Pubdate: Wed,  4 Jun 2003
Source: United Press International (Wire)
Copyright: 2003 United Press International
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/469
Author: Hil Anderson, Los Angeles
Cited: Drug Policy Alliance - http://www.drugpolicy.org
Cited: Americans For Safe Access - http://www.safeaccessnow.org
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project - http://www.mpp.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Note: More news items about this will be posted, as soon as they are 
available, here: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Ed+Rosenthal

POT MOVEMENT SEEKS SYMPATHETIC JURIES 

SAN FRANCISCO, June 4 (UPI) -- Advocates for medical marijuana seized upon
Wednesday's stunning sentencing of a convicted grower of medicinal pot to a
single day in prison to drum up support for a congressional bill that would
allow defendants in similar jams to espouse the humanitarian nature of their
activities.

Ed Rosenthal, nicknamed the "Guru of Ganja," dodged a huge bullet when he
was allowed to go home by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who had ruled
during the trial that Rosenthal would not be allowed to testify that he had
been growing marijuana for distribution to the sick under the protection of
California's medical marijuana law and with the full knowledge of Oakland
city officials.

Activists were delighted with Wednesday's turn of events, not only because
Rosenthal faced a maximum of 40 years in prison, but also because a federal
judge had rebuffed a move by the federal government to trump a
voter-approved state law allowing the use of pot for medicinal purposes.

"The Bush administration's prosecution of Ed Rosenthal was a political act
masquerading as federal law enforcement," opined Ethan Nadelmann, executive
director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Judge Breyer's decision today sends a
powerful message that the criminal justice system cannot be used to pursue
crass and inhumane ideological ends."

Rosenthal, 58, had argued that he had been acting as an agent for the city
of Oakland and was under the protection of state law when he was busted for
tending to around 100 pot plants. Judge Breyer would not allow that issue --
what most would have seen as relevant information -- to be presented in the
trial, after which time shocked jurors said they would have acquitted
Rosenthal had they known.

Those sentiments are what marijuana backers are hoping will be brought out
when jurors sit in judgment in future cases through the Truth in Trials Act,
a house measure that would legalize medical marijuana as a legal defense.

Under the act, introduced by Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., and Rep. Dana
Rohrabacjer, R-Calif., juries are allowed to convict a marijuana defendant
on lesser charges "if the defendant's marijuana-related activity was found
to be primarily, but not exclusively, for medical purposes."

Hilary McQuie of Americans for Safe Access said the act was needed to halt
what is seen as persecution of the people who take the risks to supply
marijuana to the sick, many suffering from terminal diseases.

"Well-informed juries are the only thing standing between a compassionate
medical marijuana provider and federal prison," said Hilary McQuie of
Americans for Safe Access.

Marijuana advocates see Rosenthal's case as an example of White House
extremism against struggling victims of cancer, AIDS and other dread
diseases. They accuse Attorney General John Ashcroft of launching a
self-righteous jihad against both patients and the people trying to comfort
them by providing the occasional plastic sandwich bag of weed.

"We hope the zealots in Washington have heard the chorus of support for Ed,"
Nadelmann crowed.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has a long list of beefs with the whole
medical marijuana concept that boils down to the platform that marijuana is
a harmful and addictive gateway drug that has dubious medical benefits.
State laws to condone its medical use, the agency says, undermine federal
safety requirements and are most likely a cover for a campaign to legalize
marijuana across the board.

"The pro-legalization organizations behind these ballot initiatives deny
that there is a drug problem among our youth," the DEA said in a fact sheet
on medical marijuana. "As much as they seek to focus on people suffering
with illnesses, we must keep the debate properly centered on the safety of
our kids. In a time where drug use among kids has increased 78 percent in
the last four years, this country cannot afford to undermine drug prevention
efforts with these pro-marijuana ballot initiatives."

The pros-and-cons of marijuana use aren't really the point, however. The
arrest of Rosenthal and high-profile raids on so-called "buyer clubs" in
California were carried out by the DEA on the premise that federal law
trumps state law -- and federal law holds that marijuana possession and
distribution is a felony.

There is little chance of a federal medical marijuana law coming out of
Washington any time soon, but the pro-pot movement is betting that the
crackdown on medical marijuana will quickly run out of gas if federal court
juries begin buying the service-to-humanity angle presented by defense
attorneys to explain all those plants in their clients' gardens and
basements.

"As important as Judge Breyer's action is, patients and caregivers shouldn't
have to depend on the goodwill of one judge," Robert Kampia, executive
director of the Marijuana Policy Project, noted in a release. "Congress must
act immediately to pass the Truth in Trials Act, which will allow federal
medical marijuana defendants to tell the whole truth in court -- a basic
right that Ed Rosenthal was denied."
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