Prosecutors in Mercer County have dropped or dismissed the remaining criminal charges against a notorious marijuana activist who spent months in jail before being found not guilty by a jury.
But Ed Forchion, more commonly known as “NJ Weedman,” won’t be lighting up in celebration.
“I kind of feel disappointed. I know most people would be happy,” he said Wednesday after hearing the news from a reporter. “I was looking forward to going to trial. No jury would convict me. It’s all been nothing but a police vendetta against me.”
The man popularly known as NJ Weedman has only been free for a few months after spending more than a year in jail — but he said he's so upset with a proposed marijuana legalization bill he's ready to go back.
In an email sent Tuesday, Ed Forchion challenged the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office — specifically county Prosecutor Angelo Onofri and two of the prosecutors on ihs team — to arrest him for selling marijuana.
Weedman's stereo has been stolen. We're walking—not particularly quickly—through Trenton, in the heart of New Jersey's state capital, to get to a pawnshop. Hours have passed since 11 AM, when Weedman—a 54-year-old Rastafarian named Ed Forchion—first took the lighter attached to his belt loop and ripped the morning's inaugural bowl. He's had several hits since, and it's become one of those August afternoons that's so hot and humid somebody's bound to bring up climate change.