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'Guru of Ganja' challenges convictions
Author says he was growing medicinal marijuana

Associated Press

San Francisco, CA Sept 14, 2005 -- Attorneys for a man who has written books on how to grow marijuana and avoid getting caught asked a federal appeals court to overturn his drug convictions.

Ed Rosenthal, the self-described "Guru of Ganja," was convicted two years ago of growing and distributing hundreds of marijuana plants. He says he was authorized to do so by the city of Oakland under a 1996 California medical marijuana law.

After U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer refused to allow a jury to hear that defense, Rosenthal was convicted of being a major drug supplier.

Breyer sentenced Rosenthal to one day in prison, saying he Rosenthal reasonably believed he was immune from prosecution because he was acting on behalf of Oakland city officials. The government and Rosenthal both appealed.

The government maintained Rosenthal, now 60, should have gotten at least 24 months in prison. Amber Rosen, an assistant United States attorney, told a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Breyer abused his discretion by issuing a sentence that fell outside federal sentencing guidelines.

While the case was on appeal, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government can prosecute medical marijuana growers and users despite California's medical marijuana law.

The justices also ruled in an unrelated case while the appeal was pending that federal judges do not have to follow the sentencing guidelines. That decision was also retroactive.

Dennis Riordan, one of Rosenthal's appellate attorneys, told the court Tuesday that Rosenthal's conviction should be overturned.

"I was told by the city attorney's office that I was immune from prosecution. If I can't rely on government officials, who can you rely on?" Rosenthal said in an interview after the hearing.

He once wrote the "Ask Ed" column for High Times magazine and has written books with titles including "The Big Book of Buds" and "Ask Ed: Marijuana Law, Don't Get Busted."