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Los Angeles Magazine 52.4 (April 2007): p.144(8). From General OneFile.


Before Matt Farrell's medical marijuana plants were confiscated and he was arrested at gunpoint by the LAPD, before the Los Angeles Times put his case on its front page, and before he became a living symbol of the confusion surrounding California's medical marijuana laws, I knew him as Medical Matt. [paragraph] We met in a Long Beach parking lot in 2003. Farrell had been using marijuana medicinally since 2001. Passing a joint among a group of friends before seeing a band, Farrell held court in front of a rapt audience as he showed off a prescription drug bottle filled with neatly rolled joints. It was a flamboyant flourish, a handcrafted joke illustrating his special status. He didn't elaborate on his condition, but from appearances he seemed healthy enough. After Farrell gave a brief explanation of Proposition 215--the California law that allows doctors to recommend marijuana to patients--I asked if it was difficult to secure a physician's referral. He just smiled through the smoky haze and exhaled, "All you need is a doctor who feels your pain."