ED ROSENTHAL DECISION: VICTORY OR SET BACK?

I had the fortune to attend some of Ed Rosenthal's hearings, trial
and yesterday's sentencing hearing. For those of us who witnessed
the proceedings, we can say that we were extremely happy with the
results. I see Breyer's ruling as a real victory for our issue. "No
jail for pot" prevailed in this case.

First of all, I must give the Rosenthals a lot of credit for
displaying the courage and taking the gamble of really fighting for
justice in their case. Ed had no intention of becoming a "martyr"
and he did everything in his power not to become one. It proves that
giving your all to this fight can produce good results. It shows
that standing up for yourself can pay off. Many of us understand the
great pressure there is to take a deal, or play along with "their
rules," compromise, or "cooperate with the government." But, he
refused to relent and challenged the government every step of the
way, and pushed the envelope.

We must recognize that it takes a lot of money to launch this kind
of defense, and not everyone can do this. But, a vigorous effort was
made by the Rosenthals and the legal defense fund, Green Aid, to
raise needed cash. They have been tireless in the amount of personal
time they have devoted in public appearances, drumming up support,
and capturing the collective imagination. They made this clear that
this is about medical marijuana and not just themselves. Besides
money (and much more is still needed), a lot of time and energy have
been donated to this effort. Hopefully Green Aid will continue to
increase its fund and influence as there are still many cases to
fight. See http: www.green-aid.com.

Of course the Rosenthals could not have done it alone. A fantastic
team was assembled for this fight. The legal team (Robert Eye, Bill
Simpich, Joe Elford, Ephraim Margolin, Dennis Riordan, and their
consultants including William Logan and others) did a wonderful job
of challenging the government on the legal front. The attorneys had
lots of issues to fight on, and brought all of them up. They are
experienced and smart. Even though they lost the trial, they have a
lot of appealable issues which they are pursuing, and can set
precedents in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals if they win.

Much credit for this sentencing victory should also go to the media
team of Teresa Schilling and William Dolphin, who scored with the
Dateline special and such editorials as published by the New York
Times. The activist team of Steph Sherer, Hillary McQuie along with
Americans for Safe Access activists and Green Aid (the legal defense
fund with Virginia Resner as president of the board) also did a
great job of keeping this issue in the public eye. A lot of support
was also given by activists, drug policy reformers, and others -
too many to mention - but who all deserve thank you's for working
to bring attention this case. We also could not have achieved this
victory without the jurors who stood up in Ed's behalf also, along
with a letter from California's attorney general somewhat defending
California's law.

But it seems like we scored big in the court of public opinion which
Judge Breyer could not ignore. The Bush Administration can not deny
that medical marijuana is popular with the public. Most people and
major media outlets in this country now believe that marijuana is
medicine, and that people should not go to prison for this.

What happened yesterday in court should send a message to the
federal government. First, although Breyer let the government play
out their game of denying whole truth in trials, he also yielded to
public opinion. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of Judge Breyer,
but he showed that he understood that the conflict between state law
and federal law should be resolved (he mentioned that Congress
should address this). He even mentioned how he could understand how
lay people (who are not in the legal field) are reasonable in
thinking they may be protected by law because of this conflict. At
the same time that he wanted to make it clear that this is a
"unique" case and so deserves a unique sentence, he warned that this
approach should not be tried by others (he ruled that future people
do not have immunity from their local governments to provide or do
anything with medical marijuana). But, winning in the court of
public opinion makes a difference. We need to pursue this in future
and past cases, by pointing out the injustices that have been and
are being committed by this conflict of law. This should give
politicians the courage to correct this by supporting HR 1717 and HR
2233.

While we were celebrating, many of us were wondering how Ashcroft
and Walters were dealing with this. Do the Feds believe that they
can not win future cases? I seriously doubt it. In fact, the DEA
spokesperson said that they still plan on pursuing dangerous drugs
and their efforts to keep them off the streets (including medical
marijuana). But, I am not sure what they hope to gain by going after
providers that are providing safe access. They sound increasingly
stupid, vindictive, and wasteful. We need an accounting on how much
these prosecutions cost, especially at a time of budget deficits.
Where are their priorities? It's time to reign them in.

While many cringed at Ed's lack of thankfulness to Judge Breyer
during his post-sentencing press conference, and his making it clear
that he has a broader agenda of legalizing marijuana, he may have
done the movement a favor. He not only pointed out that it is
serious to be labeled a "convicted felon" and that it is
unacceptable for marijuana offenses, but he has opened up the debate
on prohibition. Our local NBC affiliate did an analysis on what this
court case means. He actually drew a comparison to the days of
ending alcohol prohibition state by state. People are not only
questioning medical marijuana prohibition but marijuana prohibition,
too.

Of course the federal government gets this. That's why they are so
hard on medical marijuana and the perceived "slippery slope" to
ending marijuana prohibition and the Drug War in general. While
medical marijuana has legitimacy in its own right, it is also time
to bring up the broader issue of our marijuana policies that are
still concentrating on arrests and incarcerations as a way of
controlling access. This is a failed policy, and its time to
reassess this and double our efforts to point this out. (I am
personally advocating for taxing and regulating marijuana for adults
to do a better job of regulation than the free-for-all market that
we currently have. It is also a much-needed revenue generator).

We must not perceive this as a time to claim victory and stop
working. We are a recognized "movement," that has been validated. We
should take this as a momentum builder. We should be energized by
this, not depleted. We must take this day in court and use it to
show that humanitarianism (providing medicine to sick and dying
people), compassion, mercy, and truth have a role to play not only
in the courts but in society as well. We must reinforce this message
over and over in all arenas -- political, media, general public,
etc.

Thanks Ed and everyone who contributed to this victory for pushing
the envelope. It's time to recognize and celebrate our victories.
Now, let's get to work and really manifest our vision of freedom,
justice, and equal rights for all!