Ed Rosenthal Convicted of Following State Law, Helping Sick People
After five years and enough drama and incompetence to appall even seasoned drug war observers like us, the ridiculous show trial of Ed Rosenthal is finally over.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The self-proclaimed "guru of ganja" was convicted again Wednesday in federal court of illegally growing hundreds of marijuana plants that he said were meant to treat sick people, which state law allows.Ed Rosenthal was convicted after U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer prohibited the marijuana activist's lawyers from telling the jury he was working for a pot club sanctioned by Oakland government officials. [Star-Telegram]
Rosenthal will now serve one day in jail (time served), for the crime of helping the City of Oakland provide legal medicine to registered patients. Forgive me, but I've already said everything there is to say about this:
That's right, American taxpayers. Behold the glorious retribution of the principled and incorruptible federal prosecutors who've exhausted untold sums and incalculable man-hours to protect you from a safe and effective medicine. Amidst Iraq, Katrina, Medicare, etc. the federal government was trying to save you from Ed Rosenthal by putting him in jail for one goddamn day. And they're still working on it, knowing as they have all along, that this is the best they can hope for.
Today, a new group of jurors is learning that the federal government tricked them into convicting Ed Rosenthal of something that's legal in their state. Like the previous Rosenthal jury before them, they will be robbed of the pride that comes from serving the cause of justice and they may soon stand with him in solidarity as did their predecessors.
Even in victory, our government's campaign against medical marijuana stands naked before us, utterly fraudulent and disgraceful as ever before.
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Ok. You're a little confused
Comment posted by smorgan on Thu, 05/31/2007 - 4:19pm".. and why he and his sidewalk cardboard wavers seem to think operating a pot factory is an mere technical oopsie,, a mere confusion regarding levels of permission, it why he is in so much trouble.."
Ed isn't in trouble. He got "time-served." No probation, no nothing. That's what's so stupid about this. Our government went to all this trouble just to make an example of him. Meanwhile 80% of Americans support medical marijuana and reject the notion that Ed Rosenthal is a criminal.
If you read the coverage of this case in any U.S. newspaper, it is overwhelmingly the government, and not Ed, that looks stupid. There's no room for debate on this point. That's how it is, and how it should be.