JURY RAGGING - MEDICAL POT IN FEDERAL COURTS

WHEN ED ROSENTHAL was convicted on federal marijuana cultivation charges
last winter, his friends and supporters were not the only ones who were
upset. So were the people who convicted him.

"'I'm sorry' doesn't begin to cover it," said one juror. "It's the most
horrible mistake I've ever made in my entire life." The foreman said, "We
as a jury truly were kept in the dark."

Jurors complained they had not been told that Rosenthal had been growing
marijuana in cooperation with the city of Oakland, for patients who are
allowed to use it as a medicine under California law. That information was
excluded by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer because federal law does not
recognize marijuana as a medicine or allow a defense of medical necessity
against drug charges. Rosenthal's conviction, which carried a five-year
mandatory minimum sentence, was therefore a foregone conclusion.

Seeing the futility of defending themselves in federal court, three
officers of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center- Scott Imler, Jeff
Yablan, and Jeffrey Farrington-have decided to plead guilty to charges of
"knowingly opening and maintaining a place where [marijuana] was
manufactured, distributed or used." Without a plea, the three would have
faced additional charges, carrying mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years
or more. They still could face prison terms. "We are hopeful that the judge
will be fair when considering our actions within the totality of the
situation," Imler said in a March 24 letter to supporters.

A bill introduced in April would give growers and distributors of medical
marijuana an alternative to throwing themselves on the mercy of courts
constrained by federal sentencing guidelines. The Truth in Trials
Act-sponsored by two California congressmen, Democrat Sam Farr and
Republican Dana Rohrabacher-would allow defendants in marijuana cases to
present evidence that their actions were permitted under state law, in
which case they could be acquitted.

"This is a matter of basic fairness," said Robert Kampia, executive
director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "Jurors who could imprison
someone for decades for trying to help the sick have a right to hear the
whole truth, not a censored version that is stripped of any facts the
government doesn't like."