At one point, 14 people in the United States received medical marijuana regularly from the government. Started in a 1976 court ruling, the program that facilitated the unorthodox treatments stopped accepting applicants in 1992, but four surviving patients still count Uncle Sam as their drug dealer.

MNSBC reports the odd initiative originated when a federal judge ordered the Food and Drug Administration to provide pot to a glaucoma patient, making the man the country’s only legal marijuana smoker. The government started its medical pot program in 1978, and others petitioned to become a part of it until it closed its ranks.

The pot is grown at the University of Mississippi, and is part of the crop harvested for all cannabis research in the country. The four remaining members of the program have received a total of 584 pounds of marijuana over the years.

In decades-old program, Uncle Sam provides pot [AP via MSNBC]

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