PATIENT PRAISES MARIJUANA

At first glace, Irvin Rosenfeld, a man of small stature and delicate
features, seems as healthy as the young college students attending his
speech Wednesday at the Student Union Key West Ballroom. The 51-year-old
stockbroker is dressed in a sharp gray suit and speaks with such enthusiasm
that it feels contagious.

But a small pin on the left lapel of his suit invites curiosity; it
displays a marijuana leaf sitting on a red cross.

Even more interesting is what lies beneath that pin, in the inside pocket
of his jacket - a dozen nicely rolled marijuana cigarettes in a plastic bag.

As Rosenfeld pulls out the bag and holds it in his hand, some envious -
almost hungry - students stare with their mouths half open, wondering if
they will ever have such freedom.

Rosenfeld is no law enforcement agent, and the cigarettes do not come from
the streets.

He is a legal medical marijuana patient, and the federal government sends
him the cigarettes. He receives a tin can of almost 300 marijuana
cigarettes per month and smokes up to 12 per day. Moreover, he has
permission to smoke marijuana anywhere he pleases.

Rosenfeld was born with a rare bone disorder called multiple congenital
cartilaginous exostoses, which is characterized by bony protrusions
(tumors), often occurring on the long bones of the body. One of these
tumors has joined the tibia and fibula - the long bones of the lower leg -
of his right leg, causing him to walk with a slight limp. Pointing to
another protrusion at his wrist, Rosenfeld explains that the pressure these
tumors exert against the surrounding muscles and veins makes his condition
very painful. The tumors can also rupture nearby veins, causing internal
bleeding, which could dislodge in the form of blood clots and become fatal.

No cure for this condition exists and patients are usually prescribed pain
medication. Rosenfeld, on the other hand, stopped using those painkillers
more than 21 years ago and has been using marijuana instead. Marijuana acts
as a muscle relaxant and an anti-inflammatory agent in his body,
alleviating the pain and pressure caused by the tumors. "Because of this
medicine, I am a working member of society and a tax payer," Rosenfeld said.

Rosenfeld is one of only seven medical marijuana patients left in the
United States. The medical marijuana movement started in 1976 when Robert
Randall persuaded a federal court in Washington that his use of marijuana
to treat his glaucoma was a medical necessity. At the same time, he
petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for permission to use
marijuana legally.

In November of 1976, Randall became the first person in modern U.S. history
to obtain legal and medical access to marijuana.

In 1983, Rosenfeld became the second.

Rosenfeld's embrace of marijuana represents a turnaround. He was an
advocate against marijuana in high school.

He stood strong by his position for the first few semesters of college at
the University of Miami until he realized that he would have a hard time
finding "buddies" unless he succumbed to smoking a joint. "I never got a
'high' from the stuff though," Rosenfeld said. "I kept thinking, 'This is
junk!'"

However, he observed a change in his body after smoking marijuana.

Due to his condition, he could not sit or stand for long periods of time
and had to switch between the two positions every 10 minutes. After smoking
a marijuana cigarette, he found he could sit for long periods without
feeling any stiffness or pain, and he could stand for longer periods as well.

After his discovery, he immediately contacted his physician and started
doing extensive research on the positive effects of marijuana.

They finally sent the results of their research to the FDA and at the same
time met with Randall. After years of legal battles, Rosenfeld won the
right to smoke marijuana for the benefits it offered his health.

By the early '90s, a few others had gained legal access to marijuana as
medicine, and Randall had established the Marijuana AIDS Research Service
to help AIDS patients gain access to medical marijuana. However, the
federal government abruptly shut the medical marijuana programs down. Only
Randall and seven other early patients were grandfathered in and continued
to receive legal medical marijuana.

Randall succumbed to AIDS in 2001, leaving Rosenfeld the oldest patient of
this program.

There has been much debate about medicinal marijuana. Marijuana is not a
single drug. Rather, it is a mixture of the dried flowering tops and leaves
from the plant cannabis sativa and is a variable and complex mixture of
biologically active compounds. However, Cannabis sativa is a very adaptive
plant, so its characteristics are more variable than most plants. This
feature is one of the leading causes of inconsistency and uncertainty in
scientific reports and research done with marijuana.

Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, 60 of which are called
cannabinoids. THC is the main psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana and is
also the most thoroughly researched compound in this plant.

In 1985, the FDA approved dronabinol (Marinol) - a synthetic form of THC -
for treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy.
However, there is still debate regarding the differences between the
effects of the crude plant and the pure constituents like THC.

Controlled studies also have been conducted to further understand the
positive effects of marijuana on appetite stimulation, neurological and
movement disorders, pain relief and glaucoma, but none have been done using
the crude plant.

Extensive research also has been done on the negative effects of smoked
marijuana.

According to the FDA, National Institute of Health and the National
Institute of Drug Abuse, marijuana can have adverse affects on the brain,
heart, lungs, immune system and unborn fetuses.

Rosenfeld still opposes social use of marijuana. "It is my tax money that
is wasted arresting someone with possession charges," he said. On the other
hand, he is on a mission to bring awareness of its medicinal use to people;
his visit to UCF was sponsored by the campus chapter of NORML, the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "The problem is that the
government has not done any studies for marijuana," Rosenfeld said. "If we
can change the laws, marijuana can be used medicinally."

About 3.1 million Americans use marijuana on a daily or almost daily basis
over a 12-month period, a recent survey by National Institute of Drug Abuse
estimated; however, since 1992 no one has been allowed to prescribe it as
medicine.