Pubdate: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 Source: Trentonian, The (NJ) Copyright: 2015 The Trentonian Contact: http://www.trentonian.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006 Author: Edward Forchion, NJWeedman.com For The Trentonain WE THE PEOPLE ARE WINNING! 2014 was a weird year for me, and good riddance. I started out 2014 in the horrible Burlington County Jail and ended it as the writer of this weekly column for The Trentonian yeah, that's weird! My new year's resolution(s): to eat better and to open a religious temple in Trenton that provides marijuana to its congregants. I hope everyone has a happy new year, but we all know there will be a lot of unhappiness in 2015 as there is every year. Sorry to be a schleprock. My hope is marijuana legalization happens in 2015, but I'm not a dope. It won't, but we are winning the war on the herb. The legal marijuana landscape of New Jersey changed four years ago when Gov. Corzine signed the New Jersey Medical Marijuana Compassionate Use Act into law as he left office on Jan. 18, 2010. Yet on the marijuana drug war front 22,000 New Jerseyans were arrested in 2014. Because Gov. Christie and the state legislators refuse to legalize marijuana, 22,000 more will be arrested and ruined by our state's marijuana laws in 2015. But strangely, I think we the potheads of America have won our war on drugs: the public is now on our side. The gov't just refuses to quit - weird. Luckily this country was founded on a "checks and balances" principle of the three branches of government, and I believe the courts will force the other two branches to surrender. Here is my assessment of Legalization in 2015, by branch. Executive - Although the chief executive, President Obama, through the Department of Justice (DEA) could end the war on marijuana by simply rescheduling marijuana from Schedule 1 or de-scheduling it altogether, I doubt he'll do it this year. I'm secretly still hoping he pulls a "Corzine" and legalizes marijuana nationally on his way out the door in 2016. Choom Choom! Legislative - I don't think the U.S. Congress will legalize marijuana in 2015; both major parties are heavily invested in the war on drugs and 900,000 people are arrested each year. Billions are seized, billions are spent supporting the prison industry, and all the contracts and profits are handled by the lawyers. Neither Party is willing to give up the Cannabis Cash Cow. Judicial - Here there is much hope: several medical marijuana cases throughout the nation that challenge the classification of marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, among other arguments, are working their way through federal and state courts. This is where I always believed true drug policy change in regard to marijuana would occur. I always believed there would be a "Roe v. Wade" or "Brown v. Board of Education" type case involving marijuana a case that would reach the U.S. Supreme Court and change the laws nationally. In past years I've hoped the California vs Oakland Cannabis Buyers (2001) case or the California Vs Raich (2005) would do it. They didn't, but I still believe a court case will change the marijuana laws before either of the other two branches get around to admitting defeat. I believe I will have a major victory here in the state courts of New Jersey. New Jersey court watchers and media representatives are closely watching my case State of New Jersey vs Forchion - A-004052. In it I've challenged the very constitutionally of the current New Jersey 2:c criminal laws that classify marijuana as having "no accepted medical use" (and is thus illegal), while simultaneously having "The New Jersey Medical Marijuana Compassionate Use Act" that specifically recognizes marijuana's medical acceptability. This opposition in two current laws creates a devilish unconstitutional duplicity. Arresting some citizens, mostly those of color, under our state's 2:c laws while allowing others, mostly whites, to grow, distribute, and consume under our state's medical marijuana laws is fundamentally flawed and unconstitutional. Everyone in New Jersey who is prosecuted under our 2:c laws has been prosecuted unjustly since Jan. 18, 2010. On a basic constitutional level, this is an unforgivable violation of our nation's equal protection rights guaranteed by the 5th and 14th amendments. I believe the New Jersey courts will make new law as they fix this flaw in 2015, or who knows, maybe my case will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. There was major good news in 2014 for medical pot smokers on the national level: The prolonged federal war on medical marijuana was effectively ended last month when the Congress passed a $1.1 trillion federal spending bill. One of the bill's amendments prohibits the Department of Justice from spending money to prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries or patients who are abiding by the laws of their state. Last year the Department of Justice pledged not to interfere with state marijuana laws implementation. The DOJ's earlier pledges left it plenty of wiggle room to change its mind, as it has before. This new Hinchey-Rohrbacher amendment leaves me skeptical actions speak louder than words. In 2009 the federal government made similar statements, i.e., the Ogden Memo. At the time I was the owner of the Liberty Bell Temple, a Rastafarian temple that provided medical and sacramental marijuana on Hollywood Blvd., in Hollywood, California. I was so happy with that memo that in January 2010 I held a big Hollywood mansion party celebrating the Ogden Memo's directives. This celebration party was covered nationally, even TMZ covered it. All this just to have my own Liberty Bell Temple raided and put out of business by the Department of Justice in 2011 So yes I'm looking for actions not the words. Deep in the 1,603-page federal spending measure the "Hinchey-Rohrbacher amendment", that effectively ends federal medical marijuana prohibition. The bill's passage last month heralds a major shift in drug policy and it is the first time Congress has approved legislation of national significance that is backed by legalization advocates across the nation. It almost brings to a close two decades of tension between state governments and the federal government over the medical use of marijuana. We will see in 2015. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom