JOINT VENTURE

Marijuana activist Edward Forchion, better known as "NJ Weedman," was
sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing 25 pounds of marijuana he
allegedly planned to sell.

CAMDEN -- The man who campaigned for a seat in the U.S. House of
Representatives as "NJ Weedman" was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in
prison for possessing 25 pounds of marijuana he planned to sell, officials
said.

Edward Forchion unsuccessfully sought asylum with the Cuban Embassy in
Ottawa, Canada, in November, saying he should be allowed to smoke marijuana.

Authorities alleged Forchion was part of a drug ring that had the marijuana
shipped to a business in the Bellmawr Industrial Park.

In October 1998, he was indicted on charges of conspiracy and possession
with intent to distribute.

He was on the ballot at the time as the "Legalize marijuana party''
candidate looking to replace U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, a Democrat from Camden
County in the 1st Congressional District.

Forchion pleaded guilty in state Superior Court to conspiracy and possession.

He had filed a motion seeking to retract that guilty plea, but was
sentenced yesterday anyway, according to Greg Reinert, spokesman for the
Camden County prosecutor's office.

In March, Forchion appeared at the State House for an Assembly session
wearing a black and white striped prisoner's costume.

On the floor of the Assembly chambers, Forchion allegedly began smoking
marijuana in what he called an act of civil disobedience. He was escorted
out by state troopers and arrested.

Forchion ran again this year as a third-party opponent to Andrews and was
also on the ballot in Burlington County for a seat on the freeholder board.

Forchion, who could have faced as much as 30 years behind bars, had hoped
for a lesser sentence tied to rehabilitation.

Speaking on Thursday, Forchion told The Trentonian that he intended to
appeal the sentence, in the hopes of getting an opportunity to argue before
a jury that New Jersey's anti-marijuana statutes are too severe and
overlook the drug's medicinal and religious purposes.

It was the unreasonable nature of the law that Forchion said he had hoped
to use in his defense.

"I should have been the perfect candidate to challenge this law," he told
reporters the day before his sentencing yesterday, saying he had hoped to
use a strategy of "jury nullification."

In "jury nullification," the first indictee of a new law argues in front of
a jury that the law is bogus. Forchion has argued that there is sufficient
legal precedence for the strategy -- and that he has the right to use it.

Forchion argued that many attorneys, while privately admitting that he may
have a case with "jury nullification," were uncomfortable becoming publicly
involved because of the potential legal ramifications.