(October 19, 2012) Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion hopes the not-guilty verdict a Burlington County jury rendered in his pot distribution trial plants a seed for other medical marijuana patients and sparks a change in the law.

"I think other patients should argue the same points. They can call it the 'Weedman defense,'" he said after a jury of 10 women and two men returned the verdict Thursday following an hourlong deliberation that ended the three-day trial. "The law is wrong. My jury heard that and understood that."

Forchion, who claims dual residency in Pemberton Township and Los Angeles, was acquitted of possession with the intent to distribute a pound of marijuana that police found in his trunk during a traffic stop on April 1, 2010, in Mount Holly.

The state contended that the sheer volume in Forchion's possession and the $2,000 in cash he had in his pocket at the time of his arrest were tell-tale signs of distribution, despite the absence of other packaging paraphernalia.