GOVERNMENT DOES SUPPLY MARIJUANA TO SOME

Regarding the recent op-ed, "Marijuana as Medicine" (Opinions, Nov. 3):

John Edmondson states that federal law prohibits the possession of
cannabis, but this isn't entirely true. The Controlled Substances Act
of 1970 contains an exemption clause for federal research programs,
and researchers actually cultivate cannabis on a small, well-guarded
farm at the University of Mississippi.

Federal authorities send my best friend and co-author ("Prescription Pot: A
Leading Advocate's Heroic Battle to Legalize Medical Marijuana") George McMahon
300 pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes each month, through a little-known National
Institute of Drug Abuse program called Investigational New Drug. George uses
marijuana to treat severe pain, spasms and nausea. The federal government also
provides marijuana to patients suffering from glaucoma, bone tumors, and
Multiple Sclerosis.

The United States Government has known that marijuana has medical
value since 1978, when they started the program. To quote the late
Robert Randall, the first patient who received federal marijuana, "The
most trivial of facts can implode the most powerful dogma."

Christopher Largen

Denton, TX