Document text
Pot activist visits Ashland Staff and wire reports Marijuana maestro Ed Rosenthal comes to Ashland Thursday to kick off a statewide book-signing and fundraising campaign. "He's cool," southern Oregon pot advocate Gerri Kulp said. "He's helping us a lot with our work." Kulp is a member of the Portland-based group Voter Power, which is pushing for a ballot initiative to expand the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. "There are huge problems with access (under the current law), and it's no joke for people who use it for medical reasons," Kulp said "In the future we would like to see it legal for everyone." Rosenthal is a founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and once wrote the "Ask Ed" column for High Times magazine. He has written books with titles including "The Big Book of Buds" and "Ask Ed: Marijuana Law. Don't Get Busted," and more than a dozen others on marijuana, covering topics such as cultivation, hemp and medical pot. Rosenthal was one of the crafters of Proposition 215, the 1996 California initiative that brought focus to the medical marijuana movement. Since the law passed, he has been involved in efforts to implement the law at the local level. In February, Rosenthal was convicted in federal court of cultivating marijuana in California in a case that attracted national attention. Rosenthal, who says he was growing medical marijuana under a 1996 law approved by California voters, is seeking a new trial based on allegations of jury misconduct and other issues. Prosecutors maintains the federal government's position that there is no medical value to marijuana and that the will of California voters has no affect on federal drug law. In a recent interview, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said Rosenthal's actions were legal under state law. Rosenthal, 58, could spend the rest of his life in prison when sentenced in June. Starting with Ashland and Medford on Thursday, Rosenthal will spend four days speaking in cities across the state to help drum up support for the proposed Oregon initiative, as well as raise funds for his own legal costs. He will speak at a press conference and book signing at the Village Baker, 372 East Main St., at 3 p.m. Thursday, then at a 6 p.m. $50-a-plate fundraiser banquet at the Ashland Hills Inn. Rosenthal is scheduled for a 1 p.m. book signing at Bartlett Street Bookstore in Medford earlier in the day Thursday. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Rosenthal is scheduled for a variety of appearances in Roseburg, Eugene, Portland and Salem. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -