11.5.26
Press Release
Fifty Years After America’s First Legal Medical Marijuana Patient, the Movement’s Analog History Gets a New Interactive Digital Home
Cannabis Media Council launches “50 Years of Vision” campaign with partner NORML to celebrate Alice O’Leary Randall’s Project 50 archive
NEW YORK, November 5, 2026 – The full record of the medical cannabis movement’s first two decades is now digitized and free to the public. Alice O’Leary Randall today opened Project 50 in partnership with the Cannabis Media Council at 50 Years of Vision: 1976-Today, a new interactive home for the archive she has kept since 1976. The launch marks 50 years since her husband, Robert C. Randall, became the first American in modern times allowed to use marijuana legally as medicine.
Until now, much of that history existed only on paper and videotape including newspaper clippings, letters and broadcast segments from analog years that are difficult or impossible to find today. Without digitization, that record would survive only in boxes and in the memories of the people who were there. Project 50 makes it permanent and accessible to advocates, researchers, journalists, patients and the public.
The story began in 1975, when Robert Randall, who was going blind from glaucoma, and Alice O’Leary were arrested for growing marijuana in their Washington, D.C. apartment. Instead of pleading guilty, they fought back. In November 1976, federal regulators granted Randall legal access to marijuana, and a D.C. court ruled in U.S. v. Randall that his use was a medical necessity.
For the next 25 years, the couple worked side by side for patients. Robert Randall died in 2001. Alice O’Leary Randall carried the work forward and kept the record. When no one else was saving it, she kept the newspaper clippings, letters, court filings, legislative records and television appearances. Now 79, she has digitized the full collection.
“From my perspective, the 50th anniversary of the medical cannabis movement is a time for joy and renewed commitment,” said Alice O’Leary Randall. “We have gone from one patient in the District of Columbia to 41 states with medical cannabis laws that provide safe and legal access to over 3.69 million patients. But there is still plenty of reform work ahead. Dozens of differing state medical access programs are not ideal, and national standards for medical cannabis need to be developed. The Project 50 archives provide the foundation we need to keep moving forward without reinventing the wheel.”
The anniversary on November 24, 2026, comes months after a major federal shift. In April 2026, the federal government moved state-licensed medical cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III.
“When I founded NORML in 1970, no American court had recognized cannabis as medicine,” said Keith Stroup, founder of NORML. “Six years later, Robert Randall changed that, and he and Alice O’Leary Randall spent the next two decades making his ruling matter for every patient who followed. Those victories were won in courtrooms, newspapers, and living rooms long before the internet could record them. Alice’s Project 50 archive preserves that roadmap, and it’s how we seed the next generation of advocates who will keep fighting for patients.”
To support the anniversary, the Cannabis Media Council (CMC) is running 50 Years of Vision: 1976-Today, an education campaign that directs the public to Project 50. The campaign champions the message: “Medicine Has Roots.” Before there were brands and operators, there were patients. The campaign honors the advocates who made this industry possible, and invites advocates to learn from one another through archives like Alice O'Leary Randall's groundbreaking Project 50. The ad campaign 50 Years of Vision runs November 5, 2026 through the anniversary of the verdict on November 24, 2026 across Meta posts sponsored by Transparent eCom Agency, programmatic digital display sponsored by Pulse Signal Agency, and placements donated by cannabis publications and features archive photographs and a video from a recent conversation with Alice O’Leary Randall.
“Medicine has roots, and we want people to know who planted them,” said Amy Deneson, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Cannabis Media Council. “Alice is our wisdom keeper, and Project 50 is her gift to advocates still doing the work. The Cannabis Media Council is honored to mark this milestone, and we’re committed to carrying on until we win full legalization.”
The 50 Years of Vision site was designed and built by Pulse Signal Agency, the brand and marketing technology firm founded by Cannabis Media Council executive board member Rose Fulton, through its Story Lab immersive storytelling studio, and contributed to the campaign as a founding sponsor. The site, celebrating Alice O’Leary Randall’s Project 50, is free and available now at 50yearsofvision.com.
About Project 50
Project 50 is Alice O’Leary Randall’s effort to preserve the history of the first two decades of the United States medical cannabis movement, 1976 to 1996. Launched in 2023, it includes digitized news clippings, legal and legislative records, video and a free digital edition of Marijuana Rx: The Patients’ Fight for Medicinal Pot, which she co-wrote with Robert C. Randall. Archival materials are also held by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Support her work at aliceolearyrandall.com.
About NORML
Since its founding in 1970, NORML has provided a voice in the public policy debate for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and favor an end to the practice of arresting marijuana consumers. A nonprofit public-interest advocacy group, NORML represents the interests of the tens of millions of Americans who use marijuana responsibly. NORML’s mission is to move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and to serve as an advocate for consumers to assure they have access to high quality marijuana that is safe, convenient and affordable. For more information, visit: norml.org.
About the Cannabis Media Council
The Cannabis Media Council is the first-of-its-kind-trade association on the mission to deprogram the war on plants and people. By leveraging the power of mainstream media to uplift wholehearted, people-centered advertising campaigns, the council strives to show positive experiences with cannabis in order to normalize consumption across generations and foster curious and confident consumers in order to grow the addressable market. The Cannabis Media Council founding leadership team includes industry pioneers from across the U.S. and represents the collective voice of over 400 industry members. To learn more, make a tax-deductible donation, or explore joining, visit: cannabismediacouncil.com.
Media Contact:
Erin Roche
347.702.2137