LEGAL MARIJUANA USER VISITS UM

Today, faculty and students will have an opportunity to see and hear the
effect of the university's government-sponsored marijuana field.

Iowa native, George McMahon, 51, will speak on medicinal marijuana uses and
how it saved his life.

McMahon, who has had 19 surgeries, was diagnosed in 1988 with Nail Patella
Syndrome. At one point, he was given mere hours to live.

Having applied and been rejected for a government program that would allow
him to smoke marijuana cigarettes, McMahon was finally approved in 1990.
Since that time, he has received cigarettes containing marijuana grown at
Ole Miss.

McMahon has requested to speak at the university to express his gratitude
to the people who he believes have helped save his life.

"I am really grateful and I would like to tell the people of Mississippi,"
McMahon said.

Although marijuana does not actually treat McMahon's disorder, it aids in
relief of symptoms associated with it, he said. And, while he is issued 10
marijuana cigarettes daily, McMahon wants to stress his support only for
its medicinal value.

"People wonder, 'am I a pothead really?' No," McMahon said. "The arguments
for recreational use don't compare to the medicinal ones."

McMahon will be accompanied by his long-time friend and supporter,
Christopher Largen, and although McMahon has yet to receive permission by
the proper university authorities to actually see the plot of land where
his marijuana is grown, he expressed a desire to do so.

"He'd like to at least go up to the fence," Largen said.

The marijuana grown at the university is shipped to federal dispensaries
where patients like McMahon, who must apply for the program every four
months, get their supply.

He is now a resident of Texas, which has laws governing marijuana medicinal
use. Although marijuana is grown here, Mississippi has no such laws.

"States around the country are willing to pass legislation for medicinal
marijuana use," McMahon said. "I really want to tell (Mississippians) that
they need to talk to their legislators."

McMahon will arrive today from Arkansas where he has continued to spread
his message of the importance of medical marijuana.

"This was a life-saving thing for him," Largen said. "He just wants to tell
his story."

McMahon said he will speak in Farley Auditorium at 2:30 p.m.