VERDICT CLOUDS POT PICTURE

Marijuana Activist Fears His Conviction Will Be Used to Punish Other
Growers and Users

Medical marijuana activist and author Ed Rosenthal was found guilty
of three federal felonies related to the cultivation and distribution
of marijuana May 30. He was found not guilty on one other charge, and
a deadlocked jury prompted the prosecution to drop a fifth charge.
Rosenthal will serve no jail time.

In 2003, Rosenthal was convicted of related charges, but after a jury
member learned that the marijuana Rosenthal cultivated was for
medicinal purposes -- evidence that had been suppressed from court
testimony -- she recanted her verdict, and a mistrial was declared.
Prosecuting attorney George Bevan chose to retry his case against
Rosenthal, which, Rosenthal told the Guardian, was a "purely
political" maneuver. The US district judge presiding in the case,
Charles Breyer, dismissed nine other charges sought by Bevan,
including tax evasion and money laundering, calling them "vindictive."

Though Rosenthal has already served his jail time -- just one day --
he told us that the guilty verdict has larger implications for the
medical marijuana movement. He fears the federal government will use
this conviction as a green light to take ever more punitive actions
against marijuana growers and users, particularly in states like
California that have legalized pot for medical uses.

"If [the federal government] can convict in this case, where
everything is so black-and-white, they can convict anywhere," Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal had been deputized by the city of Oakland to provide
medical marijuana, but he was barred from presenting evidence of his
abiding by city and state law in court during both trials.

Bevan declined to comment on his decision to retry the case or the
larger implications of the result. Rosenthal vowed to appeal the verdict.