N.J. Weedman's brother arrested with two others

Living a life dedicated to marijuana has its highs and lows, and few understand that better than Edward "NJ Weedman" Forchion.

Forchion, a South Jersey native and legalization activist, now dispenses medical marijuana from his Liberty Bell Temple in California. He said the recent arrest of his brother, Russell, and two other people - a Moorestown woman and a Burlington Township man - for possession of two pounds of marijuana will do little to stop the flow of buds or the public's views on it.

"There's a war on drugs and the government is losing badly, but every now and then they get one of our soldiers," Forchion, 46, said yesterday from Hollywood. "There's plenty of marijuana around. It doesn't stop anything. It [the war on drugs] just wastes money."

On Feb. 11, police were watching when Colleen Begley, 30, a legalization activist from affluent Moorestown, picked up a UPS package at a home in Burlington Township allegedly containing two pounds of high-grade marijuana. Cops said Begley crashed into an auto-body shop nearby while fleeing from police.

A man renting the Burlington Township home, John Claudy, 56, was also arrested. Russell Forchion, 41, was acting as a lookout, police said, and was arrested in a car near Claudy's home. All three were charged with conspiracy, possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, and possession of more than 50 grams of marijuana. Begley was also charged with eluding and resisting arrest.

A source familiar with the situation said Begley distributes medical marijuana illegally in New Jersey, which still hasn't ironed out its medical-marijuana laws. Based on pictures, postings and friends on her various social media accounts, Begley is a veritable NJ Weedwoman.

"She definitely is an activist. She's a soldier for the cause," Forchion said.

Begley's family declined to comment yesterday, but her arrest may not have come as a shock.

"I know how hard it is when your parents flip out about getting arrested for weed," Begley wrote two years ago in a post on a Web forum of NORML (a marijuana-legalization-advocacy group) in New Jersey.

Forchion, who has run for higher office numerous times in New Jersey, said that investigators have not contacted him regarding the recent bust, but that he knows his name has come up during interviews. He was arrested last year in Mount Holly with a pound of marijuana in his trunk.