A HISTORICAL VIGNETTE
Hola peeps, how goes it?
All’s well on this end, I’ve got my coffee and some fire indica fresh from the dispensary in front of me. I’m sitting here reflecting on U.S. president Joe Biden’s recent move to pardon all simple marijuana offenses at the federal level, and the order he gave to investigate this matter further. Presumably that means we are heading for some sort of change in the 85 year status quo. Nine decades into this affair and the leadership are still scratching their heads.
So, I figured I’d throw out some of what we’ve been talking about in our meetings. Just from this snapshot into history, it’s clear the United States government knows quite a bit about the cannabis issue…
Parke, Davis & Co.; U.S. Army Panama Canal Study; Adams Scale; Harrison Narcotics Act; Marijuana Tax Act; Cannabis Prohibition; Laguardia Report;
MKULTRA: “Under MKUltra, the CIA gave itself the authority to research how drugs could: ‘promote the intoxicating effects of alcohol;’ ‘render the induction of hypnosis easier;’ ‘enhance the ability of individuals to withstand privation, torture and coercion;’ produce amnesia, shock and confusion; and much more. Many of these questions were investigated using unwitting test subjects, like drug-addicted prisoners, marginalized sex workers and terminal cancer patients - ‘people who could not fight back,’ in the words of Sidney Gottlieb, the chemist who introduced LSD to the CIA.”
Shafer Commission; Controlled Substances Act;
U.S. v. Randall: In 1976, a Washington D.C. man afflicted by glaucoma employed the little-used Common Law doctrine of necessity to defend himself against criminal charges of marijuana cultivation. On November 24, 1976, federal Judge James Washington ruled Randall’s use of marijuana constituted “medical necessity.”In part, Judge Washington ruled: “While blindness was shown by competent medical testimony to be the otherwise inevitable result of the defendant's disease, no adverse effects from the smoking of marijuana have been demonstrated... Medical evidence suggests that the medical prohibition is not well-founded. Judge Washington dismissed criminal charges against Randall. Concurrent with this judicial determination, federal agencies responding to a May, 1976 petition filed by Randall, began providing this patient with licit, FDA-approved access to government supplies of medical marijuana. Randall was the first American to receive marijuana for the treatment of a medical disorder.
“It was a decision by D.C. Superior Court Judge James A. Washington in the case of United States v. Robert Randall that led to the federal government creating an ‘investigational new drug protocol’ back in the Jimmy Carter era. The case was tried over the course of two days in July, 1976.”
Randall v. U.S.: In 1978 federal agencies, disquieted by Randall’s outspoken opposition to the medical prohibition, sought to silence him by disrupting his legal access to marijuana. In response, Randall, represented pro bono publico by the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, brought suit against FDA, DEA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Department of Justice and the Department of Health, Education & Welfare. Twenty-four hours after the suit was filed, federal agencies requested an out-of-court settlement. The resulting settlement provided Randall with prescriptive access to marijuana through a federal pharmacy located near his home. The settlement in Randall v U.S. became the legal basis for the FDA’s Compassionate IND program.
Federal Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program; ACT; MARS; Proposition 215; Obstruction of Research; Overdose & Suicide;
The First Lady of Medical Cannabis,
Alice O’Leary Randall has dedicated more than forty years to the medical cannabis movement that was founded by her late husband, Robert C. Randall in 1976. She and Robert were arrested for marijuana (cannabis) cultivation in 1975 after Robert accidentally discovered that smoking the plant helped treat his glaucoma. They convinced the court and the federal government that marijuana was the critical medication in treating Robert’s potentially blinding disease. Publicity in the case was enormous and a movement was born.
…Clearly there’s more to this story, so I’ll get to work creating another snapshot bringing us to current talking points.
Hasta pronto,
-Rico
