Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Attorneys for a man who has written books on how to grow marijuana and avoid getting caught asked a federal appeals court Tuesday 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 him to...

The drug czar is ready for pro wrestling. He already has the name, and now he's got the prefight talk down cold. In every speech he makes in Nevada, where Bush appointee John Walters has traveled to fight an initiative that would legalize marijuana, he calls out his three sworn enemies as if he were Tupac Shakur. The czar has a problem with billionaire philanthropists George Soros, Peter Lewis and John Sperling, who have bankrolled the pro-pot movement, and he wants everyone to know he's ready for battle. At an Elks lodge meeting in Las Vegas, he ticks off their...