cannabisnews.com: 'Guru of Ganja' Stirring The Pot





'Guru of Ganja' Stirring The Pot
Posted by CN Staff on February 09, 2003 at 16:39:49 PT
By Thomas D. Elias, Special Correspondent
Source: Newsday 
San Francisco - Ed Rosenthal, known as the "guru of ganja," will go to prison later this year for growing marijuana for medical use, although he was authorized to do so by the city of Oakland, unless an appeals court intervenes. But some medipot supporters say his conviction last week is already giving their cause a major boost.Publicity about the case, in which several jurors later apologized to Rosenthal for their verdict, "has done more for medical marijuana and jury nullification than all our efforts of the past 10 years," said Steven Kubby, founder of the American Medical Marijuana Association, who says marijuana is the only reason he is alive 26 years after being diagnosed with a rare form of adrenal cancer.
The case pits California's Proposition 215, which voters passed in 1996 to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's permission, against the U.S. Justice Department. The federal government does not recognize Proposition 215 and has prosecuted more than a dozen medical marijuana users and growers under federal drug laws.An estimated 400 medipot users, most from California, have taken refuge in Canada in the past year because of that nation's recently adopted rules sanctioning medical use of pot.Six of the 12 jurors in Rosenthal's case have joined him in calling for a new trial, saying they convicted him Monday only because crucial information about Proposition 215 had been withheld from them."For the first time in my life, I find myself questioning the court system," jury foreman Charles Sackett III said last week at a rally here on Rosenthal's behalf.Judge Charles Breyer refused to allow testimony showing that Rosenthal was growing pot under supervision of Oakland city officials for use by severely ill patients in compliance with both state law and local ordinances.When one witness mentioned Proposition 215, Breyer cut him off and took over the questioning. He ruled repeatedly that because Rosenthal was on trial under federal charges, the only relevant question was whether he grew marijuana plants or not. His motives, the judge said, could not be considered.Rosenthal, a columnist for the marijuana lovers' magazine High Times who has also written books about how to grow pot discreetly, faces a prison term of between 5 years and 85 years when he is sentenced in June.Legal scholar Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School said he doesn't believe Rosenthal's conviction will stand up on appeal."I suspect Charlie's older brother [U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer] will overrule him," Dershowitz told the San Francisco Examiner. "When there's a conflict between federal and state law in a criminal case, the jury ought to know about it."He cited a Texas case involving possession of a handgun near a school, legal under Texas law but prohibited by federal law. The Supreme Court sided with the Texas law in that case, ruling that regulation of schools is a state issue."Here we're talking about health care, which is very much a state issue, too," Dershowitz said.Just one day after the Rosenthal trial ended, San Diego became the 15th California city to set standards for how much pot medical marijuana patients are allowed to possess - one pound - without fear of state or local prosecution.But neither San Diego nor any other city provides an official system for growing or distribution, and Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Richard Meyer said that any officials who set up such a system would be subject to arrest by federal agents.Many city police chiefs, county sheriffs and district attorneys, including those in San Francisco and San Jose and in the pot-growing "Emerald Triangle" counties of Mendocino and Humboldt on California's north coast, refuse to cooperate with federal agents seeking to arrest medipot patients. Source: Newsday (NY)Author: Thomas D. Elias, Special CorrespondentPublished: February 9, 2003Copyright: 2003 Newsday Inc.Contact: letters newsday.comWebsite: http://www.newsday.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Pot-TVhttp://www.pot-tv.netAmerican Medical Marijuana Associationhttp://www.americanmarijuana.org/Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmHow The Feds Duped Jurors in Marijuana Trialhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15432.shtmlReefer Madness - Baltimore Sunhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15427.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by mayan on February 10, 2003 at 17:00:05 PT
CorvallisEric...
Thanks for the insight!
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Comment #10 posted by Agnosticman on February 10, 2003 at 08:43:37 PT:
Out of the Closet
We all need to come out of the closet, so to speak, to help one another enjoy the benefits of marijuana. We need to act locally, amongst friends, and talk about marijuana. We need to educate those who are simply ignorant about the truth of medicinal marijuana. When the government says 'there is no such thing as medical marijuana', we must stand up to this ignornance.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on February 09, 2003 at 23:35:35 PT
Thanks elfman_420 
I started a page for Medical Marijuana Awareness Week and used your graphic but I didn't say you made it. If you want a credit tell me what name to use and I will add it tomorrow. Hope you like it.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/aware.htm
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Comment #8 posted by elfman_420 on February 09, 2003 at 23:07:39 PT
Medical Marijuana Week Flyer / Poster!
In case you didn't see this before in another message board from a story a couple of days ago, I wanted to give the links to the poster I made advertising Medical Marijuana Week (Feb. 15-22) that focuses on the injustice of the Ed Rosenthal case. http://subverter.net/mmw/ (Large high quality gif for those with photo editors. Save this picture to your hard disk)http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/mmjwsm.jpg (Smaller jpg for those without photo editors that will fit two on one letter size paper.)Please feel free to print this out as a poster or flyer in your community or published materials.
High quality poster
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Comment #7 posted by CorvallisEric on February 09, 2003 at 21:39:24 PT
Publicity
>>> Publicity about the case, in which several jurors later apologized to Rosenthal for their verdict, "has done more for medical marijuana and jury nullification than all our efforts of the past 10 years," said Steven Kubby Yes! Now what we need is for Ed Rosenthal to be a familiar name to as many Americans as John Ashcroft or at least John Walters. With every stirring of the pot we'll get closer. Right now there are 476 entries (including duplicates) in Google News for ed rosenthal marijuana plus an additional 10 that used Edward instead of Ed, search string: edward rosenthal -ed marijuana
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Comment #6 posted by CorvallisEric on February 09, 2003 at 21:10:11 PT
Re: mayan - comment #2
>>> "I suspect Charlie's older brother [U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer] will overrule him," Dershowitz told the San Francisco Examiner. Dershowitz must have named "Charlie's older brother" just as a metaphor for the whole Supreme Court, since Stephen Breyer
recused himself in the previous case that involved Charles Breyer.As for "double jeopardy" - I'm not qualified, but I'll make a guess anyway. The 9th Circuit would order a re-trial that allows evidence that wasn't allowed into the first trial, without making any determination of Rosenthal's guilt or innocence. The Supreme Court could override the order for a re-trial. Double jeopardy comes into play only after a jury has determined that a defendent is innocent. The SC will have to deal with picky bits of legal precedent and/or thorny Constitutional federal/state issues which are not specific to drug policy. They might just not want to deal with it and decline to take the case (no matter how much the "5" love Bush and Ashcroft) which would let the 9th Circuit Court decision stand.Once again, my disclaimer: I am not a lawyer or otherwise qualified to say what I did and hope I didn't make a complete fool of myself.
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on February 09, 2003 at 19:57:26 PT
What the Fed. gov. is doing to Ed
is the same thing they are doing to us in war with Iraq.They are deceitful, overzealous, wrong, withholding the Truth, Insanedangerous... We are being reamed.It would be nice to expose the cannabis issue in a manner that exposes the crazy war issue.IS THERE A CONNECTION? DO THE SAME PEOPLE THAT SUPPORT CAGING HUMANS SUPPORT KILLING IN IRAQ AND EVERYWHERE ELSE?Is that unfair?Wouldn't it be nice if Christ had a little more say in this?For My fellow Christians, if going to church takes so much of Your time, that You can not speak up to end the sin of caging humans for using a plant and killing around the world, they maybe You should quit going to church and do something that actually pleases Christ God Our Father.How may of YOu Our there are going to church regularily, but don't say jack?How may of You out there are going to church and supporting Your own death?
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on February 09, 2003 at 19:45:42 PT
Afghan Opium...
Here is a very interesting article pertinent to the war on drugs...RISING DRUG FLOW OUT OF AFGHANISTAN THREATENS CENTRAL ASIAN NEIGHBORS:
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020603.shtml 
 
 
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on February 09, 2003 at 19:21:47 PT
JSM, Baked, not fried, but boiling?
When the pot boils the prohibitionists will not be able to hold it. As a Christian, I condemn the U.S. governments attempt at extermination of cannabis (marijuana), and persecution of citizens who use cannabis. Cannabis prohibition is gross and offensive to Christ God Our Father and the Holy Spirit of Truth.Don't believe Me, just ask Him.Re-legalize cannabis for the glory of Christ God Our Father, The Ecologician.The Green Collar Worker
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Comment #2 posted by mayan on February 09, 2003 at 19:13:37 PT
Supreme Court vs. 9th Circuit
Legal scholar Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School said he doesn't believe Rosenthal's conviction will stand up on appeal."I suspect Charlie's older brother [U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer] will overrule him," Dershowitz told the San Francisco Examiner. "When there's a conflict between federal and state law in a criminal case, the jury ought to know about it."Is Dershowitz right? I'm no legal expert, but isn't Ed appealing to the 9th Circuit? If he does appeal to the 9th Circuit and wins, the Feds can't appeal to the Supreme Court because that would be double jeapordy...wouldn't it? I don't see the United States Supreme Court ruling for Ed if it does go that far. I am, however, very optimistic about a favorable ruling from the 9th Circuit. Any legal experts out there who can clear this up?No War For Oil!!!Britain's Intelligence Dossier on Iraq was Plagiarized from a Grad Student - by Michael C. Ruppert: 
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/020603_plagiarized.htmlUK's Blair under fire for plagiarised Iraq dossier:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07508844Plagiarism Allegations Embarrass Blair Administration:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=\ForeignBureaus\archive\200302\FOR20030207b.htmlThe dossier that shamed Britain: 
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/comment/0,11538,892070,00.htmlDowning St dossier plagiarised: 
http://www.channel4.com/news/home/z/stories/20030206/dossier.htmlIraq dossier assembled by junior aides:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-570248,00.htmlREUTER'S Video On Powell's fake report! 
http://sf.indymedia.org/uploads/copiedpowellreportreuter__s_.rmMake No Mistake About It - 9/11 Was An Inside Job(The lost voxnyc article that the federales shut down!):
http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:dv2JBpTIZHUC:www.voxnyc.com/archives/00000076.htm+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
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Comment #1 posted by JSM on February 09, 2003 at 17:51:10 PT
It does..
look like the pot (so to speak) is beginning to boil.
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