CHONG TO RAISE FUNDS FOR 'GANJA GURU' ROSENTHAL

"Guru of Ganja" Ed Rosenthal is bringing in another martyr of the
marijuana movement to help him raise funds for his upcoming federal trial.

Tommy Chong -- half of of the Cheech and Chong comedy duo renowned
for stoner movie classics such as "Up in Smoke" and "Nice Dreams" --
will appear a $125-per-head event March 4 at Rosenthal's Lake Avenue
home in Piedmont. Some advance tickets are available for only $100 at
Rosenthal's legal defense fund's Web site, www.green-aid.com

"The party will celebrate how far we've come in legalizing medical
marijuana as well as provide me with the money I need to fund my
current trial that is defending all of our rights," Rosenthal, 62,
said in an e-mail Thursday. He's scheduled to appear in federal court
March 19, and he estimates his trial and related expenses could cost
more than $300,000.

Chong was prosecuted, convicted and served nine months in federal
prison a few years ago as part of a federal crackdown on purveyors of
drug paraphernalia; he'd financed and promoted a line of glass water
pipes often used for smoking marijuana, and he said he pleaded guilty
to prevent charges from being filed against his wife and son. The
case made Chong, already beloved for his comedy act, a poster boy
among marijuana advocates.

Famed for his marijuana cultivation books and the "Ask Ed" column he
wrote for High Times magazine, Rosenthal was convicted of three
marijuana-growing felonies in 2003, more than a year after federal
agents raided sites including his Oakland home, an Oakland warehouse
in which he was growing marijuana, and a San Francisco medical
marijuana club he supplied.

Medical use of marijuana on a doctor's recommendation is legal under
state law but prohibited by federal law, so Rosenthal was barred from
mounting a medical defense at trial. A judge sentenced him to one day
behind bars -- time he'd already served.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his convictions in
April 2006, finding juror misconduct -- a juror's conversation with
an attorney-friend during deliberations -- compromised Rosenthal's
right to a fair verdict and so warranted a new trial. But the court
also rejected Rosenthal's claim of immunity from prosecution as an
officer of Oakland who grew the drug under the city's medical
marijuana ordinance.

Federal prosecutors filed a new indictment with additional charges in
October, essentially claiming Rosenthal from October 2001 through
February 2002 conspired with Kenneth Hayes and Richard Watts to grow
marijuana at sites on Sixth Street in San Francisco and on Mandela
Parkway in Oakland; laundered marijuana proceeds by buying four money
orders totaling $1,854 during that time; and falsified tax returns
for 1999, 2000 and 2001 by omitting income from his marijuana distribution.

Hayes and Watts face similar, related charges. Both were charged
after the same 2002 raids that nabbed Rosenthal, but injuries
sustained in a car accident have kept Watts from trial until now and
Hayes fled to Canada just before he was indicted.