cannabisnews.com: Misguided Marijuana War Misguided Marijuana War Posted by CN Staff on February 03, 2003 at 21:22:46 PT Editorial Opinion Source: New York Times Administration officials annoyed at California's support of the medical use of marijuana have found someone on whom to vent their frustration. Last week, at the urging of federal prosecutors, a judge convicted Ed Rosenthal of charges that carry a five-year minimum sentence. Mr. Rosenthal is a medical-marijuana advocate who grows the drug for use by the seriously ill. His harsh punishment shows that the misguided federal war on medical marijuana has now escalated out of control. Mr. Rosenthal, who raised marijuana in an Oakland warehouse, was acting within state and local law. California's Proposition 215, which voters approved in a 1996 referendum, permits marijuana use by seriously ill people. In addition, Oakland has its own medical marijuana law, and Mr. Rosenthal was acting as an officer of the city. Nevertheless, the judge refused to allow the defense to mention any of this at his trial, since it is not a valid defense against federal drug charges.Prosecutors were thus able to present Mr. Rosenthal as an ordinary, big-time drug dealer. After a witness said he had met Mr. Rosenthal "in the context of Proposition 215," the judge instructed the jury to disregard the reference, and took over the questioning himself. The foreman said afterward he felt the jury had had no choice but to convict, but hoped Mr. Rosenthal would win on appeal. The prosecution of Mr. Rosenthal is only the latest attempt by the federal government to frustrate the will of California voters. Washington has also tried to revoke the licenses of doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients. This strategy was struck down as unconstitutional by a federal court last fall. The Bush administration's war on medical marijuana is not only misguided but mean-spirited. Doctors have long recognized marijuana's value in reducing pain and aiding in the treatment of cancer and AIDS, among other diseases. A recent poll found that 80 percent of Americans support legalized medical marijuana. The reasons the government gives for objecting to it do not outweigh the good it does. And given the lack of success of the war on drugs in recent years, there must be better places to direct law enforcement resources.If the Bush administration really believes Proposition 215 has no legal authority, it should seek to strike down the law itself. Or it could go after cities like Oakland, which make medical marijuana available as part of municipal policy. Such an approach could be inconvenient for an administration that favors greater autonomy for state and local governments. But it is less vindictive than a strategy that attacks doctors and people like Mr. Rosenthal.The courts should not allow Mr. Rosenthal's conviction to stand. It would be a serious injustice if he were to serve years in prison, as he well may. Meanwhile, the administration should stop tyrannizing doctors and sick people and focus on more important aspects of the war on drugs.Source: New York Times (NY)Published: February 04, 2003 Copyright: 2003 The New York Times Company Contact: letters nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ 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.htmGrower of Medical Marijuana Is Convicted http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15343.shtmlClash on Medical Marijuana Puts a Grower in Court http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15236.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by Truth on February 04, 2003 at 09:04:10 PT bush Pot is an herb.bush is a dope. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by BGreen on February 04, 2003 at 08:00:16 PT Accident or Jab? It's Still The Truth Either Way Last week, at the urging of federal prosecutors, a judge convicted Ed Rosenthal of charges that carry a five-year minimum sentence.So much for trial by a 12-member jury of your peers. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Sam Adams on February 04, 2003 at 07:30:31 PT What about Todd McMormick? What does it mean that he IS serving "years in prison"? The guy is disabled! What about the fed efforts to lock up Renee Boje, basically a compassionate hippie girl? She had to flee the "land of free" as a political refugee for helping sick people! I guess the NY Times figures that stuff is OK, but somehow this case is not.Could it have something to do with the fact that Todd was prosecuted under a DEMOCRATIC regime? I guess when the Democrats throw innocent people in jail it's not "mean-spirited"..... [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by The GCW on February 04, 2003 at 04:48:02 PT N.Y.T. gives a helping hand. Caging citizens using cannabis is an industry.Hitler's gig was an industry.Ashcroft & Walters are nothing more that German Shepherd cannabis sniffing dogs.Modern day tools of Hitler. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by afterburner on February 03, 2003 at 22:27:36 PT: Prohibition, Prisons, War on Cannabis Not long ago John P. Walters lied about the so-called fact that cannabis users are not going to jail: "The truth is that we aren’t imprisoning individuals for just ‘smoking a joint.’"*******"over 40% of all drug arrests in the US are for simple possession of pot." "The vast majority of drug arrests and incarcerations involve marijuana. In 2000, there were over 1.5 million arrests for drug offenses nationally, up from just over 1 million in 1990. Marijuana arrests made up about half the soaring total, and 88% of the marijuana arrests were for simple possession. This means that over 40% of all drug arrests in the US are for simple possession of pot. These statistics are real arrests only, and do not include citations, tickets and simple seizure without arrest.America's war on drugs has turned it into the world's biggest jailer. With about 5% of the world's population, America holds a quarter of the globe's prisoners, and most of them are there for drug-related crimes."United prison-state of America http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2777.html*******"How doubly tragic that this has occurred in tandem with a political assault on the Great Society anti-poverty programs put in place during the 1960s; that the investments in infrastructure, public education, public health care and job training which might curtail crime more effectively are, instead, being replaced by massive public expenditures on building new prisons. The numbers buttressing this sprawling prison system are extraordinary. Approximately two million Americans are now serving either prison or jail time, over one million of them for non-violent offenses (a preponderance of these either for drug use or low-level drug sales). Per hundred thousand residents, the United States has an incarceration rate over five times that of England, six times that of Canada and seven times that of Germany." San Francisco Chronicle article about the "American Gulag": http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/02/24/IN190311.DTL*******"Now the method of production that Treleaven and his two friends had chosen was growing thousands of very small plants, each weighing about 7 grams. But, by the federal method of calculating, each plant is assessed, regardless of its true weight, at 1,000 grams. Treleaven was thus charged with producing 8,000 pounds of marijuana when, in fact, he personally could have been responsible for only just under 27 pounds. This is when the mandatory minimums really kick in. As a "manufacturer" of the notional but nonexistent 8,000 pounds, he was jailed for 10 years. Because of his 1981 possession conviction, the mandatory minimum of 10 years was doubled, and he was jailed for 20 years. His brother, deprived of his supply, speedily lost 50 pounds, became confined to a wheelchair, and was dead within the year.... 'I love this country,' said Treleaven, who talks with pride about his son who is now a college soccer star, 'but this government just sucks, it's corrupt, it's evil. Maybe I'm a conspiracy theorist, but I think there may be a lot of big money from the alcohol companies behind the status quo. And they've built a lot of new prisons, and they have to keep them full. About 90 percent of all drugs arrests are for marijuana, so if they decriminalize it they knock the legs out of the war on drugs. Some of the sentences are just insane, people doing life for marijuana.'"The Terror War on Drugs http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/14/thread14967.shtml*******ALLEGATION #12 "The truth is that we aren't imprisoning individuals for just 'smoking a joint.' … Nationwide, the percentage of those in prison for marijuana possession as their most serious offense is less than half of one percent (0.46%), and those generally involved exceptional circumstances."TRUTH "This statement is grossly inaccurate and misleading. Police have arrested some six million Americans for marijuana violations since 1992, and now average more than 700,000 arrests per year. The overwhelming majority of these arrests – approximately 88 percent – are for simple possession only, not marijuana cultivation or sale."Government Is Lying To You Again About Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on January 15, 2003 at 11:25:35 PT By Keith Stroup, NORML Executive Director Source: NORML A Refutation of the Drug Czar's "Open Letter to America's Prosecutors" http://www.norml.org/pdf_files/your_gov_is_lying.pdf*******Spread the word on Jury Nullification. JN: the antidote to the SOL. ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by p4me on February 03, 2003 at 21:54:52 PT The question they should have raised Why did they not come out and ask, "Are these guys completely nuts?"Sure, the SOL is not based on reason but on financial and social interest of the fascists, but there has to come a time when they realize it gives the public too much insight into their corrupt ways. To go on with 100% of the informed citizens knowing better, these nuts go on and expose their conspirators in the press and Congress.If they did ask, "Are these guys completely nuts?," the answers would not be considered a mixed message. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on February 03, 2003 at 21:28:19 PT I'm Impressed Thank You New York Times!Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articles: http://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htm [ Post Comment ] Post Comment