George McMahon might feel the need to smoke a marijuana joint Monday when he visits Lawrence, and he says he’ll do so with the federal government’s blessing.

McMahon, a medical marijuana patient, will be featured Monday at an event sponsored by Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

He is one of five patients remaining in the Food and Drug Administration’s Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program, and he’ll briefly lecture during “A Conversation with George” at 7 p.m. in room 330 of Strong Hall.

McMahon ingests 10 marijuana joints daily to treat pain, spasm and nausea. He has traveled the world educating people about medical marijuana, and he received a national certificate of heroism for his participation in the president’s drug awareness program.

Monday he will explain how cannabis saved his life and show a short film about medical marijuana. There will also be a question-and-answer session at the event.

A flap Friday about whether he would be able to smoke on campus seemed to be quickly resolved.

¢ Students for Sensible Drug Policy¢ Kansas NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws)¢ American Medical Assn. (medical marijuana information)¢ Lawyer takes high-profile role in marijuana defense (3-2-03)

KU Public Safety’s Lt. Schuyler Bailey said Friday afternoon that McMahon would not be allowed to “medicate himself while he is here unless he shows some sort of documentation.”

Although the confidentiality of medical records made providing such documentation more difficult, Bailey said McMahon assured him in a late-afternoon conversation that he did have proof that he was allowed under federal law to possess and take medical marijuana.

Plus, McMahon said he would likely be able to avoid smoking at all, and if he did need to take the medication, he would be discrete.

“I suspect that the misconception was that I’m going to come down on their campus and smoke marijuana as some sort of protest,” he said. “It’s not quite that. I’m not coming to some pot rally.”