Robert C. Randall (1948 – June 2, 2001) was an American advocate for
medical marijuana
Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to Cannabis (drug), cannabis products and cannabinoid, cannabinoid molecules that are prescription drug, prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabi ...
and the founder of
Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics.
Life and activism
Robert Randall was the first legal medical
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
smoker in the United States since 1937. Randall successfully used a
medical necessity
Medical necessity is a legal doctrine in the United States related to activities that may be justified as reasonable, necessary, and/or appropriate based on evidence-based clinical standards of care. In contrast, unnecessary health care lacks s ...
defense when he was charged with illegal possession of cannabis to treat his
glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...
. The case, ''United States v. Randall'' (1976), is "The first successful articulation of the medical necessity defense in the history of the common law, and indeed, the first case to extend the necessity defense to the crimes of possession or cultivation of marijuana".
Upon being declared not guilty for reason of medical necessity, the federal government then granted his petition to gain access to supplies of marijuana used in federal research programs. Randall had his medication provided to him by a doctor at the Howard University Hospital.
From 1978 to 1981 Randall and his wife, Alice O’Leary, worked with patients across the country who experienced the therapeutic benefits of cannabis. In 1981 the couple founded the Alliance for Marijuana Therapeutics which was the leading party during rescheduling hearings before the Administrative Law Judge in front of the DEA.
In the 1990s Randall started the Marijuana AIDS Research Service (MARS), which helped AIDS patients apply for the FDA program providing marijuana for medical use. Despite initial approval for the program it was ultimately cut. Closing this program led activists to shift gears and sponsor various State ballot initiatives.
Writings
Randall, who wrote ''Marijuana & AIDS: Pot, Politics, and PWAs in America'', also documented his accounts in his book, co-written with his wife Alice O'Leary: ''Marijuana Rx: The Patients' Fight for Medical Pot'', .
See also
*
Compassionate Investigational New Drug program
Expanded access or compassionate use is the use of an unapproved drug or medical device under special forms of investigational new drug applications (IND) or IDE application for devices, outside of a clinical trial, by people with serious or life ...
References
External links
''High in America''by Patrick Anderson (chapter on Robert Randall)
at the Drug Policy Forum of Wisconsin
1948 births
2001 deaths
American cannabis activists
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