HELP "SAVE ED"

Over time, it's been one of those small things that got shoved down
our throats. It wasn't around all that much, but every now and again
it would appear during a court show, lawyer movie or during the
evening news.

The Statue of Lady Justice, an American symbol designed after the
Greek goddess Themis, stands with a sword in one hand and a scale in
the other. Her eyes are blindfolded, and frequently there's a banner
somewhere in the area that says "Justice is Blind."

For many people, that's reassuring -- it's easy to believe that
anyone, no matter who he or she is, would get a fair, unbiased trial
where the truth is found among all the evidence, and the guilty
parties are actually punished.

A recent court case, however, has put a new spin on things: Is justice
blind or is justice blinding?

Meet Ed Rosenthal. Author, columnist and self-described "Guru of
Ganja," Rosenthal was found guilty on Jan. 31 on three felony charges
stemming from his arrest for growing medicinal marijuana plants. An AP
report even states that "he was portrayed as a major drug
manufacturer."

It is now fairly well-known information that Rosenthal was actually
growing the plants under California's Proposition 215, which exempts
patients who possess and cultivate marijuana for medicinal uses from
laws that forbid those activities. He was even growing the plants as
an officer for the city of Oakland.

This information, however, was not given to the jury, for U.S.
District Court Judge Charles Breyer wouldn't allow the defense to
argue the Proposition 215 case, because while Rosenthal's actions were
legal under California state law, they were illegal under federal law.
So jurors were never told about the proposition, the fact that the
plants were for medicinal use or the nifty little reality that he was
actually working for a major U.S. city.

On Feb. 3, some of the jurors began to come forward, expressing regret
about their decision in the trial and even stating they felt cheated
because they weren't given all the information.

"I feel like I made the biggest mistake in my life," said Marney
Craig, a juror on the case, in a Feb. 5 AP report. "We convicted a man
who is not a criminal."

This only backed up what Rosenthal had been saying all along. On the
day of his conviction, he had stated to the press that "[The jury]
didn't have the whole truth. They didn't have nothing but the truth.
They had lies and deceptions and half-truths."

He's also begging all of us to think about one question very clearly.
We can't actually approve of a judicial system that convicts a man
without bringing out all the evidence. If you, your sibling or your
close friend were on trial, you would expect it to be a fair one. At
least one where the defendant is able to speak his case, tell his
story and get judged accordingly.

Can we really lay back and let an innocent 58-year-old man face 85
years -- the rest of his natural life -- in prison?

Can we really stand back while officers of the Drug Enforcement Agency
brag about the trial's verdict? DEA spokesman Richard Meyer even
stated, "We feel that the people of California have spoken. We're
pleased with the verdict. We're happy with what happened today."

If you can stand back and allow this, you might want to re-examine
your moral compass, because it's something I can't just ignore. This
man has done so much good for his community, a community that refers
to him as the "Mother Teresa of medical marijuana."

As it turns out, taking a stand against the decision is easier than
you think. Since Feb. 4, more than 9,700 people have sent faxes to
their Congressmen through the Marijuana Policy Project, which offers
the service online at www.mpp.org. The process, which takes about five
minutes, is incredibly simple: Simply type in your mailing address
(this is so the appropriate politicians can be selected, and all
information is private). Now choose one of the many pre-written
letters, at which point it will show up in a text box, and you'll be
able to modify it as you see fit.

Once you're done, click a button, and the fax is sent.

It's that easy, and by the time you read this, it's very likely that
over 10,000 faxes will have been sent to public representatives -- not
a shabby number at all.

But still, imagine the impact that it could have if the number of
faxes continue to rise. Imagine if every day more and more people send
these faxes and start placing little stickers on bathroom stalls that
read "Save Ed."

Imagine if waiters and waitresses start wearing little pieces of flair
that read "Save Ed," and it starts to adorn the bumper stickers of
every car in the nation!

Okay, maybe bumper stickers are a bad idea. But whether or not you
believe patients with cancer and other illnesses deserve medicinal
marijuana to fight the pain and infection, it is time to make it known
that we can't be proud of a country that doesn't even give one of its
citizens a fair trial. If this is how the people working to benefit
humanity are being treated, how are the rest of us going to be treated?

My fax has already gone through the lines and landed in the fax
machines of Senator Elizabeth Dole, Senator John Edwards and
Representative Bob Etheridge. My voice has been heard, even if only in
the form of a few pieces of paper.

Now it's your turn.

Joel promises that he's done being serious for at least two days. But
if you're looking to help him "Save Ed," shoot him a line at
daJoel@hotmail.com.