"Guru of Ganja" (Ed Rosenthal) convicted of marijuana cultivation

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 01/31/03 | DAVID KRAVETS

[philman_36]

Included charges for crimes other than marijuana possession.
No, it says quite clearly that it concerns a specific program...in 2000 the DEA program for eradicating domestic marijuana resulted in the destruction of 2.8 million plants in 40,929 plots, 9,439 arrests, 3,463 weapons seized, and assets seized valued at $19.3 million.
It doesn't say anything else about anything else.
Please show me where it says what you say it says.

[philman_36]

Oh, BTW, keep this in mind while perusing this info...According to the UCR, (Uniform Crime Reports) drug abuse violations are defined as State and/or local offenses relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs including opium or cocaine and their derivatives, marijuana, synthetic narcotics, and dangerous nonnarcotic drugs such as barbiturates.
That definition clause helps. The info is direct and correct only when you read it rightly in light of that.
Got to read this stuff closely.

[philman_36]

Well, what do you know...
DEA Arrests - Year 2001
Cocaine = 12,165
Heroin = 2,969
Cannabis = 5,156
Meth = 6,572
LSD = 70
MDMA = 1,893
Other = 1,819
Total = 30,644
Hmmmmmm...funky math!

[philman_36]

You like the law and court cases...
Seen this case?

"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care."

I found that from here...Special BBSN Series: The Truth About the War on Some Drugs

[Cultural Jihad]

Not in California. The average user has no interaction whatsoever with any level of law enforcement, and the last arrest for mere possession or use happened over 30 years ago.

[Roscoe]

Cannabis = 5,156

Divided by 50 weeks in a year and 52 states equals 1.98 arrests per state per week.

Thanks.

[philman_36]

Divided by 50 weeks in a year and 52 states equals 1.98 arrests per state per week.
Funky math indeed!
Maybe in your alternate universe!
This universe has 52 weeks and 50 states.

[Roscoe]

Divided by 52 weeks in a year and 50 states equals 1.98 arrests per state per week, as opposed to 1.98 arrests per state per week.

Thanks again.

[philman_36]

I will agree with the 1.98 though, as a per state per week average.
What do you think about the possession statement?
You know...the "more than 4/5ths" one.

[Roscoe]

The average user has no interaction whatsoever with any level of law enforcement, and the last arrest for mere possession or use happened over 30 years ago.

I guess Rosenthal's commercial warehouse filled 1,000+ plants intended for sale was a bit more than mere possession. :)

[philman_36]

Then there is always the
United States Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration
DOMESTIC CANNABIS ERADICATION/SUPPRESSION PROGRAM (DCE/SP)
The DCE/SP is the sole nationwide law enforcement program that exclusively addresses marijuana. DEA coordinates the program by completing Letters of Agreement (grant like funding contracts) with state and local law enforcement agencies, in response to their operational plan to combat illicit marijuana and conduct suppression programs in their states. The state DEA DCE/SP coordinator and the lead state agency coordinator plan the utilization of the funds for the best eradication operation possible for their states.
Snip...DEA and the cooperating agencies meet the challenge of increased indoor and outdoor cultivation operations by employing advanced technologies, like remote sensing devices, Global Positioning System (G. P. S.) locator technology and thermal imagery, to build effective cases against these violators. In addition, DEA Special Agents, along with their state and local counterparts, have developed innovative investigative and analysis techniques to achieve and maintain their investigative superiority. The Special Team, multi-agency, multi-state eradication and enforcement effort has several high concentration operations: Operation Four Corners, (Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and Missouri) Operation Deep Strike (Florida Georgia and Alabama), Operation Grand Slam, (Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, and Tennessee), Operation Wipe Out (Hawaii), and Operation Emerald Triangle (California). These operations not only target the eradication of plots and plants but lead to case building and arrests of the growers.
Snip...

Year	Plants Seized			Assets Seized
	Cultivated	Ditchweed	Indoor
1992	7.5 mil	264.0 mil	349,275	$69 million
1993	4.1 mil	388.0 mil	290,453	$52 million
1994	4.0 mil	504.4 mil	218,982	$56 million
1995	3.0 mil	370.0 mil	277,232	$42 million
1996	3.0 mil	420.0 mil	217,194	$37.9 million
1997	3.8 mil	237.0 mil	225,232	$39.5 million
1998	2.2 mil	132.4 mil	232,839	$29.3 million
1999	3.4 mil	130.1 mil	208,027	$26.9 million
2000	2.8 mil	139.5 mil	217,105	$19.2 million

Who gets to claim the arrests, or do they all go to the State's count(?) and why is so much time, effort and money being spent on eradicating mere ditchweed?
Funky math!

[philman_36]

I guess Rosenthal's commercial warehouse filled 1,000+ plants intended for sale was a bit more than mere possession.
Got a link for that? I understood that he was giving the plants away, not selling any. I'd be interested in where it was stated that he was growing them to sell.

[philman_36]

Have you seen that case I linked before? It's got some interesting stuff in there.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Not in California. The average user has no interaction whatsoever with any level of law enforcement, and the last arrest for mere possession or use happened over 30 years ago.

Leaving aside the fact that I don't live in California, the "average user" likely faces far stiffer penalities if he wishes to avoid funding potentially criminal enterprises by cultivating his own supply.

You've heard of CAMP, of course.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Not in California. The average user has no interaction whatsoever with any level of law enforcement, and the last arrest for mere possession or use happened over 30 years ago.

Also, do you have a cite for your assertion. Since possession is still listed as a misdemeanor in California, with more than an ounce bringing 6 months in the can, I would find it remarkable that no one has been arrested in 30 years.

Not saying you pulled that out of your ass, though.

[Roscoe]

"Rosenthal is on trial in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on charges of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy. The charges stem from a business he ran growing marijuana to be sold for medicinal uses under the auspices of the city of Oakland's medical marijuana ordinance, one of many such municipal statutes in California."

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3611609.html

[Roscoe]

"The DEA contends that Rosenthal is using Prop. 215 as a smokescreen for drug profiteering, and prosecutors trying the case have attempted to turn growers and club operators against each other.

When Hayes fled to Canada, his medical marijuana club underwent the same upheaval that many businesses endure when a founder suddenly leaves. But prosecutors moved to take advantage of the turmoil. ''The feds are using us as an example to scare all these other dispensers of medical cannabis into submission,'' said Ken Hayes, who is seeking political asylum in Canada. ''I didn't want to be used as a federal government trophy.''

Former club employee Robert Martin, who was forced to testify under a grant of immunity, alleged that Hayes drew down the club's accounts to pay for his exile. Bills went unpaid and the power was shut off. Martin, who now runs another medical marijuana club, began covering expenses out of his own pocket, but testified that he wrote Rosenthal bad checks for his plants because he believed Rosenthal was attempting to take over the operation. The prosecution then produced an unsigned letter to Rosenthal, seized from Watts' computer. The letter suggests that Rosenthal was selling bug-infested plants as an act of ''willfull sabotage'' to infect other growers and corner the medical marijuana market, a charge Rosenthal denies."

http://santafenewmexican.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6877189&BRD=2144&PAG=461&dept_id=367954&rfi=6

[philman_36]

Thanks.
From what I can tell someone needs to get their story straight...WHO IS ED ROSENTHAL? WHY DOES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WANT TO PUT HIM IN JAIL?
Snip...He has been charged on three counts of cultivation and conspiracy, and if convicted faces a minimum of 10 years in prison, with the possibility of life imprisonment without parole.
US CA: Medical Marijuana Activist Rosenthal's Federal Drug
...has been charged with maintaining a place to grow marijuana at the Oakland warehouse and cultivating more than 100 marijuana plants at the site.
Snip...He has also been charged with conspiring to grow more than 1,000 plants...
And from this very article...Deliberating for a day, the 12-member jury concluded that Rosenthal, the self described "Guru of Ganja," was growing more than 1,000 plants, conspiring to cultivate marijuana and maintaining a warehouse for a growing operation. He faces a maximum life term when sentenced June 4.
And another one...
The federal jury concluded Rosenthal was growing more than 100 plants, conspiring to cultivate marijuana and maintaining a warehouse for a growing operation.
Looks like he was convicted on three counts.
I don't see a conviction for selling the plants and if he was charged with selling the plants shouldn't he have been convicted of that too?

[philman_36]

They can contend all they want. Was he charged on it? Was he convicted of it?. From what I've read the answer to both is no.

[Roscoe]

"...testified that he wrote Rosenthal bad checks for his plants..."

I understood that he was giving the plants away, not selling any.

Source?