OAKLAND MEN SAY 'NOT GUILTY' TO ILLEGAL DRUGS CHARGES

Two Oakland men arrested in last month's federal raids of Bay Area
marijuana providers entered "not guilty" pleas Monday in federal court.

Renowned marijuana writer and cultivator Ed Rosenthal, 57, and James
Halloran, 61, remain free on bail. Charged in separate indictments,
Halloran will appear March 19 before U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown
Armstrong of Oakland, and Rosenthal will appear March 20 before U.S.
District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco.

Rosenthal, Halloran, Richard Watts of San Francisco and Kenneth Hayes of
Petaluma were arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration agents Feb. 12 as
the DEA raided sites including the Harm Reduction Center medical marijuana
clinic in San Francisco, Rosenthal's Oakland home and an Oakland commercial
space at which Halloran allegedly grew hundreds of marijuana plants.

The defendants claim they were growing and distributing marijuana in
compliance with California's medical marijuana law. Federal prosecutors say
they were growing and selling illegal drugs for profit.

Watts, who worked at the Harm Reduction Center, is scheduled to enter a
plea today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward Chen of San Francisco.
Hayes, the center's longtime director, was arrested in Canada and remains
free on bail there; his lawyer has said he'll fight extradition.