Public Enemy #420: NJWeedman - “Boned” by Over-Reaching Judge

Public Enemy #420: NJWeedman - “Boned” by

Over-Reaching Judge

Written by,

            Jason Mueller

Contact Judge Call:

(609)-518-2716

Tell him to grant Weedman

Clemency! 

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past ten years, it’s been definitively proven that cannabis has anti-tumor properties; not only does the application of THC have the ability to slow cancerous cell growth, it has actually been shown to shrink tumors with steady application. THC causes apoptosis (programmed cellular death) in cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. Studies on this phenomenon have been conducted all over the world, and the studies date back as far as the 1970’s. Given this fact, it would seem that NJWeedman’s bone cancer would be regressing and healing. For a while, that was the case.

Lately things were going well for the NJWeedman, (or at least better): he got a job writing a column for The Trentonian called “Passing the Joint”. Earlier this year he had surgery to remove a cancerous bone tumor that has been affecting his quality of life for years. NJWeedman was even recently invited to a filming on the Daily Show, which will air soon. In this episode they discuss the abuses of power that the police have been caught red-handed in lately across the country. Unfortunately, there are only ever two puffs of “good” before you have to pass.

            First Burlington County Superior Court Judge, Judge Call, has issued a new warrant for NJ Weedman’s arrest. CALL JUDGE CALL – 609-518-2716 – PLEASE ASK FOR CLEMENCY FOR ED FORCHION / NJ WEEDMAN.

        Secondly and heartbreakingly, on October 17^th 2014 NJWeedman was informed by the VA hospital in Philadelphia that a new cancerous growth had emerged, this time on his upper left femur. This new growth is in a very dangerous location, because it is in a weight bearing spot. This tumor, if left to grow, will weaken NJ’s femur, and because of the location, the bone is likely to break once weakened. In lieu of the new growth, NJWeedman’s Oncology specialist in Santa Monica, CA has scheduled him in for more tests and treatments. Forchion is now afraid to fly, as he was arrested at the airport before.

            Inadvertently, while NJWeedman battled with his first tumor back in 2001, he learned of the effects of cannabis’ anti-tumor properties firsthand.

            “I was a heavy [weed] smoker. I didn’t know this mass was there for a few years, but when I stopped smoking weed [due to my incarceration], it grew incredibly fast. The doctors were shocked. This thing had to have been there for a long time, but while I felt something, I didn’t react to it until veins popped out and the pain became excruciating while jailed for weed,” said NJWeedman.

            In regards to his experience dealing with his last tumor between 20 day stays in jail, ordered by Judge Delehey, (who said NJ “was playing his healthcare like a Stradivarius”). It was a bizarre comment: in addition to the insulting claim that NJ was using his healthcare to dodge the system during the May 2012 trial, Prosecutor Luciano called NJ a Charlatan after Weedman presented his medical condition as a defense against a marijuana possession charge!

             NJWeedman has been part of an experimental protocol, given free treatment available through the Santa Monica Oncology Center since 2011. While the treatments had appeared to be working for his previous tumor, an arrest warrant that was executed at the Philadelphia airport, on (JAN 30^th, 2013) the day that NJWeedman was scheduled to leave for a monthly treatment in California. This arrest wound up ruining a lot of progress made in reducing the size of his tumor; he was incarcerated for two months without care. Until he agreed to plead guilty to a contrived probation violation, NJ Weedman was being extorted by being left in jail without proper medical attention. This is when Judge Delehey made his infamous “Stradivarius” comment. Once NJ was successfully forced to plead guilty, Judge Delehey allowed Forchion to be released to continue his monthly treatments. Notwithstanding, NJ was ordered to return to court on Sept 10^th, 2013.

 Unexpectedly, at that Sept 10^th,2013 hearing, Judge Delehey ordered that NJ had to serve 6 more months, 20 days at a time with 10 days release to travel for his experimental treatment in California.

            On April 30^th, 2014, NJWeedman successfully underwent surgery to remove his tumor. Yet, the damage was done to his bone. On May 25^th “Memorial Day”, NJ’s right femur broke as he carried a duffel bag full of clothes into his home. Since then, NJ has been healing, almost entirely without incident. Until, of course, this new growth was found at the VA.

            NJWeedman believes that had he not been serving a sentence of 20 days in jail with 10 days out, his last tumor may have more steadily decreased in size. NJWeedman had this to say in regards to his experimental treatment:

            “I was getting the experimental high dosage of a bone hardener called Denosumab, which was developed as a treatment for those with osteoporosis, but which over the course of the past decade has also come to be regarded as helpful for other bone conditions such as legions, tumors, sarcomas, etc. In tests done on women with osteoporosis who also had bone growths, around 90% exhibited shrinkage of the mass or outright disappearance. The mass stopped growing, but the drug wasn’t developed for that application. So in order for them to market it for that, they had to have a new study to get it licensed to treat people with these conditions.

I happen to have one of those conditions so when I was asked too I volunteered to be a genuine pig for this drug protocol. I think it was working but, I also think I was helped at least as much by marijuana as by the Denosumab. When I had to stop smoking marijuana because of jail, I still got Denosumab.”

JUDGE CALL ISSUES NEW WARRANT

NJWEEDMAN: A MAN WHO BOASTS THAT HE DOESN’T HAVE A SCARY BONE IN HIM, ADMITS HE’S SCARED OF BEING PUT BACK IN THE BURLINGTON COUNTY JAIL – FOR HIS HEALTH.

            Like déjà vu all over again, the New Jersey court system has rained burden on NJWeedman’s life again, again during an extreme health crisis. Judge Call, another Burlington County Judge like Judge Delehey, had apparently sent NJWeedman a summons to appear in court concerning some back-due money owed in a domestic split. Given the constant battles with the court system that NJWeedman has endured, plus the fact that he has only held a legitimate job for a matter of months as a Columnist, NJWeedman doesn’t have any money except the small stipend afforded to him through Social Security. In a classless, despicable move, Judge Call ordered that NJ NJWeedman’s Social Security be seized to go towards repayment of his debt! Despite the fact that NJWeedman is a suffering cancer patient, despite the fact that he is a veteran of the armed forces and despite the fact that he has little, if any other income, Judge Call is illegally attempting to strip him of his Social Security benefits. (READ JUDGE CALL’s ORDER HERE:  http://www.njweedman.com/judgecall.pdf)

            Judge Call was pretty slimy - he acknowledged that he can’t take Forchion’s social security money, so he called the soon-coming check a “windfall” instead. This is a clash of definitions: SSI is by definition, a need-based, minimal, and acquired right. A windfall is an unexpected and significant financial gain. Judge Call’s mandate is absurd and should be appealed. Luckily for Forchion, the judge can’t garnish Social Security payments. Rather, he has ordered NJ to relinquish them “voluntarily.” While it is “contempt of court” to ignore the order, his SSI money is still safe.

42 U.S.C. 659, which is section 459 of the Social Security Act, details which federal programs can be garnished by a court. Not among them is SSI, aka: Title XVI benefits.  Title II benefits, which includes Social Security disability, retirement and widow’s benefits are listed, but Title XVI benefits are not able to be garnished. This is because Title XVI benefits are defined as “needs-based” for people with limited income and resources.

QUOTE FROM LAWYER: As you know, if you have any other money coming in, your Title XVI benefits would be proportionally reduced. That is because your “need” is deemed to be diminished. Your lump-sum payment [SSI] is designed, and broken into multiple payments, so that you can pay off debts accrued during your waiting period, and to procure housing. Those receiving SSI are allowed to have a home and a car which are not counted as “available assets", both of which require down payments and/or security deposits.

The judge simply has no authority to order your SSI be taken. He lacks the legal authority by statute, and he lacks a basis to order child support as SSI payments are paid on the basis of need, and the judge cannot leave you with less than you need to survive.

This decision of Judge Call’s came after NJ apparently “failed” to report to court for a Sept 3^rd, 2014 hearing on this matter of overdue payment. Forchion says he never got the notice. What the New Jersey Judicial System would try hiding from the public, is the fact that Judge Call sent the court summons to NJWeedman’s former address in California, knowing full well that he is currently residing in New Jersey. Naturally, NJWeedman never got the summons. This allowed Judge Call to make a rash decision to put a warrant out for NJWeedman’s arrest. Once again, a Burlington County Judge is playing their authority like heartless tyrants against Mr. Ed Forchion, aka: NJWeedman. Once again, a beloved fighter for freedom and common sense in legislation is between a rock of legal red tape and a hard place called cancer.

            Now NJWeedman is under order to turn himself in to the county jail for arrest, according to Judge Call’s decision. He’s stuck fighting a new cancerous growth, and just like clockwork, the judicial system is once again trying to make his life a nightmare. In hopes that his story will inspire action against injustice, NJ prepared this statement:

“Judge Call is trying to screw my healthcare up again like Judge Delehey did last year. I can’t get stuck in a county jail right now. I’m in the process of getting this new tumor evaluated. I can’t scientifically prove it, but I want to tell my anecdotal story. Last year (2013) Judge Delehey put me in jail; I was supposed to get Denosumab every month. For two months February and March, I didn’t get Denosumab and I didn’t get any THC in me. When I was out for four months March-Sept, an MRI in June showed no growth. There was no change. No growth, no movement, nothing changed. To me, that was proof that Denosumab was working, so I was happy.

I went on like that from 2011 to 2013. The mass was stable. No growth, no movement, so I thought there was no rush to get the surgery to remove it. The doctors and everyone knew that a certain percentage of these tumors that get removed through surgery end up growing back. At this point now, I’m already in that category. It’s all right though – I’m not playin’ ball anymore anyway! I’m nearly 50 years old. BUT I AM in a pissing contest with a Judge, though.

          So, in September (10^th), he [Judge Delehey] sticks me with this ‘20 days in, 10 days out’ sentence to supposedly ‘accommodate’ my cancer treatments – which was bull. There was one thing messed up here: every time I’d get out for 10 days, I’d get the Denosumab shot, but during the 20 days in jail, I had no marijuana. The truth is the Judge didn’t care about my daily intake of marijuana because he, like most of law enforcement, thinks of medical marijuana as a scam. To me, the marijuana was just as important as the Denosumab, but I was denied this natural medicine while in New Jersey’s jail.

This jailing resulted in me not having any marijuana in me for weeks at a time, for six months.  I had 2 MRI’s, one in November and one January, ’14. When I went to see the doctor in February, I was told the tumor was growing again.

 I immediately thought, ‘this is because I had no marijuana in jail.’ I can’t prove it. I do have all of the paperwork to verify that the tumor was stagnant, then suddenly grew after my jail sentence when I was forced to abstain from medical marijuana. That’s what pisses me off – the Prosecutor literally called me a “charlatan” over this and the Judge [Delehey] said I’m playing my health care like a Stradivarius.

Maybe if I were a bald-headed, cancer-ridden white dude, or a breast cancer victim they’d take my healthcare more seriously. Instead, I look like a big, angry black dude with dreads – neither [the Judge nor Prosecutor] had sympathy for me or compassion, even though the state of New Jersey passed the Compassionate Use Act in 2010.” Remember that the Compassionate Use Act’s goal was to protect medical marijuana patients from prosecution.

Ed “NJ Weedman” Forchion may be a myth and a legend, but he is also just a man. Given the consistent sting of legal action presented to him by Burlington County, NJWeedman is in need of a little help. He’s not asking for donations or pro bono defense lawyers, (though either would be graciously accepted). Instead, he’s asking for those who hear of his plight to share the word. NJWeedman wants the injustices of Burlington County Superior Court to go recorded, because too often, they don’t.

Too often, Burlington County Jail and Superior Court have been able to ruin lives of citizens and patients through vindictive abuse of power. Luckily, Ed doesn’t roll over and “take it” like many unfairly prosecuted men and women. Luckily, We the People can share his story and flood Judge Call with clemency requests, (his contact information is listed at the bottom of this article). Luckily, when activists stick together, change happens.

Contact Judge Call

DIRECTLY

(609)-518-2716

Tell the office that you disapprove of this treatment - demand clemency for Ed Forchion!