Interview with king of the pot farmers, Ed Rosenthal
10 Zen Monkeys has a great interview with marijuana growing guru, Ed Rosenthal. From the introduction:
Link to transcript | Audio linkFrom a certain perspective, Ed Rosenthal may have caught a break when Judge Breyer sentenced him to just one day in prison plus time served when he was convicted for growing hundreds of marijuana plants in Oakland, California. But it would be difficult to argue that his trial was anything short of Kafkaesque. Rosenthal had been deputized by the City of Oakland to grow medical marijuana. But after being busted by the Feds, he was not even allowed to mention his relationship to the lawful government of Oakland nor was he allowed to present witnesses who could talk about it.
So after his conviction, Rosenthal took his case to the 9th Circuit of the Supreme Court and won. His conviction was overturned, but it was overturned on a technicality. Then, in a clear case of vengeful prosecution, the D.A. in the case decided to bring up charges again, adding new charges to the original. Again Rosenthal was not allowed to present the obvious defense — his deputization with the City of Oakland — and he was re-convicted.
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The feds' treatment of California (and the rest of the states which are participating in the experiment) wrt medical marijuana is astonishingly anti-democratic. California would be wealthier and more free if we just seceeded from the union; we pay more to into the federal kitty than we get out. Ironically, the small government-loving red states are lined up like piglets at the federal teat.
"9th Circuit of the Supreme Court" --???? Uh, yeah... I'm thinking they mean 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Makes you wonder why the case is "U.S. v. Rosenthal" rather than "U.S. v. City of Oakland, CA (and Rosenthal)".
Seriously.
This stuff gets me so worked up. How is it possible that he wasn't allowed to mention his deputization by the state? How does that occur?
I don't even smoke the stuff anymore, but... that is one beautiful picture.
Cheers to Ed for taking it on the chin for what he believes in. Overgrow the government!
"rnclly, th smll gvrnmnt-lvng rd stts r lnd p lk pglts t th fdrl tt."
Nnsns. Thr r jst wy t mny nnr cty wlfr rcpnts n lbrl bl stts wtng n ln lrdy, wh n th rd stts wld bthr wstng thr tm?
Mullingitover makes an astonishingly good point. One, in fact, that never gets talked about. Who needs the smalled minded, puritanical, morlaizing bullshit of the rest of the country? Why should the residents of California have to pay more than their fair share to subsidize the kind of backwardness that exists in the south and midwest? Talk about a major rip off. Good luck trying to break off though. The hallowed framers of the constitution made sure that the Republic would forever be frozen.
Hey, leave the midwest out of your backwardness comment! I'm from Ohio and we .. oh, shit.
The Medical Marijuana struggle is a perfect example of why the Executive was never meant to be this strong. What does it say about a democratic secular society when the opinions & recommendations of licensed medical doctors (scientists, really) are suppressed, and their decisions controlled by those who never went to medical school.
How can one even be optimistic about that kind of situation?
"rnclly, th smll gvrnmnt-lvng rd stts r lnd p lk pglts t th fdrl tt."
Nnsns. Thr r jst wy t mny nnr cty wlfr rcpnts n lbrl bl stts wtng n ln lrdy, wh n th rd stts wld bthr wstng thr tm?
...For those who don't do geek speak...
rnclly, th smll gvrnmnt-lvng rd stts r lnd p lk pglts t th fdrl tt.
Nnsns. Thr r jst wy t mny nnr cty wlfr rcpnts n lbrl bl stts wttng n ln lrdy (?), wh n th rd stts wld bthr wstng thr tm?
Ed Rosenthal is a frequent visitor on the airwaves of the public radio station that I work at: KPFA in Berkeley: Check out the archive of Ed-related programs here!
That's clever #12, is that supposed to be legible?
Unless you guys elect a sensible president who gives a crap about freedom for the first time in several decades, you're just going to keep getting more of this crap.
(That would be Ron Paul, by the way.)
I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that the Bill of Rights clearly says that all powers not given to the Federal government, are given to the individual states or the people, in that order. What the feds can and cannot do, or should and should not do, I leave to those better versed in law.
The problem here is that federal laws governing the use of marijuana are TOTAL BULLSHIT. We need to reform federal drug laws, not just state drug laws. Legalize marijuana!