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| King of Pot Books Pleads Innocent To Charges |
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Posted by FoM on March 04, 2002 at 19:55:41 PT By Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press Writer Source: Associated Press 
To generations of marijuana enthusiasts, Ed Rosenthal is the answer man, his mind brimming with information on how to grow the world's best buds. To the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Rosenthal is just a big drug dealer. Caught in a struggle between federal and state authorities who have been at odds since California and other states legalized medical marijuana, Rosenthal freely admits he was growing the 600 pot plants that agents seized from an Oakland warehouse on Feb. 12. "The laws against medical marijuana put anyone with a conscience in the middle of a major conflict," Rosenthal said. "You want to help the patients, but the federal government says it's illegal." On Monday, Rosenthal pleaded innocent to conspiring to grow 1,000 or more marijuana plants, federal charges that carry a minimum 10-year prison term. The DEA also raided the Harm Reduction Center, a medical marijuana club in San Francisco, and arrested its director, Richard Watts, along with another alleged supplier, James Halloran of Oakland. Halloran also pleaded innocent Monday. Watts is awaiting arraignment. The U.S. Attorney's office won't comment on the case. But Richard Meyer, spokesman for the DEA in San Francisco, said Rosenthal and the other defendants simply were breaking the law. "Our job is to enforce the federal drug statutes and we're committed to doing that," he said. Rosenthal, 57, says he's anything but a drug dealer out for profit, noting that the plants agents seized didn't have buds -- the part of the plant normally smoked for a high. He planned to give out cuttings to seriously ill people. "I was growing clones so patients could clone their own," he said. Rosenthal, who helped found the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and used to write the "Ask Ed" column for "High Times" magazine, has researched and written nearly 20 books on marijuana. Millions of copies have been sold, mostly in the United States, with titles such as "The Growers Handbook," "The Big Book of Buds," and "Ask Ed: Marijuana Law. Don't Get Busted" which offers tips on avoiding arrest. "It worked up until a few weeks ago," he says, with a wry smile. He and his wife, Jane Klein, run their publishing company, Quick Trading Co., out of their rambling Victorian home on an Oakland hill. The self-taught expert in botany spends much of his time in his garden, tending to his orchids, pineapples, olive trees, and dozens of other legal plants. A letter on his office wall thanks him for the lettuce-growing tips he published in "National Gardening" magazine. But primarily, Rosenthal is known for being what another letter on his office wall calls him -- "the Michael Jordan of pot." Lately, he's used that expertise in a radio talk show on Berkeley's KPFA-FM, talking up how pot can help people deal with chronic illnesses, AIDS or other painful conditions. "If I don't help them, it will be a sin of omission," he said. Complete Title: King of Pot Books Pleads Innocent To Marijuana Charges On the Net: Rosenthal site -- http://www.quicktrading.com DEA site -- http://www.usdoj.gov:80/dea/pubs/factsheet/factsheet2002.html Source: Associated Press Related Articles & Web Site: DEA Raids Medical Marijuana Club Indicted Rosenthal, Hayes, Watt, and Halloran Rosenthal Pot-Growing Icon Takes Raid in Stride Federal War Against The Sick Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #14 posted by FoM on March 06, 2002 at 11:09:06 PT |
| I wanted to let you know that I just got off the phone from talking to dddd. He sounds so much better. They removed a portion of his lung and they didn't find any malignancies. He will be back here soon he said and thanked everyone for all the concern that has been shown for him. Our dddd will be back real soon! I love good news! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #13 posted by FoM on March 05, 2002 at 19:25:57 PT |
| I tried to call dddd about a week ago and didn't get him. I did talk to him a few weeks before though. I think I will try again tomorrow. If I get him I'll let you know how he is doing. He sure sounds terribly sick. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by SWAMPIE on March 05, 2002 at 18:16:58 PT |
| I REALLLLY miss dddd and his realistic comments.Sure hope that he gets better soon.I f not,I may have to rant for him,and it"ain't gonna be pretty",because my wife says that I can bitch with the best of themn.LOL.On a side-note,if anyone is living in the northeast-Ohio-area,there is a bad FLU-MENINGITIS going around,and NOT TO ALARM ANYONE,but KEEP AWAY FROM ANYWHERE THAT THERE MIGHT BE THIS VIRUS!!!It is real nasty,and we have,as well as our friends,been real sick!!!They just found meningitis in a girl within 5 miles of us.She will probably be ok,but this ain't nothin to mess with.At 4:20 AM,I will burn one in HONOR of dddd,and as always,think about how our ever-evolving-world can and will be influenced by the power of CANNABIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN'YET!!! ONWARD THROUGH THE FOG!!!!!!!!! SWAMPIE [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #11 posted by mayan on March 05, 2002 at 17:43:31 PT |
| for the word on dddd! I hope he gets well & gets back to C-News soon...we need his fire! Anyway, everybody I've talked to who isn't online is shocked when I tell them the news about Ed & the DEA raids. This story has been totally blacked-out by the mainstream media! It is up to all of us to spread the word about Ed & the other men facing charges for helping sick people!!! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by Patrick on March 05, 2002 at 16:08:18 PT |
| His voice is sure missed here. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by FoM on March 05, 2002 at 13:14:04 PT |
| I wanted to let you know dddd just emailed me. He was in the hospital and he said " they cut me open and removed somethings from my lung ". He'll tell me more later he said. Thought you all would want to know. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by goneposthole on March 05, 2002 at 04:18:39 PT |
| "If I don't help them, it will be a sin of omission," he said. if you can help, and don't, you will become guilt ridden. "I could have helped them, but I didn't. Now look at what there is." Regretable words "If I don't arrest them, it will be a sin of omission," a DEA agent. Although, by arresting Ed Rosenthal, a sin was commited. This sinning stuff is tough to ignore. "I can help you, but I refuse," is downright lowdown. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by Zero_G on March 05, 2002 at 02:17:26 PT |
| As DdC points out, the jury has a very well precedented ability to decide on matters of law, as well matters of fact, even going against judges instructions. However, it has been a practice of late to ask prospective jurors if they will uphold the law before being empaneled. Similarly, opponents of the death penalty are excluded from sitting on capital murder cases, etc. The right to a jury of ones peers has been eroded greatly. Look for the feds to try to exclude anyone from the jury who knows anyone who has benefitted from the medical aspects of cannabis. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by Elfman_420 on March 05, 2002 at 02:13:52 PT |
| I just read this one in DdC's comment: "In a civilised society, it is the duty of all citizens to obey just laws. But at the same time it is the duty of all citizens to disobey unjust laws." - Martin Luther King Jr. I sent it to my friends and got back this from one of them: "Loyalty to the country always, loyalty to the government when it deserves it." - Mark Twain [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by freedom fighter on March 05, 2002 at 01:33:14 PT |
| No sounds emitting from the mouths The 4 will beat the rap. The 4 will beat the rap. ff [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by DdC on March 05, 2002 at 01:05:37 PT |
| In an editorial in its May 1 issue, William F. Buckley, Jr.'s National Review commented on the case of Jimmy Montgomery, a paraplegic sentenced to 10 years in Oklahoma prisons for less than 2 ounces of marijuana. NR noted that former deputy drug czar John P. Walters criticized ABC News for reporting on the Montgomery case. Walters showed no concern for Montgomery but rather complained, "Apparently ABC couldn't find a grandmother on death row for carrying a roach clip..." NR observes that "something is seriously wrong with a drug policy that condones such treatment -- a point that the drug warriors tacitly acknowledge by changing the subject." http://www.commonlink.com/~olsen/NORML/WEEKLY/95-04-20.html William F.Buckley walters terrorist lp Rainbow Farm Massacre Peter McWilliams Homepage James Geddes Release Petition - 90 YEARS-5 PLANTS! November MAKING THE WALLS TRANSPARENT [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by DdC on March 05, 2002 at 00:30:38 PT |
| ...will end by burning men." --Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), from his play Almansor (1821) "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." How FIJA Saved My Life! "In a civilised society, it is the duty of all citizens to obey just laws. Juror Dismissed “For Handing Out Constitutional Propaganda” "I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man, Fully Informed Jury Association Erowid Freedom Vault : Jury Nullification In Jury Rooms, Form of Civil Protest Grows — Washington Post "The jury has the right to determine both the law and the facts" Trial by jury — Cato Institute "If a juror feels that the statute [law] in any criminal offence is unfair, The Common Law and other Historical Documents "The Jury has the power to bring a verdict in the teeth of both law and fact" Political War On Drugs Makes Medical Casualties "The law itself is on trial quite as much as the case which is to be decided" Jury rights quotes — Lone Star FIJA "unreviewable and irreversible power [of the jury] to acquit in disregard of the instruction
of the law given by the trial judge. The pages of history shine upon instances cops against the drug war "In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me." [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by Lehder on March 04, 2002 at 22:44:52 PT |
| "Our job is to enforce the federal drug statutes and we're committed to doing that," he said. Better hurry and finish up in Afghanistan before November. US mountain and cold weather special forces may needed in Alaska. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by ekim on March 04, 2002 at 20:33:17 PT:
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| And Gov. Johnson and Gov. Ventura will say something. We have a Attorney named Geoffrey Fieger here in Michigan, that would give the Feds a run for there money. Mr. Soros could take a personel look at this too. Who will make the stand for giving this plant back to the people. All the big shot comics on TV make all kinds of money from talking about the herb like Jay Leno and Letterman who will put some of that money up to help. Woody has so has Bill M. If every one that has read ED. in H.T. Mag would send one dollar for his defence he would be well represented. mike [ Post Comment ] |
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