NJWEEDMAN

The Fight of His Life ----Ed Forchion, a.k.a NJWeedman, is known to all as a fighter. He has been an advocate for the legalization of marijuana for over 15 years and a freedom fighter, taking a stance to protect our freedom of speech in this country. (UPDATE - TRIAL IS POSTPONED TO APRIL 10th, 2012  -    -)

THIS PRESS RELEASE WAS WRITTEN BEFORE TRIAL POSTPONEMENT

Well now our beloved “superhero to the potheads” is fighting for his life as he fights for his rights in trial set for Tuesday, October 18^th, in Mt. Holly, New Jersey. On April 1^st, 2010, Forchion was arrested and indicted on one count of felony possession with intent to distribute, when he was found with 1lb. of medical marijuana in the trunk of his Pontiac rental car on a visit to his home town in New Jersey. Because of a prior conviction he now faces 12 years in jail. The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office has already offered him a deal that would put him in the joint for about a year. Forchion says he’s fighting this case to the bitter end. “Any deal that requires me to go to prison is not a deal to me,” he says. “I don’t want to spend four minutes and 20 seconds in jail. I’m going all in. I want a fair and complete trial, and I want ... 12 of my peers, to decide my fate. I got arrested on April Fool’s Day, and pretty soon we’ll find out who’s the fool—me, or the state.”

 Forchion never backs down from a fight and this time there is more at stake than his freedom. He has been diagnosed with various medical ailments that require the use of marijuana, one in particular are tumors that were found in his bones. He has had surgeries to remove the tumors before, ironically while in prison.  He uses medical marijuana to effectively preventively shrink and control his tumors as well as the pain associated with them. However, the State of New Jersey, is intent of prosecuting him criminally while there is a medical marijuana law on the New Jersey law books allowing the use of medical marijuana if physician recommended. Forchion has a California State issued card as well as a doctors recommendation. Forchion knows it is within his “unalienable rights” and more importantly his right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These rights and phrases are the backbone of the principle of American freedom as stated in the United States Declaration of Independence.

When Forchion was incarcerated in New Jersey, back in 2000, he was suffering a bout of “tumors.” Within a month of being in prison and off marijuana, the tumor in his leg began to grow and within three months it was the size of a cut-in-half golf ball. It took eight months of phone calls and complaints from a doctor friend of his, Dr. Steven Fenichell, to the prison medical system to get Forchion treated. When the tumor was finally removed at St. Francis Hospital in Trenton, NJ, he was treated horribly and as less than human in the prison hospital. When Forchion claimed that being off marijuana at that time due to his imprisonment was the cause of the rapid growth of his tumors, it was dismissed as anecdotal and not scientifically conclusive. Meanwhile, it is a known fact that the Government is aware that marijuana shrinks tumors and it is used for cancer patients with great success for that purpose as well as alleviating pain and discomfort.

(Government knew in 1974 that Marijuana shrinks tumors)

According to Forchion, marijuana is one of the safest therapeutic substances on the planet and it has been used as a medicine for thousands of years. But the Government fraudulently classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, claiming it is dangerous and therefore taking away everyone’s right to Liberty, and safety.

With Forchion now facing years in prison, he is now put in a position where his incarceration could be life threatening and at the least he knows he will be in pain, left untreated and, mistreated and abused by the prison hospital system. Below is an x-ray of an existing tumor in his leg, that if left untreated by marijuana, will grow and spread. Forchion is begging the public to assist him by supporting him in his trial on October 18^th. Going to prison this time, even if it is for a year, WILL IMPACT HIS LIFE, AND HEALTH IN A INHUMAN WAY.

The 47-year-old’s trial is set to begin at the Burlington County courthouse on wed., Oct. 19. Again, he’s representing himself, and again he’s planning to use a jury nullification defense—a risky strategy that will put the marijuana laws themselves on trial. The problem, however, is that, opponents of jury nullification consider the tactic anarchy and a mockery of the system. Many judges will not allow it to be used, and defense attorneys are prohibited from using it because it goes against their oath to “uphold the law.” Only defendants who represent themselves can argue jury nullification. “It’s a rights/power dichotomy—courts have said that while juries have the power to do this thing, they don’t have the right, so you’re not allowed to argue it to them,” explains Houston-based lawyer Clay Conrad, author of the book Jury Nullification: The Evolution of a Doctrine (which Forchion consulted in preparation for his trial). “It’s something that’s been argued for hundreds of years, but as a practical matter, if you have power that you can’t be punished for exercising, how is that different from a right?”

If he loses the trial, he forfeits his freedom and his possibly his life. A victory means that not only would he beat the system, he could potentially weaken those existing laws, and help legions of fellow weedheads to escape similar prosecution. “I want to be the Roe v. Wade of marijuana legalization,” says Forchion.

Marijuana has proven medical uses that doctors and users both know all to well. Forchion has successfully treated everything from asthma to bone tumors. Additionally, he has been receiving conventional health care for the removal of a larger tumor in his femur. He has no health insurance, but was able to secure medical treatment in California. He is scheduled for an MRI and Cat Scan on monday, October 24^th in California, however with this trial and if he is indicted he will not be able to receive the health care he is receiving and will BE subjected to the delays and poor treatment of the prison health care system.

Should a man be convicted of an action that is legal on the books and an action that is medically advantageous to his health? Should he be incarcerated and thereby sentenced to A SERIOUS HEALTH CARE DEFICIENCY OR EVEN death due to the inability to continue his health care? With a jury of his peers, Forchion hopes to come out victorious not only in his own trial, but in being allowed to continue to stay healthy, and for marijuana smokers everywhere who a reaping the benefits of this wondrous bud!

______CLICK TO SEE VIDEO ____

Pot Shrinks Tumors; Government Knew in '74

(May 2000) In 1974 researchers learned that THC, the active chemical in marijuana, shrank or destroyed brain tumors in test mice. But the DEA quickly shut down the study and destroyed its results, which were never replicated -- until now.

The term medical marijuana took on dramatic new meaning in February, 2000 when researchers in Madrid announced they had destroyed incurable brain tumors in rats by injecting them with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis. (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE)