cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Grower Sentenced To One Day in Prison Marijuana Grower Sentenced To One Day in Prison Posted by CN Staff on June 04, 2003 at 22:28:40 PT By Dean E. Murphy Source: New York Times San Francisco -- A convicted marijuana grower was sentenced to one day in prison and fined $1,000 by a federal judge today, the most lenient sentence allowed under law.The defendant, Ed Rosenthal, had faced a possible sentence of 100 years in prison and a potential fine of $4.5 million for his conviction in January on felony charges of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy. "We are all delighted with what we view as as fair and just a sentence that could be imposed under the circumstances of Ed having suffered a conviction," one of Mr. Rosenthal's lawyers, Dennis P. Riordan, said.Federal authorities arrested Mr. Rosenthal last year for growing marijuana to be sold for medicinal uses under the auspices of the City of Oakland's medicinal marijuana ordinance.Though the Oakland ordinance is permitted under a 1996 California state proposition, there is no provision for growing marijuana under federal drug laws.The judge, Charles R. Breyer of Federal District Court, had not allowed Mr. Rosenthal to raise medicinal marijuana as a defense, leading some jurors to later complain that they had been misled by the court. After convicting Mr. Rosenthal, several jurors requested a new trial, and when that failed, wrote to Judge Breyer urging leniency.At a hearing today, Judge Breyer said it was reasonable to conclude that Mr. Rosenthal had believed he was acting legally. By making that determination, the judge was able to skirt some minimum sentence requirements, which could have put Mr. Rosenthal in prison for at least five years, his lawyers said.In addition to the fine and day in jail, Judge Breyer sentenced Mr. Rosenthal to three years of court supervision."Today has just put my faith back into this judicial system again," said Pamela Klarkowski, one of the jurors who had written to the judge. "It's just wonderful to see mercy involved in our judicial system."Mr. Rosenthal left the courtroom a free man, as Judge Breyer awarded him credit for a day spent in jail. But Mr. Rosenthal, 58, the author of a dozen cannabis self-help books, declared that Judge Breyer "did me no favors" and "made me a felon" as part of a "corrupted system." He called on the judge to resign for not having allowed the medicinal marijuana defense, and he vowed to fight to overturn laws banning marijuana."This is Day 1 in the crusade to bring down the marijuana laws," Mr. Rosenthal said at a news conference held on a parking lot rented by his supporters. "The federal government makes no distinction between medical and recreational marijuana. They're right. All marijuana should be legal."Mr. Riordan and another of Mr. Rosenthal's lawyers, Robert V. Eye, said they disagreed with Mr. Rosenthal's characterization of Judge Breyer. Mr. Eye said the judge's handling of the sentence was a reminder that "justice can be done." Nonetheless, the two lawyers said, the case would be appealed in an effort to clear Mr. Rosenthal's name.Though there was general consensus that the sentencing today did not amount to a legal breakthrough for advocates of medical marijuana, some predicted it would embolden the movement to challenge federal drug laws. Nine states, including California, allow the sick and dying to smoke or grow marijuana with a doctor's recommendation."I think 20 years from now, when historians look back at how the federal war on medical marijuana ended, this will be the hinge point," said Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group in Washington.But Richard Meyer, a spokesman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in San Francisco, said the sentencing would have no effect on the agency's work."We are not listening to them," Mr. Meyer said of the marijuana advocates. "We will continue to protect the public from the dangers of all illegal drugs."Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Dean E. MurphyPublished: Thursday, June 5, 2003 Copyright: 2003 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmMedical Marijuana Activist Free http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16533.shtmlOne Jail Day for Marijuana Felony http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16532.shtmlThe 'Guru of Ganja' Walks Free http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16529.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by freedom fighter on June 05, 2003 at 18:25:44 PT The day of reckoning is today. Today is number two.. The ripple effect is world-wide. Write letters!!!! Listening to Mr. Meyer is like listening to an implosion from throwing a cherry bomb in a toliet and he sat on it.Boom!Gotta plant me 10 more plants there and there!!The day of reckoning is today! pazff [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Lehder on June 05, 2003 at 13:09:32 PT the depth and breadth of anger is amazing ...just as kaptinemo so colorfully reports. I went for a pleasant ride today into the most backwoods area of the countryside here, miles along twisty and narrow dirt roads where in over an hour I may have seen one other car and far more horses than people, in fact only one person - leading two horses. I crossed a rickety steel bridge that spanned a weed and briar infested creek. All is silent back there among the forests that roll for miles over the hills and streams, save for the chatter of woodland birds and the honking of geese in their vee formations - and the screaming, profane grafitti that crowded every beam of that bridge: "All cops can...." - well, I'll let you finish it because I know that you have your own bridges to refer to with their own grafitti. Twenty years ago you might have seen at most one or two modest proclamations on that bridge like "Bob & Debbie, True Love" ; yet today, no one even cares to paint over the anti-government profanities, so universal is people's anger. Contempt for the war on drugs has reached every corner of the country and there is not a single community that has not been insulted and ravaged by this war, barely a single family that has not been adversely affected. I await the day of critical mass. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on June 05, 2003 at 07:35:15 PT: Mr. Meyer, you BETTER listen *...Richard Meyer, a spokesman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in San Francisco, said the sentencing would have no effect on the agency's work."We are not listening to them," Mr. Meyer said of the marijuana advocates. "We will continue to protect the public from the dangers of all illegal drugs."*Like a little child sticking his fingers in his ears when he doesn't want to hear the truth...After General Custer and his men were wiped out, arrows were rammed into Custer's dead ears because it was thought the man had a hearing problem in this life and needed to hear the cries of the spirits of those whom he had slaughtered in the next one. So he could *finally* learn from his mistakes.We won't be so radical, of course; we'll just eventually sue for damages caused by your intransigence, Mr. Public Servant. Because, just as Custer didn't listen when he should have, you seem to be making the same mistake.Cannabis prohibition is doomed in North America. Whether it expires quietly, with a decent burial as it probably will in Canada, or whether it is a vicious political dogfight that opens such a social and legal can of worms that this government is villified and paralyzed from it, is up to people like you, Mr. Meyer. For years, we've taken it. Now it's our turn. Any mercy we eventually bestow upon you will be determined by just how stupid and vicious you think you can be before the final curtain comes down on the whole sordid mess of drug prohibition.Have a care, antis. You crave Justice, blindly thinking the angels are on your side and you may punish who you will. But you didn't bother to look at the color of their wings; when you learn they've been dark angels whispering hate in your ears, it may be too late for you... [ Post Comment ] Post Comment