Marijuana Activist Pledges More Protests

MOUNT HOLLY - Marijuana legalization advocate Ed Forchion is getting
ready to complete a 20-month parole term for drug possession, but
don't expect the self-described "nj-weedman" to keep quiet once that
term is done.

To celebrate the end of his parole, Forchion said he plans to go to
the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia on Dec. 3, when the parole term ends.
He said he will smoke marijuana with other activists in front of the
national symbol of freedom as "a patriotic thing" and a religious
demonstration.

Forchion says he practices the Rastafarian religion and contends he
uses marijuana for religious ritual. He believes a federal court
ruling protects his right to use marijuana for religious purposes on
federal property, such as the grounds surrounding the Liberty Bell.

Forchion, who lives in Pemberton Township, learned yesterday that he
is scheduled for release from the state's Intensive Supervision
Program on Dec. 3. He has been enrolled in the parole program since
early last year in connection with an October 2000 conviction for
possessing 40 pounds of marijuana.

The program calls for mandatory urine tests and other
restrictions.

Forchion met with the program's resentencing panel yesterday for a
review hearing, and the board informed him that his term would end
Dec. 3.

Forchion served more than a year of a 10-year state prison term before
being released from prison in April 2002. He was then enrolled in the
parole program for a 20-month term.

If he violates the terms of the program before Dec. 3, he will have to
return to prison.

Forchion is no stranger to demonstrations at government sites. He has
been arrested for smoking marijuana inside the New Jersey Statehouse
in Trenton and in front of the Burlington County Administration
Building in Mount Holly.

He said he has more than one intention for his Dec. 3 visit to the
Liberty Bell. While there, he will also officially launch a 2004 run
for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 3rd District, which is
currently represented by Republican Jim Saxton of Mount Holly.

Forchion has run unsuccessfully for federal, state and county offices
several times using a marijuana-legalization platform. This time,
Forchion said, he will run for the first time as a member of the U.S.
Marijuana Party.


Pubdate: Fri, 21 Nov 2003
Source: Burlington County Times (NJ)
Copyright: 2003 Calkins Newspapers. Inc.
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