[PRESS RELEASE] – NEW YORK, Nov. 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 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,” she said. “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 Nov. 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,” NORML founder Keith Stroup said. “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 Nov. 5, 2026, through the anniversary of the verdict on Nov. 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.
