'WEEDMAN' FAILS IN EFFORT TO GET OUT OF JAIL

Convict loses freedom after publicly backing marijuana legalization

The self-proclaimed "New Jersey Weedman" headed back to jail yesterday
after failing to gain approval for readmission into a stringent early
parole program.

The three-judge Intensive Supervision Program panel that met yesterday
adjourned without reaching a decision in the case of Edward Forchion,
convicted of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute.

The panel did not announce when the matter would be resumed, but until
then, Forchion will remain in jail in Burlington County, where he has been
since he was removed from the program.

Forchion had been admitted to the ISP in April after serving 16 months of a
10-year sentence. He was returned to jail after allegedly violating terms
of his admission into the program by, among other things, advocating the
legalization of marijuana. He allegedly filmed several public service
announcements -- which never aired -- favoring changes in the state's drug
laws and gave interviews to newspapers on various subjects.

Forchion, accompanied by two lawyers, public defender Craig Pierson and
attorney John Vincent Saykanic, chose to represent himself yesterday in a
hearing before the ISP panel in the Morris County Courthouse.

Thomas Russo, representing the program, said Forchion was charged with 16
violations of the terms of his release. In addition to the marijuana
advocacy violations with which he is charged, Russo said Forchion failed to
make payments of various fines and court costs, failed to adhere to the
conditions of his home confinement and failed to be at work when required.

"I dispute the allegations that I violated numerous conditions of my ISP,"
Forchion told the judges. "I violated no conditions of the ISP." He said he
has never tested positive for drugs while in the program.

"I enrolled in the program, I wish to remain in the program, but the
program has treated me in a very unconstitutional manner," he said.

Thomas Bartlett, a regional supervisor for the ISP, said Forchion agreed
not to advocate the use of marijuana as one of the 30 conditions of his
entry to the program.

In cross-examining Bartlett, Forchion sparred with him over the difference
between advocating the "use" of marijuana, which is what he agreed to, and
advocating changes in the state's drug laws.

Forchion says he never espoused the "use" of marijuana after his release
into the ISP and asked whether he has lost his First Amendment rights
because he is a convict.

"Do you believe the First Amendment does not apply to convicted felons?" he
asked Bartlett.

"I believe you entered a voluntary program and agreed to abide by the
conditions of that program," Bartlett said.

The New Jersey Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a
friend-of-the-court brief saying ISP officials found Forchion's advocacy
positions were a "substantial factor" in revoking his ISP status.

Forchion, of Pemberton Township, Burlington County, pleaded guilty in
September 2000 after he was charged with helping his brother and another
person pick up 40 pounds of marijuana that had been shipped via Federal
Express to Camden County in November 1997. He was sentenced to 10 years as
part of a plea bargain, which he said he accepted only because he was
promised admission into ISP.

Forchion, who is a Rastafarian, has said he used marijuana for religious
purposes as well as medicinal benefits. He says smoking pot alleviates his
asthma, although he hasn't smoked since he began serving his sentence.

Forchion was once escorted from the New Jersey Assembly and arrested after
he lit up a joint in the chamber; he also smoked a joint in the office of
Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1st Dist.)