Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Marijuana legalization activist Edward Forchion, better known as NJ Weedman, lost an appeal to overturn his 2010 possession conviction.
Forchion, who moved to California, sought to have his Burlington County conviction thrown out by claiming he has a medical necessity for the pot and that criminalizing the possession of marijuana violates his rights under the U.S. and New Jersey constitutions.
But an appellate panel, in its 31-page decision issued on Friday, didn't agree and upheld his conviction.
Reached on Saturday through Twitter, Forchion told NJ Advance Media that he plans to ask the state Supreme Court to consider his case.
"When this case started on April 1st 2010 — I knew it would go on for years and end up in the states "HIGHEST," he wrote.
Forchion, who has run for Senate and governor in New Jersey on his marijuana platform, was arrested on April 1, 2010, when New Jersey State Police said he ran a red light. Forchion contends that knowing a police officer was in the area, he slammed on the brakes on his rental car that he said stopped just over the white line at the intersection on Route 38.
The trooper arrested Forchion after finding a glass pipe behind the driver's seat and after smelling burned marijuana in the car, according to the court documents.
Forchion, who claimed he was the victim of a illegal search because of his dreadlocks, argued there was no smell of burned marijuana in the car and that the pipe was under the driver's seat.
In his suitcase in the trunk of the car, police found about a pound of marijuana, which Forchion insisted he was permitted to have in California and said it was for his personal use.
He was charged with possession of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute. A jury found him guilty of the possession charge but couldn't reach a verdict on the distribution charge. In a separate trial, he was later acquitted of the distribution allegation, according to court papers.
Making more than a dozen arguments in his appeal, Forchion claimed, among other points, that the law criminalizing marijuana is unconstitutional as it applied to him because he has a medical necessity for it.
He said the state's marijuana laws discriminated against him religiously because he is a Rastafarian and deprived him of his right to travel.
Disagreeing with Forchion's arguments, the trial judge said that although New Jersey's medical marijuana law was adopted in January 2010, it did not go into effect until July 1 of that year — three months after Forchion's arrest.
The judge also said Forchion, who claimed he needs marijuana to relieve bone pain from benign tumors in his legs, would most likely not meet the medical requirements to possess marijuana in New Jersey and that the amount he had "far exceeded" the amount allowed under New Jersey law.
The appellate panel agreed with the trial judge's findings.
"In this case, the fact that marijuana may be medically prescribed for some New Jersey citizens does not create a secular exemption that triggers strict scrutiny analysis," appellate judges Carmen Messano, Margaret Hayden and Thomas Sumners Jr. wrote.
Forchion has since relocated to Trenton, where he opened a restaurant across the street from the Statehouse and serving food with $4.20 prices.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NJ Weedman taking marijuana conviction to high court | NJ.com
Author: MaryAnn Spoto
Contact: Contact information, user services and more on NJ.com | NJ.com
Photo Credit: CNN
Website: New Jersey Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NJ.com
Forchion, who moved to California, sought to have his Burlington County conviction thrown out by claiming he has a medical necessity for the pot and that criminalizing the possession of marijuana violates his rights under the U.S. and New Jersey constitutions.
But an appellate panel, in its 31-page decision issued on Friday, didn't agree and upheld his conviction.
Reached on Saturday through Twitter, Forchion told NJ Advance Media that he plans to ask the state Supreme Court to consider his case.
"When this case started on April 1st 2010 — I knew it would go on for years and end up in the states "HIGHEST," he wrote.
Forchion, who has run for Senate and governor in New Jersey on his marijuana platform, was arrested on April 1, 2010, when New Jersey State Police said he ran a red light. Forchion contends that knowing a police officer was in the area, he slammed on the brakes on his rental car that he said stopped just over the white line at the intersection on Route 38.
The trooper arrested Forchion after finding a glass pipe behind the driver's seat and after smelling burned marijuana in the car, according to the court documents.
Forchion, who claimed he was the victim of a illegal search because of his dreadlocks, argued there was no smell of burned marijuana in the car and that the pipe was under the driver's seat.
In his suitcase in the trunk of the car, police found about a pound of marijuana, which Forchion insisted he was permitted to have in California and said it was for his personal use.
He was charged with possession of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute. A jury found him guilty of the possession charge but couldn't reach a verdict on the distribution charge. In a separate trial, he was later acquitted of the distribution allegation, according to court papers.
Making more than a dozen arguments in his appeal, Forchion claimed, among other points, that the law criminalizing marijuana is unconstitutional as it applied to him because he has a medical necessity for it.
He said the state's marijuana laws discriminated against him religiously because he is a Rastafarian and deprived him of his right to travel.
Disagreeing with Forchion's arguments, the trial judge said that although New Jersey's medical marijuana law was adopted in January 2010, it did not go into effect until July 1 of that year — three months after Forchion's arrest.
The judge also said Forchion, who claimed he needs marijuana to relieve bone pain from benign tumors in his legs, would most likely not meet the medical requirements to possess marijuana in New Jersey and that the amount he had "far exceeded" the amount allowed under New Jersey law.
The appellate panel agreed with the trial judge's findings.
"In this case, the fact that marijuana may be medically prescribed for some New Jersey citizens does not create a secular exemption that triggers strict scrutiny analysis," appellate judges Carmen Messano, Margaret Hayden and Thomas Sumners Jr. wrote.
Forchion has since relocated to Trenton, where he opened a restaurant across the street from the Statehouse and serving food with $4.20 prices.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NJ Weedman taking marijuana conviction to high court | NJ.com
Author: MaryAnn Spoto
Contact: Contact information, user services and more on NJ.com | NJ.com
Photo Credit: CNN
Website: New Jersey Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NJ.com
