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.