Ed “NJ Weedman” Forchion has been fighting for marijuana legalization for over 20 years. And although he is excited by the prospect of marijuana becoming legal in the Garden State very soon, he’s not its biggest fan.
He’s worried the process is being rushed and will leave out people of color.
“I want legalization but we are being excluded,” Forchion said in a recent phone interview with NJ Advance Media. He remains jailed on a witness tampering charges.
Forchion has been advocating for the legalization of marijuana since 1997, when he spent four days in a Bellmawr police station after being arrested for marijuana possession. He said he left determined to change things.
Gov.-elect Phil Murphy has said legalization is a 2018 priority and he’d sign a bill in his first 100 days.
The current bill, proposed by State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, would legalize possession and personal use of up to an ounce of marijuana for those over the age of 21. It would also establish an enforcement agency and a licensing system for growers and retailers.
“What the bill would do is basically appoint a few politically-connected people to grow, sell and distribute marijuana. And the rest of us would be limited to how much we can have,” Forchion said.
He believes “Caucasian cannabis corporations” will been seen as more valuable under the legalization bill, and that African Americans like himself, and people of color who want to open small businesses, will be shut out by restrictive licensing.
“I can see it all around the country that they are excluding us in different ways,” Forchion said. “People say alright Weedman you won, legalization is coming, but why are you bringing in the race card?”
“And it’s because I’m being excluded,” he said.
Forchion said that the underlying race issues that surround the legalization effort put forth by other activists is rarely talked about, so he feels that it needs to be at the front of his platform.
“Blacks are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana in New Jersey, so then I should be talking about it 3.6 times more,” Forchion said.
The activist also believes the bill falls short on several other key legalization issues, such as the restriction that people will not be able to grown their own marijuana plants at home, and that those with marijuana possession charges will not automatically be expunged if the bill passes in its current form.
He’s further concerned that the bill makes no mention of job protection for those who may be drug tested by employers and test positive for marijuana.
Another factor that has come to bother Forchion is his current incarceration on witness tampering charges related to a marijuana possession case and he’s unable to participate in the finalization of the law.
“I can’t go to committee meetings, I feel bad for myself,” he said.
“I’ve spent the last 20 years of my life on this and now they’re in final arguments,” Forchion said. “They are going to be putting final touches on things and they’re not going to have any input from me.”
credit:nj.com
