Ed Forchion.JPG

The state Election Law Enforcment Commission issued a $13,600 to Ed Forchion, also known as the "NJ Weedman," who's shown in this file photo.

(Martin Griff/The Times)

TRENTON — Ed Forchion, perhaps best known as "NJ Weedman," has a message for the state Election Law Enforcement Commission, which just issued him a big fine: Thanks for the rolling paper.

"I haven’t received it yet," Forchion said in a telephone interview today. "I have to open the mail now, because I don’t even open their mail. I may symbolically roll a joint with this new fine."

The election commission announced Wednesday that it had fined Forchion — a marijuana legalization advocate, cancer patient and perennial candidate for office in New Jersey — $13,600 for failing to file campaign finance paperwork for his 2011 state Assembly campaign.

This is not the first time Forchion has run afoul of the commission. He already has a couple outstanding fines, and he has done three stints in prison, including one that ended in January

Forchion said that he doesn’t raise money for his campaign, but that he has bartered marijuana for things like campaign flyers.

He said that in this instance he is invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by not filing the report, since it would require him to disclose illegal activities.

"All my supporters are all pot heads," he said. "Yeah, I might be able to get some flyers from some dude at the print shop. I smoke him out a little bit. It’s all illegal, and again, the Fifth Amendment comes down and I’m not filling anything out on that."

Forchion said he had no plans to pay the fine, though he will continue to run for office. This year, he said, he planned to seek a congressional seat in South Jersey’s Third District.

Although Forchion does not plan to pay the commission’s fine, its executive director, Jeffrey Brindle, said that they "aggressively pursue collection efforts."

"We’ll try to smoke him out," Brindle said.

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