WEEDMAN PLANS TO GIVE POLS THE 'FINGER'

TRENTON -- If the phrase "Big Brother is watching," rings true then a
pro-marijuana activist running for New Jersey governor can relate to it.

The website of Ed "Weedman" Forchion may be on a list of favorites
for state authorities.

Not long after Forchion posted a flyer on his site advertising a
rally at the State Capital Building, which is planned for this
afternoon, state police requested that he obtain a permit.

In an e-mail sent to the activist, Lt. Brian Crain of the State
Police State House Complex Security Unit said troopers found out
about Forchion's plan for today's march by monitoring his
pro-marijuana website.

Crain said all groups of more than 10 "intending to
gather/demonstrate at the State House must apply for a permit to
gather." Forchion sent picture of his exposed backside in response to
the Jersey trooper's warning.

"I'm not getting a permit," said Forchion. "All those permit laws
should be unconstitutional ... No one asks Corzine or Forrester to
get a permit and we supposedly live in a free country."

Forchion, who is running for governor as a candidate of the "Legalize
Marijuana Party," plans to gather with his supporters today around
noon at the Trenton Train Station and march to the State Capitol
Building at 2 p.m. Once there, he plans to deliver a speech and close
at 4:20 p.m. with a presentation in which he turns around and "give
all politicians the finger."

The 41-year-old Pemberton activist called his gathering a peace rally
said giving politicians the middle finger is his expression of
displeasure. "I want to talk about ending the war on drugs," Forchion
said. "What I'm doing is perfectly legal. I don't have to have a
permit to walk down the street with a sign and the finger is not an
obscene gesture. It's an F- you to the system."

Forchion said state authorities and officials have been making
regular visits to his website, which he monitors through a return hit
counter on his personal computer. State police, he said, have been
watching him for years and are gearing up to give him a hassle today
at his planned rally.

"We had seen a flyer he had distributed in the area," Crain said
yesterday, explaining how troopers discovered the whereabouts of the
marijuana activist's rally. "It was also posted on his website."

Crain said, according to regulations set by the joint management
commission that oversees the complex, a group planning to gather for
a vigil or other ceremony must apply for a permit 72 hours prior to
the gathering. The group can obtain the permit, free of charge,
through the state police.

As of yesterday Forchion did not request a permit from the state
police. When Crain was questioned about whether or not the activist
would be arrested, without the proper paperwork,he had no comment.

Forchion is running for governor as candidate with the "Legalize
Marijuana Party." He attributes the majority of Trenton's violence to
the war on drugs.

"I'm trying to spark a reefer revolution," he said. "The drug laws
aren't working. It's a result of do-gooderism and it's causing more
harm than good.

You have a right to free speech-- I remember that from the third grade."