SPEAKER DISCUSSES LEGAL MARIJUANA

George McMahon is one of five people in the United States for whom it is
legal to smoke marijuana for medical purposes.

Last Wednesday night, he spoke to a small gathering of Washington
University students about the beneficial effects marijuana has had on him
and others. According to McMahon and the studies he has participated in,
patients suffering from Glaucoma, AIDS, Epilepsy, Arthritis, Multiple
Sclerosis and the side effects of Chemotherapy have improved their quality
of life by the use of marijuana.

In fact, McMahon claimed it was much safer than many of the prescription
drugs medical practitioners currently prescribe for such illnesses.

The U.S. government supplies McMahon with a half pound of marijuana
cigarettes every month.

He smokes about 10 of these a day, or about two every three hours.

At one time he was smoking about one quarter ounce per day. When he
receives his prescribed marijuana, it has cost the government 30 cents per
ounce to grow, secure, and transport.

McMahon spoke extensively about the government's ignorance when it came to
rethinking their national drug policy.

He kept reiterating that "This is about medicine. This is not about civil
disobedience." His advice to students was "Register to vote. The government
is ours. We are not the government's subjects." He maintained that with
enough general public knowledge on the issue and a good amount of
persistence, the governmental policy on medically-prescribed marijuana
could be changed.