CALIF.'S AG URGES LENIENCY FOR POT 'GURU'

SAN FRANCISCO - California's attorney general urged a federal judge to be
lenient when he sentences a self-described "Guru of Ganja" who was
convicted on marijuana cultivation charges.

Ed Rosenthal, 58, says he legally grew marijuana for medical use under a
1996 law approved by California voters, and was deputized by the city of
Oakland to carry out the task. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer refused
to allow a jury to hear that defense.

In a two-page letter submitted Tuesday, Attorney General Bill Lockyer asked
Breyer to impose a sentence on June 4 that takes the California
Compassionate Use Act of 1996 into account. The law, the attorney general
wrote, "authorizes the possession or cultivation of marijuana for the
personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral
recommendation or approval of a physician."

Rosenthal's prosecution underscored the federal government's position that
medical marijuana is illegal and that the will of California voters has no
affect on federal drug law.

The federal Probation Department recommended Rosenthal receive a 21-month
prison term. The maximum term is 60 years. Prosecutors have not said how
much time they are seeking and did not return a call Tuesday.

Lockyer asked Breyer "to impose the minimum sentence allowed under the
federal sentencing guidelines." Dennis Riordan, Rosenthal's attorney, said
the lowest allowable term would be no prison time at all.

Meanwhile, nine of Rosenthal's 12 jurors asked the judge Tuesday not to
imprison Rosenthal. The panelists decried their own verdict after learning
that Rosenthal was acting under the auspices of the city of Oakland's
marijuana program.

"We feel strongly that Mr. Rosenthal deserves uninterrupted freedom because
we convicted him without having all of the evidence," the nine jurors wrote
Breyer.

Rosenthal once wrote a column for High Times magazine and has written books
with titles including "The Big Book of Buds" and "Ask Ed: Marijuana Law.
Don't Get Busted."