WAKADO: Medical Marijuana Advocate Ed Rosenthal Back In Federal Court / US Marijuana Laws Go Against The People

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Medical Marijuana Advocate Ed Rosenthal Back In Federal Court / US Marijuana Laws Go Against The People

Ganja guru back in federal court for retrial, doesn't face prison

SAN FRANCISCO – Ganja guru Ed Rosenthal returned to court Tuesday for opening arguments in a case federal prosecutors are retrying even though the pot advocate will face no prison time if convicted of growing marijuana.
Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan told jurors that Rosenthal, 62, grew and distributed thousands of plants out of an Oakland warehouse to supply Bay Area medical marijuana dispensaries.

'Ganja Guru's' trial up in smoke

SAN FRANCISCO — Ed Rosenthal grew and sold thousands of marijuana plants in Oakland more than five and a half years in violation of federal law, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday as the "Guru of Ganja's" retrial began.
Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan even specified that the marijuana was supplied to "so-called marijuana clubs throughout the Bay Area" — a reference to medical marijuana organizations where patients obtained the drug for use as permitted under state law, but unprotected under federal law.