cannabisnews.com: Guru of Ganja Convicted of Marijuana Cultivation 





Guru of Ganja Convicted of Marijuana Cultivation 
Posted by CN Staff on January 31, 2003 at 15:49:47 PT
By David Kravets, AP Legal Affairs Writer 
Source: Associated Press
Ed Rosenthal, the author of books on how to grow marijuana and avoid the law, was found guilty Friday of federal marijuana cultivation and conspiracy charges. Deliberating for a day, the 12-member jury concluded that Rosenthal, the self-described "Guru of Ganja," was growing more than 1,000 plants, conspiring to cultivate marijuana and maintaining a warehouse for a growing operation. He faces 10 years to life when sentenced June 4.
Several people in the courtroom, including Rosenthal's wife and daughter, wept as the verdicts were read by a court clerk. The verdicts were a victory in the federal government's battle against California's 1996 voter-approved medical marijuana law. Rosenthal's arrest last year was among a string of Drug Enforcement Administration raids on medical marijuana suppliers in California. Under strict orders from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, Rosenthal couldn't tell the jury he was growing marijuana as "an officer" for the city of Oakland's medical marijuana program. Voters authorized Oakland's program and other medical marijuana providers across California under Proposition 215. Eight other states also allow the sick and dying to smoke or grow marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. But federal authorities do not recognize those laws. "The laws against medical marijuana put anyone with a conscience in the middle of a major conflict," Rosenthal said in an interview last year. "You want to help the patients, but the federal government says it's illegal." Rosenthal said he's anything but a drug dealer, noting that the plants agents seized didn't have buds, the part of the plant normally smoked for a high. He planned to give out cuttings to seriously ill people. A founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Rosenthal used to write the "Ask Ed" column for "High Times" magazine, and has researched and written nearly 20 books on marijuana. Millions of copies have been sold, mostly in the United States, with titles such as "The Growers Handbook," "The Big Book of Buds," and "Ask Ed: Marijuana Law. Don't Get Busted." Source: Associated Press Published: Friday, January 31, 2003Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Green-Aid.comhttp://www.green-aid.com Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmGroundbreaking Pot Trial Wraps Uphttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15335.shtmlJudge Keeps Tight Rein on Pot Trial http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15333.shtmlPot Guru Could Face Life in Jail http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15332.shtml 
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