COURT: GOING TO POT

A San Francisco jury last week convicted self-described "Guru of Ganja"' Ed
Rosenthal, 58, on federal charges of cultivating marijuana. But no sooner
had they convicted him than half of the jurors complained the verdict was
unfair. The reason: The judge barred defense lawyers from telling them
Rosenthal had grown the pot to provide medical marijuana--legal in
California--to patients with AIDS and cancer. "As jurors, we followed the
law exactly as it was explained to us by Judge Charles Breyer . . . . But
the verdict we reached--the only verdict those instructions allowed us to
reach--was wrong," juror Marney Craig wrote in an opinion piece published
in the San Jose Mercury. "It was cruel, inhumane, and unjust." California
is one of eight states that allow marijuana to be grown and distributed for
medical use; Rosenthal worked with Oakland officials to provide pot to
patients with prescriptions. But the feds--who don't recognize the state
laws--busted him after raiding his operation.

Rosenthal will be sentenced June 4; he faces up to 85 years in prison.
Interesting that the feds have time for this when the nation's on high
alert for terrorist hits.