Cannabis advocate · Acquitted in 2018 witness-tampering case
Enemy profile / 014
NJ Weedman
Ed Forchion put cannabis prohibition on trial and made the jury’s power part of his public fight for justice.
Ed Forchion · New Jersey
Known as
NJ Weedman
Focus
Cannabis liberty
Episode
E004 · Jury Nullification
The record
One defendant. Different cases. The same question for jurors.
Ed “NJ Weedman” Forchion has spent decades challenging marijuana prohibition in New Jersey. In a 2012 marijuana trial, a jury convicted him of possession but deadlocked on distribution; a retrial ended in acquittal on the distribution charge. In a separate witness-tampering prosecution years later, he represented himself and won an acquittal after lengthy pretrial detention. Those outcomes should not be collapsed into a single verdict.
The EotS position
Justice needs jurors who think for themselves.
We recognize Forchion as an Enemy of the State because he turned his own prosecutions into a public argument for juror independence and the freedom to challenge laws he considered unjust. His 2018 acquittal also shows why a charge is not a conviction—and why the human cost of pretrial detention deserves scrutiny.
Documented record
The marijuana case produced a possession conviction and a deadlock on distribution; a retrial ended in acquittal on distribution. The possession conviction was affirmed on appeal. A later jury acquitted him of witness tampering after he had spent more than a year detained.
State’s position
Prosecutors pursued marijuana and witness-tampering charges under New Jersey law. Courts retained authority over jury instructions and the evidence jurors could hear.
Forchion’s position
Forchion argues that jurors can check government power when the law or its application conflicts with conscience. In E004, he recounts his own efforts to make that argument in court.
Editorial note: The 2012 marijuana verdict, 2015 appeal, 2017–18 witness-tampering proceedings, and 2018 acquittal were separate legal events. Forchion’s account of jury nullification is identified as his perspective; the linked court decisions and reporting document the outcomes.
Case chronology
He made the courtroom a public forum.
01
A public campaign for cannabis liberty
Forchion becomes a visible New Jersey advocate for changing marijuana laws, using activism and public campaigns to challenge prohibition.
02
A jury hears his marijuana case
Representing himself, Forchion argues his case to a Burlington County jury. Jurors convict him of possession but cannot reach a verdict on the distribution charge. A later retrial ends in acquittal on that charge.
03
Appeal of the possession conviction
The New Jersey Appellate Division affirms his possession conviction. Forchion argued that the court had limited what he could say to jurors about marijuana law and medical use.
04
Detained on witness-tampering charges
Forchion is arrested and held before trial after being charged with witness tampering in a separate case. He denies wrongdoing.
05
First witness-tampering trial
A jury acquits him on one count and cannot reach a verdict on another. He remains detained while the remaining charge awaits retrial.
06
A second jury acquits him
Representing himself, Forchion is found not guilty of the remaining witness-tampering count and is released after more than a year in jail.
07
Remaining charges dropped
Mercer County prosecutors dismiss or downgrade charges in other pending cases. The separate 2012 marijuana possession conviction was not erased by the 2018 acquittal.
08
E004 · Jury Nullification
Forchion joins James Babb and William Gillis to discuss his courtroom experiences and the power he believes ordinary jurors hold.
The primary court records and contemporaneous reporting distinguish the marijuana conviction, witness-tampering acquittal, and later dismissal of other charges.
This profile draws on New Jersey appellate records, contemporaneous reporting, and Forchion’s E004 interview. It distinguishes his own claims from documented legal outcomes.
