Legalize It Ed Rosenthal Walks Free!

Marijuana guru Ed Rosenthal freed after serving one-day sentence

KIM CURTIS, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, June 4, 2003

(06-04) 09:59 PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --

Ed Rosenthal, the self-proclaimed "Guru of Ganja," walked free Wednesday after a federal judge sentenced him to one day in prison for a marijuana conviction.

Rosenthal, 58, was found guilty in February of growing more than 100 plants in an Oakland warehouse and could have faced as much as 60 years behind bars.

Rosenthal had argued his actions were legal under a 1996 law passed by California voters that permits marijuana use for medical purposes. He also said he was acting as an agent for the city of Oakland's medical marijuana program.

But U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer did not allow the jury to hear those arguments.

The jury found Rosenthal guilty of marijuana cultivation, but several jurors later said they would have acquitted him if they had known he was growing the plants for patients in Oakland.

"I think it was wrong," Rosenthal said from his home Tuesday. "Once the jury found out the whole truth, they agreed. They repudiated their decision."

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer had asked Breyer for leniency in Rosenthal's sentencing. The federal probation department had recommended a 21-month prison term.