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Project 50 is working to preserve the history of the medical cannabis movement, particularly the early years 1976-1996. Those years pre-date the internet, often making it difficult to find the stories of the courageous individuals who paved the way for the cannabis industry of today.

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November 1976

The medical cannabis movement began in 1976 when Robert C. Randall cracked the medical prohibition against cannabis and gained legal access to cannabis for the first time since 1937. America had forgotten medical cannabis and Randall began the arduous task of re-educating the country about this ancient plant’s remarkable therapeutic properties.

Robert’s case generated enormous publicity and he immediately heard from others who had discovered the therapeutic utility of cannabis. He founded a movement and the nation’s first non-profit association dedicated to medical cannabis reform, the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics (ACT).

Now his widow, Alice O’Leary Randall, who co-founded the medical cannabis movement, is working to preserve the stories of these brave individuals who often gave the last good days of their lives to reform the medical cannabis laws of this country. Their stories must be remembered.

Project 50 is working to preserve the history of these efforts. There is a lot to learn. It didn’t all start with California…

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Lynn Pierson in the spring of 1978 with his home grown marijuana plants.

February 1978

The New Mexico state flag.

Fifteen months after Robert Randall’s successful access to medical marijuana, in February 1978, the state of New Mexico enacted the Controlled Substances Therapeutic Research Act which established a state-wide research program for New Mexican citizens with glaucoma or cancer. It was the first affirmative cannabis bill in over 40 years and the first medical marijuana bill in the nation.

It was spear-headed by cancer patient Lynn Pierson who met Robert Randall at the NORML conference in December 1977. Together they conceived the idea of a state law authorizing legal, medical access to cannabis.

Pierson literally stalked the halls of the New Mexico legislature, speaking personally with each of the 96 legislators. Just six weeks into the New Year of 1978, the legislation was passed overwhelmingly.

The bill authorized the state to access federal supplies of marijuana and dispense them, via doctors, to glaucoma and cancer patients. The plan was reasonable but the federal government, despite protests to the contrary, had no inclination to help seriously ill patients access their marijuana.

Lynn died in August 1978, never receiving federal marijuana. Bureaucrats in Washington would continue to block the efforts of New Mexico to gain legal cannabis. But it was too late. The reasonable course of action pursued by New Mexico was appealing to other states that were hearing from their citizens about legal access. To the horror of federal bureaucrats, other states began passing laws that were copied from New Mexico.

Over the next four years another 33 states would enact similar laws. Unfortunately, all these laws relied on federal supplies of cannabis and the federal government did everything in their power to block enactment of the state laws. Only five of 34 managed to secure supplies of medical cannabis, the remaining states were diverted to synthetic delta-9 THC.

Patients often gave the last good days of their lives to reform the medical cannabis laws. Their stories must be remembered.

There’s lots more to learn. It didn’t start with California…

Donate to Project 50