Young ruled in favor of it. Marijuana's placement in Schedule II made it available for doctors to prescribe it to patients. Two years later however the twenty two-year-old lawsuit met it's match. On February 18th 1994, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the DEA is allowed to reject it's judge's ruling which meant returning marijuana back to a Schedule I narcotic. In 1975, Robert Randall, who suffered from glaucoma, was arrested for cultivating his own marijuana. He won his case using the "medical necessity defense." This forced the government to find a way to provide him with the medicine. This problem resulted in the establishment of Investigational New Drug compassionate access program (IND). This procedure enabled a few patients to receive marijuana from the government. This program however had too many flaws. Most patients never consider the idea of an illegal drug as being their best medicine. Nearly all patients who did know of marijuana's usefulness were not aware of the IDN program. And finally, those who did learn of the program had trouble finding doctors willing to take the time to work through the new program's system. Then in 1992, when a flood of applications from AIDS patients came through, the Bush administration closed the program to all new applicants. On December 1st, 1999, the Clinton administration stated that the IND program would not be reopened. This means that presently, the IND program remains in operation only for the seven surviving previously approved patients. This is disgusting. The amount of people who could be helped compared to the number that are being helped is like comparing a raindrop to the ocean. Then to add to the frustration, the movement to legalize marijuana is going painstakingly slow. .
The current public opinion is in huge support of ending the prohibition of marijuana. Since 1996, a majority of voters in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, have voted in favor of adding to the ballot, the idea of removing the criminal penalties for seriously ill people who grow or possess medical marijuana.
