LAWSUIT SEEKS TO FORCE COMCAST TO AIR PRO-POT AD

CAMDEN - Robert Edward Forchion Jr. says he's fighting for the First
Amendment's guarantee of free speech.

Others think the Browns Mills man just likes to smoke pot.

In either case, Forchion said he is running for the 3rd District seat
in Congress representing Ocean County this fall, and he's spending a
lot of time in court trying to spread his message challenging the
country's drug policy.

Forchion, 39, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court here Feb. 16 in
an effort to force media giant Comcast to air his pro-marijuana message.

The latest trouble started after Comcast Field Marketing Manger Allen
Murphy rejected Forchion's political commercial in a Feb. 12 letter
stating that he wasn't a legally qualified candidate for office
because he's not registered with the New Jersey State Election Division.

Forchion contends he is a legitimate write-in candidate who is not
required to register.

The 3rd District seat in Congress is currently held by Republican
James Saxton.

Forchion said he would have registered, but he's awaiting the March 26
outcome of another case in civil court in which he is seeking to have
his name legally changed to NJWEEDMAN COM.

In that case, Forchion said, prosecutors have argued that the name can
be used to enhance a market position for selling the drug, which
Forchion claims he hasn't done since 1997.

It's not the first time the marijuana advocate has found himself in
legal trouble for promoting the illegal use of marijuana.

After serving 17 months on a conviction for conspiracy to distribute a
controlled dangerous substance in excess of 20 pounds, Forchion was
released on bail in April 2002.

Two months later he submitted public-service announcements opposing
marijuana laws to Comcast for broadcast. That prompted his arrest for
violating parole.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph E. Irenas ordered Forchion's release
five months later in an opinion stating: "The First Amendment exists
so as to promote debate on issues of public importance. ... The
advocacy of the legalization of marijuana is a legitimate political
position in this country."

Forchion said his current trouble stems from religious fundamentalists
who find his message provocative. He said the issue has little to do
with drug use.

"I call myself a First Amendment activist," he says. "Everyone else
calls me a marijuana activist."

Forchion also maintains that the erosion of free speech is a slippery
slope for all Americans.

"If you don't have the right to free speech, you don't have the right
to anything else," he said.

If his name change bid is successful later this month, Forchion says
he will collect the 100 signatures required to be officially placed on
the ballot.