🧨 Postscript: How the 1976 Us. v. Randall Case Became the Lit Fuse
When we talk about the origin of federal medical cannabis access, the story often begins in the wrong place.
The Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) Program is usually framed as the federal government’s first step toward medical cannabis reform—a gesture of mercy, a bureaucratic “solution.” But this narrative buries the truth:
The IND program was not the beginning.
It was the containment.
The real beginning—the spark—was U.S. v. Randall (1976).
That case marked the first time in U.S. history that a citizen—Robert C. Randall—successfully used the defense of medical necessity to beat the federal government in court for using cannabis. In that ruling, the court acknowledged that:
📜 “The harm Mr. Randall avoided by smoking marijuana outweighed the harm the government sought to prevent through its prohibition.”
That was the moment the Controlled Substances Act cracked.
The precedent was set.
đź’Ł The Legal Breakthrough
What Randall won in 1976 was not just an acquittal—it was legal recognition that medical necessity could override federal prohibition. That ruling forced the government’s hand.
Everything that followed—from Randall v. U.S. in 1978 to the eventual creation of the Compassionate IND Program—was a reaction to that win. A scramble to reassert control. A move from courtroom exposure to administrative management.
IND #13-387 (Randall’s IND number) didn’t represent compassion.
It represented containment—of a precedent the federal government hoped would stay small, quiet, and isolated.
🔥 The Strategic Misunderstanding
Too often, reformers start the timeline with the program—not the precedent.
But veterans today are not asking for a program out of kindness.
They’re asserting a legal right grounded in the same conditions that existed in U.S. v. Randall:
Documented illness
Lack of effective alternatives
Doctor supervision
Functional benefit from cannabis
Government denial of legal access
That’s not a coincidence. That’s precedent.
🎯 Why This Matters Now
If we want to restore medical cannabis access for veterans—federal patients—we must start with the truth:
The right was already recognized. The government just buried it.
By bringing U.S. v. Randall back into focus, we’re not just honoring history.
We’re reigniting it.
This isn’t about nostalgia.
This is about strategic recall.
This is about forcing the system to confront its own record—and extend the same access to the people it now calls its patients: veterans.
So let the record reflect:
The fuse was lit in 1976.
Everything after was the government trying to keep it from reaching the powder.
We’re just picking up the match again.
—
🖋️ By Ricardo André Pereyda San Nicolás
Combat Veteran, U.S. Army Military Police Corps
Co-Founder, International Veterans Leadership Committee (IVLC)
