On Ed “Weedman” Forchion, who sells weed directly across from City Hall in Trenton
Weedman started his activism after he got arrested on a pretty major possession charge. He moved mass quantities from the west cost to the east. He was arrested in 1997. And when he got out, he said he was determined to help change the law. Currently, he is operating a shop, a storefront right across from Trenton City Hall, where he sells 16 varieties of marijuana and none of it’s legal.
On the Sunday that I visited his shop in Trenton. There was a Grateful Dead cover band in the backyard. There were about 50 people all told on the on the property. People were dancing to Sugar Magnolia and just lighting up in the backyard, passing bongs around. You know his shop is about as antithetical to you know the clean corporate cannabis as you’ll find. It looks like an old head shop. There are Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix posters on the wall, big jars of of bud. It’s a little bit dank, but it’s very brightly lit. He’s got all kinds of edibles for sale. His selection is much bigger than any of the legal dispensaries in the state. It’s fascinating.
He actually voted no on the ballot question. […] because the way things are currently set up, Fortune and other activists and, you know, smaller what they call the traditional market dealers say the new system isn’t going to be accessible for people like him, people of color who’ve been arrested for engaging in this industry before it was legal. [Forchion says,] “I’m a felon. They’re excluding all felons. And I’m a felon for selling marijuana. Now they’re making it legal. White guys on the Caucasian cannabis corporations are going to be selling marijuana and guys like me are still illegal. They’re not making any provisions for guys like me.”