It’s enough to make your head explode, but that’s the way things are in Drug War America. A handful of seriously ill patients have received free medical marijuana from the U.S. federal government for almost 30 years, even as that same government says cannabis is a Schedule I drug with a high potential for abuse and no known medicinal applications.

The existence of Irvin Rosenfeld and the other three surviving federal medical marijuana patients in the U.S. puts the lie to the official government position. These patients are part of the Compassionate Investigative New Drug program, which unfortunately hasn’t accepted any new enrollees since the first Bush Administration, due to political pressure.

Portsmouth, Virginia native Rosenfeld, who now lives in Florida, has been smoking 10 to 12 joints of marijuana every day for more than 28 years — a grand total of more than 123,000 joints. But rather than adopting the attitude of “I got mine” and being afraid to speak out for the rights of other patients, Irv — who uses marijuana to treat severe bone disorder called multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis — has bravely chosen the path of public advocacy.