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Weed Enthusiast Can't Change Name To "NJWeedman.com"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 7, 2011
Modified Sep 7, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 7, 2011
Modified Sep 7, 2011
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NJ-born Robert Edward Forchion is a staunch and dedicated marijuana activist who has participated in just about every weed-related activity there is: he's a practicing Rastafarian who has opened up his own temple, he's been a "marijuana smuggler," he's operated a medical marijuana dispensary, and he's run for political office several times unsuccessfully with pot platforms. More recently, he's been fighting to legally change his name to NJWeedman.com. But The Man won't let him!
Forchion, who lives in California now, filed a petition to have his name changed legally to "NJWeedman.com" after his website. You can read all about the case here, but ultimately, the courts decided against him for three reasons: domain names aren't forever, and people would be confused if he ever lost the domain; Forchion's legal name would be forever associated with a website that advocates a currently illegal activity; and NJ already rejected Forchion's requests to change his name. But wouldn't a Ganja Dwarf strain by any other name still smell as sweet?
Below, watch a segment on the NJWeedman from a 2006 episode of the Glenn Beck Variety Hour, in which Beck tries to fathom how an avid pot user could possibly be able to functionally talk politics (unlike, say, a former drug addict-turned-conservative nutjob host). Also amusing and now outdated: NJWeedman's utopian vision of George Bush and Osama bin Laden smoking the peace pipe.
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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