Ed "Weedman Forchion" was arrested in a raid on his downtown Trenton eatery and 'temple' earlier this week.
TRENTON - The first time Ed "NJ Weedman" Forchion was arrested and released from jail a few weeks ago, he says his goal was finding someone to "smoke him up."
But the second time - which happened over the course of the past couple of days - something was different.
"I told them in jail that I'm going to have a press conference," Forchion said.
He was speaking from back in his joint - a combination eatery and "cannabis temple" - on East State Street where he had gathered friends and reporters to give his side of the story on his arrest Friday evening .
Forchion was one of 11 people arrested at the establishment in a raid Wednesday afternoon. He was charged with 13 counts of marijuana possession and distribution, having a fortified premises, two counts of paraphernalia possession and maintaining a narcotics nuisance, prosecutors have said.
The arrest was a result of a two month investigation. The restaurant section of his establishment was shut down shortly after his arrest for health code violations.
For Forchion, many of the accusations don't hold water. He said the marijuana he had was a donation and the fortified premises charge was a result of the camera surveillance system hooked up to his establishment. He added that just before the arrests, a construction worker had dropped a bag of narcotics that did not belong to Forchion.
Weedman's joint violated health code
Forchion also said that during the raid, police took his cameras and his "Weedmobile," which he once drove from California to New Jersey.
"The Weedmobile is sentimental... but to them it represents Weedman," Forchion said, standing outside his establishment Friday and gesturing at an empty plot of land that used to hold his van.
From a crowd of supporters gathered in his garden, someone yelled, "they stole it!"
Though Forchion believes many of the charges are a result of inaccuracies or exaggerations on the part of police, he said Friday that he's ready for the upcoming legal fight.
And, Forchion said, he plans to stand on the front lines of that fight by representing himself.
"It's like David fighting the Goliath of government," Forchion said, adding that he has full faith he's "conviction-proof."
Much of that faith comes from the fact that Forchion claims he doesn't do anything wrong in his establishment and that he never sells marijuana to anyone without a medical card.
As for distributing it to his friends, Forchion says, "sharing is caring," before pointing to a sign above his door that says, "smoke it anyway."
"I don't sell anything. I sell turkey burgers," he laughed.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.