Guru of Ganja Gets Just Desserts

One toke over the line

by Sean Carter
02/16/03

On January 31st, Ed Rosenthal, the self-described "Guru of Ganja," was convicted of growing marijuana under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). However, within days of his conviction, five jurors issued a public apology and demanded a new trial for Mr. Rosenthal. This is unusual even in our wacky legal system.

The jurors complained that they were not allowed to consider the fact that Rosenthal was growing the marijuana for seriously ill patients under California’s medical marijuana law. "We had no legal wiggle room," said the jury foreman.

In 1996, California voters passed a law making it legal to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes. In all, eight states and the District of Columbia have made medical marijuana legal. However, each of these laws is in conflict with the CSA, which does not provide for a medical marijuana exemption.

Ironically, it was Bill "I Didn’t Inhale" Clinton’s Administration that initially went after medical marijuana suppliers in California. In 1998, the federal government sued the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, demanding that it stop distributing marijuana. Eventually, this case made it all the way to the Supreme Court.

In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that the CSA preempted state law and therefore, medical marijuana is no longer legal anywhere within the U.S. However, despite this ruling, the proponents of medical marijuana continued to promote and distribute the drug.

This is particularly true of Ed Rosenthal, who is not only a columnist for High Times magazine but also the author of several how-to-grow-pot-even-though-it-is-illegal books. Rosenthal was arrested last February when the feds raided several medical marijuana dispensaries.

Now, first let me say that I am a vocal opponent of our war on drugs. In fact, I believe that this "war" couldn’t be more misguided if my father was navigating it during one on his infamous cross-country trips in the family station wagon.

Therefore, not only do I support the medical marijuana movement but I am also in favor of preventative PCP, curative crack, healing heroin, etc. The bottom line is that if you want to fry your brains with drugs, then just make sure you bring enough for everyone else at the party, okay?

Seriously, we now have over 2 million people serving time in our prisons. And a large percentage of these people were convicted of drug-related offenses. However, despite our multi-billion dollar annual investment in new jail space, our drug problem continues to grow out of control, much like Rosie O’Donnell, just not at such an alarming rate.

That being said, I believe that if we have laws on the books, then we should enforce them. Moreover, we should enforce them uniformly. As a result, I find it somewhat disturbing that Ed Rosenthal’s conviction is causing such turmoil.

If anyone should be in prison for drug-trafficking, then surely it should be the self-described "Guru of Ganja." For years, Mr. Rosenthal has flouted the drug laws of this country as if he were a celebrity or one of the President’s nieces.

However, for some reason, he is being treated as a "victim" in this case. In my view, the real victim is the 16-year-old inner city youth who deals drugs to help his mother pay the rent. However, when was the last time you saw a jury call a press conference to ask for a new trial for "poor little Darnell"? Never! In fact, Darnell’s jury probably throws a post-verdict party, where they do bong hits to his incarceration.

In fact, one of the jurors in Rosenthal’s case summed up this double-standard perfectly when she said, "We convicted a man who is not a criminal." Apparently, in America, your criminal status is not determined by whether you actually broke the law. I guess you are only a criminal if your motives for breaking the law are not politically correct.

Of course, in any other context, this would be unthinkable. For instance, you can’t cheat on your taxes, even if you plan to give all of your refund to charity. Nor can you steal from the rich to give to the poor, unless, of course, you are a Democrat in Congress.

The bottom line is that our society wrongly insists on a fighting a war on drugs. As a result, we have outlawed the distribution of certain substances. Marijuana is one of those substances.

Therefore, those who violate the law to distribute medical marijuana should be punished just like those who distribute drugs for personal gain. Uniform enforcement is not only necessary for the rule of law but it is also our best chance of reforming our ill-conceived drug policy. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly."

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Sean is a practicing attorney who writes a weekly humor column on current legal events called "Lawpsided." Lawpsided pieces appear in a growing number of general circulation papers across the country, including The Los Angeles Times. Moreover, his musings on the law appear on nationally recognized websites, such as jewishworldreview.com, findlaw.com, newsmax.com and etherzone.com, and legal publications, such as The National Law Journal and The Los Angeles Daily Journal. Lastly, he is a regular contributor to national magazines like Razor and Tirade. If you would be interested in publishing this piece or seeing other samples of his work, please feel free to contact him by e-mail, by phone at (626) 786-2095, or through his website at:

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