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Cannabis Nation News with Mike Boutin and Julie Rose

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 It's Time For An Honest Conversation about Cannabis!

What is a Federal Marijuana Patient?

 

You will hear us occasionally reference the term “Federal Patient” on Cannabis Nation Radio.
What does that mean? Federal Patient of what? Does this mean someone who goes to the V.A. hospital?
It could be argued that anyone going to the Veterans Administration for treatment is a Federal Patient but that’s not what we mean.

We mean people who get Medical Marijuana to treat illnesses from the Federal Government for free.

Hold the blunt, did he just say free marijuana from the Federal Government? Yes.

It is a bit of a long tale and it started in 1973.

Robert C. Randall found out quite by accident that the symptoms of his glaucoma were improved when he smoked marijuana.

Not being able to obtain a consistent supply of marijuana, Bob and his mate Alice O’Leary planted a few plants on the back deck of their Washington D.C. apartment in 1975.

When Bob and Alice went on vacation, there was a police action near their apartment and the police saw their plants on the deck.  Once they returned from vacation, they were met with a court case.

Bob was given a choice: Prove marijuana had a medicinal component that helped him or go to prison and lose his eyesight.

After jumping through many hoops, and a long battle Bob not only proved that marijuana will help a glaucoma sufferer keep their sight, he sued the Federal Government and won his case in 1976. The result was the Federal I.N.D. or Investigative New Drug program which produced and dispensed medical marijuana to the federal patients who were allowed into the program.  It took a ton of paperwork, and a great deal of persistence for new medical marijuana patients to be accepted.  At its zenith, the federal medical marijuana program had 34 people before it was suspended.

In 1992 George H.W. Bush closed the federal medical marijuana program to any new participants and grandfathered the remaining medical marijuana patients in, of which there are now four medical marijuana patients currently remaining. 

These four medical marijuana patients still get a tin of 300 pre rolled marijuana cigarettes a month from the University of Mississippi farm where the Investigative New Drug Program marijuana is produced for medical marijuana patients.

Robert Randall remained engaged and active in the medical marijuana movement and was responsible for helping others get into the program before it was closed and helped to pass medical marijuana laws in 34 states back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The full story is in his and Alice’s book “Marijuana Rx The Patients Fight for Medicinal Pot.”

The remaining Federal Patients are as follows:
1.    Irvin Rosenfeld who entered the program in 1983 and was on Cannabis Nation Radio 06/01/12
2.    Elvy Musikka who entered the program in 1988 and was on Cannabis Nation Radio 12/21/12
3.    George McMahon who entered the program in 1990 and is scheduled to be on Cannabis Nation Radio on 06/14/13
4.    Barbara Douglass who entered the program in 1991 and is not currently scheduled to appear on CNR.

Although not a Federal Patient but the wife of Robert Randall and a MMJ activist extraordinaire, Alice O’Leary appeared on Cannabis Nation Radio on 04/20/12.

So that folks is how it works. One arm of the Federal Government is spending money to eradicate a plant that another arm of the government is growing and giving to select Americans for free to treat a wide range of health conditions, all while the DEA maintains the stance, "there are no medical benefits to marijuana." 

One part of this Government is on the wrong side of the issue, and it’s not the arm that is allowing for the medicinal use of marijuana.

You may end up being a medical marijuana patient some day but the odds of you being a “Federal Patient” are currently running at around “zero” if you are not one of the four medical marijuana patients mentioned above.