KING OF POT CONVICTED OF MARIJUANA GROWING

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal jury Friday found Ed Rosenthal, the author of
how-to-grow books on marijuana and how to avoid the law, guilty of marijuana
cultivation and conspiracy charges.

The federal jury concluded that Ed Rosenthal, the self-described "Guru of
Ganja," was growing more than 100 plants, conspiring to cultivate marijuana
and maintaining a warehouse for a growing operation. Rosenthal, 58, faces a
maximum of 85 years in prison when sentenced June 4.

Several people in the courtroom, including Rosenthal's wife and daughter,
wept as the verdicts were read by a court clerk. The verdicts were a victory
in the federal government's battle against California's 1996 voter-approved
medical marijuana law. Rosenthal's arrest last year was among a string of
Drug Enforcement Administration raids on medical marijuana suppliers in
California.

Under strict orders from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, Rosenthal was
never able to tell the jury that he was growing marijuana as "an officer"
for the city of Oakland's medical marijuana program.

Oakland's program and others throughout California were authorized under
Proposition 215. Eight other states also allow the sick and dying to smoke
or grow marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. But federal authorities do
not recognize those laws.