cannabisnews.com: The Wrong Target for 'War on Drugs' The Wrong Target for 'War on Drugs' Posted by CN Staff on January 28, 2003 at 07:31:09 PT Editorial Source: San Francisco Chronicle When Ed Rosenthal agreed to grow Oakland's medical marijuana -- in compliance with city law and with the blessing of local officials -- he had no idea he was about to become the target of federal authorities who would try to send him to prison. But in a trial now under way in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the 58-year-old Rosenthal has become a focal point for the federal government's "war on drugs." He is charged with felony marijuana cultivation and conspiracy, which could bring him 10 years-to-life imprisonment if convicted. Last February, federal agents raided a warehouse near Jack London Square, confiscating 3,163 marijuana plants and arresting Rosenthal for allegedly growing the plants and selling them to medical marijuana clubs. Rosenthal had been deputized by the city of Oakland as "an officer" in the city's program to distribute medical marijuana. Proposition 215, passed by California voters in Nov. 1996, was designed to allow patients -- with a doctor's approval -- to grow and use marijuana to, among other things, relieve the effects of cancer, AIDS and glaucoma. The trouble is, despite substantial anecdotal evidence, the federal government never has recognized the medicinal potential of marijuana. Drug Enforcement Administration official Asa Hutchinson points out that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not approve "medicine by popular referendum. " He made that comment in response to a letter by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer calling for "a proper sense of balance, proportion and respect for states' rights." Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/wt.htm Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Published: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Chronicle - Page A - 16 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:Green-Aid.comhttp://www.green-aid.com Americans For Safe Accesshttp://www.safeaccessnow.orgEd Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmJudge Decides Not To Gag Marijuana Trialhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15285.shtmlClash on Medical Marijuana Puts a Grower in Courthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15236.shtmlThe Trial of Ed Rosenthal - Ann Harrisonhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15221.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by Richard Lake on January 28, 2003 at 11:36:23 PT: ALERT ALERT: #260 Stop The Federal Assault On Patients, Clinics & Providers! is on line at http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0260.htmlWill You Act? It's not what others do - it's what YOU do. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by The GCW on January 28, 2003 at 07:52:48 PT FoM, consider this one. US CA: Editorial: Marijuana Madness: Respected Researchers vs. Ragtag Task Forcehttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n139/a03.html?397The prohibitionists keep resorting to putting cannabis in the drug bin. Cannabis is medicine, herb, green seed bearing plant, food, etc. and to attain drug status it must be man made.God makes herbs, plants, trees, medicine, foods and man...Man makes drugs.Once the deluding influence replaces the word "drug" for any spiritually Truthful description of cannabis, separation of Truth has been acheived. To separate man from Truth in Biblical terms... start right from the beginning on the very 1st page of the Bible, and tell them cannabis is evil. Once a separation of The Holy Spirit of Truth has been acheived, God no longer will be able to help Man.That tool the HOST, made known by Jesus Christ, is what man must focus on.Truth is eternal, prohibionists wish to cage humans for using cannabis are neither. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment