Rev. Jonathan Adler knows Ed well.I have been in court proceedings now since my Aug. 28, 1998 bust for 89 tagged medical/religious plants at my residence.I have invoked our "defense to prosecution" in Hawaii Law since 1977. I have not been convicted in 2 years plus and the court has agreed that all 89 plants were for medical use. I won, but they are pending my case? Why! Are they afraid of the truth getting out? Ed and I met in Philly during the class action suit which we should have won, but the Judge Katz was bought off or scared off... Ed Forchion is a person who made a few mistakes and will have to pay, but his right to use cannabis is infinitely legal.We are pushing our State to identify the Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute as an approved medical cannabis supplier for patients and research projects in the rule-making currently going on in Public Safety. How ironic that Prison officials are deciding who, how and if sick medical patientscan legally access cannabis for their use. This is why the religious protections are so important and unassailable by the dark forces of our dark government. Praise be to you all.Contact us at www.medijuana.com Good Luck Ed! Rev. Jonathan Adler Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Gary Storck on December 02, 2000 at 22:49:27 PT Don't give up the fight! Sad to see the Weedman run up against a mean judge. Society does not need to be protected from him. I hope he can get his parole ASAP, but it's just another injustice inflicted by this sensesless war on we, the people. Is My Medicine Legal Yet? [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on December 02, 2000 at 13:29:56 PT Hypocrisy >>"Your beliefs at this juncture are misguided," [Judge] Thompson said. He should know about misguided beliefs!! http://www.pot-tv.net/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by ras james RSIFWH on December 02, 2000 at 12:33:12 PT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM the judeo-christian-muslim traditions have finally and permanently been fulfilled by JAH RASTAFARI. until every rasta is free to smoke the sacred "tree of life", the shitstem will continue to melt down...all can see this now occuring. so now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. ergo the I-man urges the United States of America to stop trying to chop down the manifesting tree of life, cannabis sativa..REV. 22:1&2. Even the greatest super power in the history of man cannot defy the ALMIGHTY'S BOOK. the final judgement is now; Give all praise and thanks to JAH RASTAFARI, THE FATHER...WHOSE FINAL WORDS IN THE BIBLE ARE; "the Grace of the Lord Jesus be with the ALL." recognizing cannabis sativa as the promised plant fruiting (achenes) on both sides of the street each month of the year, governments will understand the final hour is a time of great joy for EVERYONE; not jail time for the holy herb people. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on December 02, 2000 at 12:33:00 PT MikeEEEEE Hey MikeEEEEE! Glad it's working fine for you but don't ever worry about needing something fixed like a double post. That is very simple for me. Fixing some of my goofs are a lot harder I'll tell you! LOL!PS: Thank You Mike if you meant me. It takes all of us to make the difference that we are finally starting to make. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by MikeEEEEE on December 02, 2000 at 11:55:54 PT BS This is BS, it has to stop; 10 years for breaking misguided laws.FoM, no double posts today, it's working good. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Gordon on December 02, 2000 at 11:47:29 PT: Non-violent offender There it goes again. Another non-violent offender put in jail for what? Marijuana, of course! When is it going to stop? They let child molesters off on probation, let thieves and robbers, even murderers loose on the streets, all in the name of the war on drugs. Wake up America! This is not going to work in the long run. How many new prisons do taxpayers have to build to keep pot smokers in jail? This is simply ridiculous. Marijuana is not even a drug, it's a plant, grown by mother nature just as any other plant. How can you outlaw a plant? It's senseless!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by mike fritz on December 02, 2000 at 11:23:42 PT: congradsulation Keep up the good work !!!! 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