Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 Source: Philadelphia Daily News (PA) Copyright: 2001 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.phillynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/339 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/ocbc.htm (Oakland Cannabis Court Case) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) MEDICAL MARIJUANA PIONEER, WHO GOT HIS POT FROM U.S., DIES SARASOTA, Fla. - Robert Randall, the first person in the United States to obtain legal access to marijuana for medical use, has died of complications from AIDS, his wife said. Randall, 53, legally smoked 10 marijuana cigarettes a day until his death on Saturday at his home here, said his wife, Alice O'Leary. Randall developed glaucoma in his teens and doctors told him the buildup of pressure in his eyes would cause blindness within a few years. Arguing that no legally available drug could halt the deterioration of his eyesight, he petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for legal access to marijuana. Therapeutic effectiveness of marijuana is still debated, but a U.S. District court in Washington ruled in 1976 that the young college professor's use of marijuana was a "medical necessity." In November of that year he became the first person to receive legal access to federal supplies of marijuana. When the federal government ended that access in 1978, Randall successfully sued for reinstatement and continued to receive uninterrupted supplies from the federal government until he died, O'Leary said. "He was legally blind, but until the end of his life he did have some sight, some distance vision," O'Leary said. Randall became an outspoken advocate for the use of marijuana to treat symptoms of glaucoma, AIDS and other illnesses. Congress has said there are no medical benefits that justify an exemption to U.S. laws outlawing marijuana. The medical marijuana movement suffered a major defeat on May 14, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to carve out a "medical necessity" exemption from the federal law that prohibits distribution of marijuana. That ruling said California cannabis clubs could not legally provide marijuana to seriously ill patients. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe