Despite an official policy denying the medical value of cannabis, the federal government began providing the drug to a limited number of patients through the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program in 1978. The program was created following a lawsuit filed by Robert Randall, a Washington, D.C. resident who was arrested for cultivating cannabis in 1975. Citing the glaucoma that threatened to take his eyesight, Randall employed a medical necessity defense at trial to justify his use of cannabis. The charges against Randall were dismissed, and as a result of an ensuing petition filed with the FDA, Randall became the first person to receive cannabis from the federal government in 1976. After his supply was cut off in 1978, he filed a lawsuit to have it restored, setting in motion the creation of the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program shortly thereafter. The program allowed patients with serious medical conditions to receive a regular supply of cannabis from the federal government; however, only 13 patients ended up participating due to the very complicated and drawn-out application process involved.
The Compassionate IND program was closed to new patients in 1992, due to a flood of new applications from AIDS patients and concerns that the program undercut Bush administration efforts to discourage illegal drug use. James O. Mason, the head of U.S. Public Health Service, explained that keeping the program in place created the perception that "this stuff can't be so bad", and noted that AIDS patients provided with cannabis would be more likely to engage in unsafe sex. Twenty-eight applications that had recently been approved were rescinded, and only the 13 patients who were already receiving cannabis were allowed to do so moving forward. As of 2016, most of the original 13 patients had perished, but at least two were still known to be receiving cannabis from the federal government as reported by Wikipedia. One of the remaining patients by the name of Irvin Rosenthal lives in Lauderhill Florida not far from our Sunrise office. Irv Rosenthal continues to get free medical marijuana in the form of pre-rolled joints shipped to him monthly from the Federal Government. Robert Randall, the original patient who initiated the lawsuit against the federal government, wrote a captivating book describing the ordeal from the initial bust to what he and his wife Alice O'Leary endured through the process of the lawsuit. The book is co-authored by his wife Alice O'Leary who remains active in cannabis education and advocacy and after retiring from nursing, and who now serves on the board of "The American Cannabis Nurses Association." The book is titled Marijuana Rx: The Patient's Fight for Medicinal Pot
If you suffer from a medical condition fill out the form on our home page to see if you may qualify for the Florida medical marijuana card program.
