'GURU OF GANJA' FREE AFTER DAY'S JAIL

Ed Rosenthal, the self-proclaimed "Guru of Ganja", has walked free
after a federal judge sentenced him to just one day in prison for
growing marijuana that Rosenthal said was for medical purposes.

He could have been sentenced to 60 years behind bars.

Judge Charles Breyer said Rosenthal genuinely believed that what he
was doing was not against the law.

"He was unaware his conduct was not immunised from federal
prosecution," the judge said.

Rosenthal's case represented the latest clash between state and
federal authorities over the medical use of marijuana. The federal
Government does not recognise medical marijuana laws in California and
the eight other states that have them.

Wednesday's decision was met by cheers and applause in the
courtroom.

"I think it's a marvellous victory for states' rights and the medical
use of marijuana," said Keith Stroup, executive director of the
National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"It sends a strong signal to the federal Government that they should
reconsider their current program of arresting patients and care givers
in California."

In January a jury found that Rosenthal was growing more than 100
plants, conspired to cultivate marijuana and maintained an Oakland
warehouse for a growing operation.

Rosenthal, 58, had said he was acting as an agent for Oakland's
medical marijuana program, an outgrowth of a 1996 measure approved by
California's voters that allows sick people to obtain marijuana with a
letter from a doctor.

But the judge did not allow the jurors to hear those arguments, and
several of them later said they would have acquitted Rosenthal had
they known.

The judge sentenced Rosenthal to one day in prison, then set him free
after crediting him with time already served, saying the defendant
"had a reasonable belief that what he did was not contrary to law".

Rosenthal also was fined $US1300 ($A1970) and will be on supervised
release for three years. Despite the light sentence, defence lawyer
Dennis Riordan said he would continue his appeal against Rosenthal's
conviction, calling it an "onerous burden" with "enormous
consequences".

The judge warned that the sentence should not be viewed as a
precedent.