POT GURU SET TO BEGIN FEDERAL DRUG TRIAL IN SF

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ed Rosenthal is a noted pot guru, author of a dozen
marijuana self-help books and a magazine cannabis advice column, "Ask Ed."

Today -- in a federal court in San Francisco -- Rosenthal is scheduled to
stand trial on charges related to his arrest for growing marijuana to be
sold under Oakland's medical marijuana ordinance.

If convicted on all three counts -- the 58-year-old Rosenthal faces a
minimum of 10 years in prison. He was arrested last February for growing
pot plants in a warehouse in Oakland.

But at its heart, Rosenthal's trial shows the growing rift between the Bush
administration and the state over the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Federal officials say pot is illegal -- regardless of its intended use or
who's growing it.

On the other side, some state and local officials see the trial as an
effort to undermine the 1996 statewide initiative passed by California
voters. Proposition 215 makes marijuana legal for medical use.

Eight other states have similar laws.