Pubdate: Fri, 24 Nov 2000
Source: Cherry Hill Courier-Post (NJ)
Copyright: 2000 Cherry Hill Courier-Post
Contact:  P.O. Box 5300, Cherry Hill, N.J. 08034
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Website: http://www.courierpostonline.com/
Author: Jason Laughlin

LEGAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE FLEES TO CANADA TO AVOID PRISON

Edward Forchion, a Browns Mills man who has campaigned to legalize 
marijuana, has fled to Canada to avoid a jail sentence for possession 
of the drug.

Forchion, 36, left the United States last weekend and has sought 
asylum at the Cuban Embassy in Canada, he said in a phone call to the 
Courier-Post. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 1 in Superior 
Court in Camden.

"I can't just walk into jail," Forchion said Wednesday.

Forchion ran unsuccessfully this fall for a Burlington County 
freeholder's seat and the 1st District congressional seat.

He said he arrived Wednesday at the Cuban Embassy in Ottawa, bags in 
hand. The embassy denied his verbal request for asylum and asked him 
to put it in writing.

Forchion pleaded guilty to conspiracy and marijuana possession but 
filed a motion to retract his plea.

He could be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, but he can apply to 
the state's Intense Supervised Probation program, which could allow 
him to be released under strict monitoring after serving about six 
months of his term. Without the program, he would be eligible for 
parole in about 30 months.

Forchion would become a fugitive if he does not show up for his Dec. 
1 hearing, said Greg Reinert, spokesman for the Camden County 
Prosecutor's office.

"As with all cases, if the defendant fails to appear on his 
sentencing date on Dec. 1, the prosecutor will move to revoke bail 
and begin proceedings to have any posted bail forfeited and to seek 
to have that defendant extradited from any jurisdiction he is hiding 
in," Reinert said.

Forchion pleaded guilty in September, saying he wanted to be out of 
jail to see his children. His children were not with him in Canada, 
he said. He remains committed to legalizing marijuana in the United 
States, he said.

"I don't hurt anybody. I should be allowed to smoke," he said.
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