Ed Forchion, better known as “NJ Weedman,” is going to try to get a license to legally sell cannabis in his home state, he said in an interview with Politico. Forchion has been selling cannabis, illegally but openly, in Trenton since at least 2016.
Forchion estimates that he has already served between 1,100 and 1,200 days of incarceration for selling cannabis. His storefront was most recently raided in 2016 and he spent more than a year in jail awaiting trial on witness tampering charges, for which he was acquitted. The related drug charges were dismissed, the report says.
Forchion said that with the state’s regulations allowing micro-businesses—those that sell less than 1,000 pounds of cannabis per month—he believes that officials “are trying to bring the black market” into the legalized market.
“Up until recently, I was having a nightmare that rich white guys were capitalizing off what the legacy market built as far as our base of customers—that they were going to walk in, pay our politicians and get this industry created for them. In the last few months, I’m believing.” – Forchion to Politico
Forchion added that the state’s rules will not disqualify him from the legal market because of his cannabis-related criminal history. The rules state that the state program is “expected to offer some economic benefit to people from communities that have historically been excluded from economic opportunities, particularly those with prior criminal convictions, people of color, and disabled veterans.”
Forchion, who ran for governor in a write-in campaign, said he wants to keep his shop in Trenton open as a celebration of the “culture of potheads.”
The state’s licensing process is already behind schedule as officials missed last week’s statutory deadline to begin accepting industry applications.
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