In the midst of all this, the organized ophthalmology industry still claims that marijuana is of no value in the treatment of glaucoma, and/or that patients would be too stoned to function. Randall proves them wrong on both counts. Perhaps that is why the government has never sought any data from him or on any of the other remaining eight legal users. They don't want to know. They want not to know.)

See
There Are None So Blind As Ophthalmologists Who Don’t Want to See:
Marijuana, Glaucoma, Science And Journalism -- Analysis -- And 3 News Articles

December 9, 1999
From The Honolulu Star-Bulletin
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By Lori Tighe, Star-Bulletin

FEDS FAULTED FOR STAND ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

35 States Have Laws Recognizing Marijuana's Medical Benefit, But Federal Laws Supersede State Laws, A State Senator Says

If it weren't for the medical use of marijuana, Robert Randall http://marijuana-as-medicine.org/says he would have to introduce people to a seeing eye dog.

Randall has used marijuana legally for 20 years to treat glaucoma, a chronic eye disease. It would have blinded him, he said, if he hadn't discovered that marijuana reduced the disease's intense eye pressure.
See
Medication Given For Glaucoma Can Cause Symptoms Of Senility In Some Patients
– But They Cannot Be Given Marijuana Because It Causes Symptoms of Happiness
Context For Medical Marijuana Debate
Randall, 51, of Sarasota, Fla., a leading proponent of medical marijuana, spoke last night at a panel discussion "Should the Hawaii Legislature Legalize Marijuana for Medical Use?" sponsored by the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii http://www.drugsense.org/dpfhi/, at McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana Park.

"The issue can be boiled down into two sentences," Randall said. "Marijuana has medicinal value; it's a fact. And federal law prohibits marijuana for medical use."

State Sen. Matt Matsunaga and Dr. John McDonnell, elected physician of the year by the Hawaii Medical Association, joined him in the discussion.

"In the last few days I've talked to a number of legislators here. They seem supportive," Randall said. "I think there's a unique opportunity for Hawaii to set a pattern for other states to follow. Try to meet the needs of the patients now with state-sponsored cultivation of medical marijuana."
See
In Hawaii Two Police Helicopters Supposedly Used In "Marijuana Eradication"
Flew Low Over Activist’s Home One Day After He Testified Before The Legislature
In Support Of Medical Marijuana! Trying To Eradicate Dissent?

Matsunaga said four bills introduced last session on medical marijuana remain alive and will be revisited this upcoming session.
See
Legislation On Medical Marijuana Dead For 1999 Session In Hawai’i
"We must realize the federal laws always supersede state laws," Matsunaga said. "Thirty-five states passed laws recognizing marijuana's medical benefit, but remain stymied by the federal government. It will take a lot of effort from different angles."

The federal government refuses to release to states marijuana for medical use, so patients must obtain the drug illegally, Randall said. Marijuana has been shown to reduce symptoms, including pain and nausea in patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, and glaucoma, among other diseases, he said.

Randall documented his own plight in "Marijuana RX: The Patients' Fight for Medical Pot."

Diagnosed with glaucoma in 1972 at age 24, Randall discovered marijuana relieved the potentially blinding eye pressure.

"It was my only hope for prolonging my sight," he said.

His arrest for growing marijuana began his long legal battle. Using the "medical necessity defense," Randall made history in 1976 as the first American to gain legal access to marijuana for medical use.

Since then he has smoked marijuana, prescribed by his doctor and grown by the federal government in Mississippi. The marijuana is shipped to a pharmacy in Randall's town and issued in cigarette form. He smokes 10 a day.

"We're talking about people in dire medical need," Randall said.
See
Washington Post Defects On Medical Marijuana!
Calls For Reopening Program Making Marijuana "available to terminally ill patients."
Implicitly Endorsing Medical Marijuana Class Action Suit.
"The government has stonewalled us."
Copyright The Honolulu Star-Bulletin
See
Hawaiian Legislature Considers Medical Marijuana
As Organized Medicine Continues to Support State Terrorism Against Their Patients;
Hawaii Catholic Conference Supports Persecution Of Sick And Dying