Cannabis Down Under
Blog #36 - Posted On the Road in Queensland, Australia
My life in medical cannabis has taken me many places but it is my trips to Australia that have been the most memorable and enjoyable.
Australia has a soft spot in my heart because it is where the world first heard about Robert Randall and the coming medical marijuana movement. It was in April 1976 and we were preparing for our trial on marijuana possession and cultivation charges in Washington, DC. Robert and I had been arrested seven months before and we decided to fight the charges against us even though it was just a misdemeanor offense. We could have paid the fine and walked away but we couldn’t walk away from Robert’s glaucoma and we were certain cannabis was helping save his sight. There were many people who thought we were crazy but one who didn’t was Creighton Burns, the Washington correspondent for Australia’s noted newspaper, The Melbourne Age.
I was working for Creighton as a research associate. I sifted through a daily pile of newspapers and clipped stories that related to a story he was working on or planned to work on. I was a sort of human Google. Remember, this was before the internet.
Creighton was a charming and highly intelligent man. He was also keen observer of human nature. His primary duties involved reporting on the political scene in Washington but he wrote his fair share of human interest stories. He was intrigued by Robert’s story. The total prohibition on cannabis in medicine at that time made Robert’s story all the more interesting. It was a true David and Goliath tale set in the 20th century.
In April 1976, we believed our trial date was just around the corner with a date set for early May. It was time to start our press assault and Creighton was more than willing to be the first correspondent who first reported our story. It appeared on April 19th, ironically close to the 4/20 that is revered by marijuana activists today.
You can view Creighton’s story here. It is remarkably accurate and concise demonstrating the professionalism that would carry him the position of editor-in-chief at The Age from 1981-1989 and later chancellor at Victoria University of Technology.
Australia also aired the first video coverage of Robert’s case when a young and rising star of television, Jeffrey McMullen, included Robert’s story in a March 1976 broadcast on Four Corners, an Australian version of 60 Minutes. McMullen’s story focused on shifting American policy that seemed to be leaning towards marijuana decriminalization with Robert’s pending challenge of the medical prohibition just one part of the broader story.
These events were on my mind recently when I traveled to Brisbane for the 2025 United in Compassion Australian Medicinal Cannabis Symposium took place February 21-23. It was a chance to connect again with colleagues whom I met at previous UIC conferences but, amazingly, it was also a chance to reconnect with an activist from the very early days of the medical cannabis movement.
In 1981 the first International Cannabis Reform Association (ICAR) conference was held in Amsterdam. It was organized by Bob Pisani who would go on to become a principle reporter on CNBC for almost 30 years. It was an exciting time as delegates from around the world presented views on marijuana reform in their country. Among them was Tony Parsons, a lanky Australian with an engaging smile. We spent a lot of time with Tony on that trip and he later attempted to bring Robert to Australia for a campaign that would draw attention to medical cannabis. Australia’s foreign secretary emphatically said, “No!” We lost touch with Tony but our paths crossed again in Brisbane. Tony’s life, like our own, led him down paths he did not expect. He returned to school in his late 20s and became a lawyer, specializing in criminal law. This eventually led him to become a Supervising Magistrate of Victoria’s Drug Court (now retired).
Tony’s face lit up when I caught up with him after his Brisbane presentation. We had a wonderful time reminiscing about the event that brought us together and how our choices of decades ago led us to lives that now converged in Brisbane. So often my path in medical cannabis reform has had sad endings. It was a joyous occasion to have a happy ending with an old friend.