Project 50 Remembers August 15, 1988
35th Anniversary of
State of Florida v. Musikka
Thirty-five years ago Elvy Musikka made history when she was found not guilty by reason of medical necessity in her Florida marijuana possession case.* Elvy suffers from glaucoma.
In the spirited and charming Elvy, the medical cannabis movement gained a new warrior and tireless ambassador. Like Robert Randall before her, Elvy pursued a dual track medical necessity defense and petitioning to access federal cannabis supplies. In late 1988 she would become one of a handful of individuals provided with federal cannabis for medical purposes. It was a privilege she took seriously and was always ready to speak on behalf of other patients and the plant that saved a preciously small amount of her sight.
My late husband Robert Randall wrote that “Elvy Musikka’s medical history was an ophthalmologic horror story.” She was born with congenital cataracts and developed glaucoma secondarily in 1975. She would have many operations for both conditions, rending the ocular tissue weak and misshapen. She was blind in one eye and had out-of control ocular pressure in the other.
Elvy Musikka in 2012, Ann Arbor, MI
In 1976 Elvy discovered marijuana helped her eyes, the same year of Robert’s medical necessity victory in Judge Washington’s court. She read everything about the case and was encouraged by one of her doctors to try marijuana brownies**. They worked. For the next twelve years Elvy’s condition was stable and she began growing marijuana to guarantee a steady supply.
The six plants led to her arrest in March 1988. She immediately called Robert to seek his help. “Funny,” she said, “I knew one day we would meet.”
Elvy’s primary ophthalmologist was reluctant to get involved but ultimately he was supportive and agreed to testify on her behalf at trial. Robert helped NORML’s attorney Norm Kent pull together the medical necessity case and in August 1988 the trial began in Broward County Florida. It was a non-jury trial and, in a remarkable occurrence, Judge Mark E. Polen ruled from the bench in Musikka’s favor. “I don’t see where a better case could ever be made for medical necessity,“ Polen said, “In this case, Miss Musikka is trying to preserve herself from serious bodily injury.”
Elvy applied to the federal Compassionate IND program for legal access to marijuana and in October 1988 received her supplies. She was the second woman to do so. A Pennsylvania cancer patient, Anne Guttentag, had been the first in 1980. In that sad case, typical of the times, Anne waited thirteen months for her application to be approved and supplies provided. Anne received the marijuana too late to help with her chemo treatments. Elvy’s story had a far happier conclusion. The federal marijuana would help her preserve her sight for the next 2+ decades and she became an ambassador for responsible, medical use. Eventually she would abandon the federal cannabis in favor of the legally available product in her new home state of Oregon.
Elvy’s was first successful medical necessity case in the State of Florida. It was only the third successful case in the nation. Medical necessity was a limited tool for medical cannabis reformers. It is not as simple as it sounds. Conditions had to be just right. Nevertheless, Elvy, and the handful of others who prevailed in pleading medical necessity, contributed significantly to the medical cannabis reform movement. ❧
** At least one South Florida ophthalmologist had an early interest in using cannabis for glaucoma. Medical World News, dated September 1973, had an article reporting the story of Dr. Fred Blanton, a south Florida ophthalmologist who had conducted “unauthorized” experiments on several willing glaucoma patients using marijuana brownies. Blanton reported his findings, which were impressive, in 1972. His fellow physicians, however, were not impressed. They promptly convened a medical ethics investigation and Blanton’s license to practice medicine was suspended for several months. Strict limitations were imposed on him for several years after that.
Resources:
*State of Florida v. Musikka, Case No. 68 4395 CFA 10, The Florida Law Weekly, 14 FL W 1, January 27, 1989
Florida’s Medical Marijuana Defense (n.d.). Florida's Medical Marijuana Necessity Defense. Sammis Law Firm. https://criminaldefenseattorneytampa.com/marijuana-crimes/medical-necessity-defense/
News articles from Elvy’s 1988 case are available on Alice’s Google drive.
Want to know more about the history of the medical cannabis movement? Marijuana Rx, The Early Years (1976-1996) is an ePub that tells the entire story of these first pioneers, like Elvy. You can buy it from this website or at your favorite ePub provider.
