Ed Rosenthal could have faced as much as 60 Years for providing medicine to sick and dying patients. Instead, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, sending a powerful message against political prosecutions by the Bush administration, departed from sentencing guidelines, causing the courtroom to erupt in cheers and applause.  The end result for Rosenthal: one day in prison, which has already been served and $1,300 in fines.

The Drug Policy Alliance Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann responds to the decision:

“The Bush administration's prosecution of Ed Rosenthal was a political act masquerading as federal law enforcement,” said Nadelmann.  “Judge Breyer's decision today sends a powerful message that the criminal justice system can not, and must not, be used to pursue crass and inhumane ideological ends.”

“The real criminals are the people in Washington who want to put law-abiding citizens and parents behind bars for providing medicine to sick and dying patients,” Nadelmann said, referring to the fact that Rosenthal’s actions were legal under state law.

“We hope the zealots in Washington have heard the chorus of support for Ed - from the patients, activists and California leadership up to the state’s attorney general, to the very jury who repudiated its own conviction of him,” Nadelmann said. 

While Rosenthal’s sentence is certainly great news for those in the movement, reform must continue in local, state, and federal legislatures as Breyer departed from federal sentencing guidelines based on evidence that Rosenthal believed his actions were legal under state law and that he was immune federal prosecution.  The fact remains that he was convicted of the charges regardless according to federal law.

Today, Breyer also noted the fatal flaw in Proposition 215 saying, “It is illogical that you can have it, but you can’t get it.”  Perhaps Senate Bill 420, which passed the California Senate on Monday and mandates the state Health and Human Services agency to develop guidelines for the safe cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana, will move California in the right direction to protect medical marijuana providers.

Rosenthal will now take his case to the court of appeals, in the hopes of overturning his felony conviction.