Legal weed exists today because of medical marijuana.
Medical marijuana exists because of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, also known as Proposition 215. We have an army of activists to thank for that law. And way up at the tippity-top of the list are Dennis Peron and “Brownie Mary” Rathbun of San Francisco, California.
Dennis Peron, a two-time Vietnam Air Force veteran who came home from the war in 1969 with a duffel bag full of weed, soon became an anti-war/pro-gay/pro-pot activist. He campaigned for his friend, Harvey Milk, who became the first openly gay elected official in California when he won his race for San Francisco Supervisor. Finally, Dennis recalled, “We could be safe and free and…live.”
In the ‘70s Dennis and his lover, Jonathan West operated the Big Top Marijuana Supermarket out of their home.
But by 1986, things had gotten very heavy in San Francisco. Harvey Milk and beloved Mayor George Moscone were murdered in cold blood by an angry cop. The “Reverend” Jim Jones slaughtered his whole flock, along with United States Congressman Leo Ryan, in Jonestown, Guyana, after moving them from the People’s Temple in San Francisco. The AIDS epidemic was raging through the gay community, killing people by the thousands.
"The Greatest Drug Dealer Ever" is "The Man who Legalized Cannabis."
Also raging was the War on Drugs, “a war on sick and dying people,” per Dennis Peron. He decided to go all-out and in 1991, opened a sanctuary for medical marijuana patients. In 1993, he opened the Church Street Compassion Center and in 1995, the legendary San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club at 1444 Market Street. With five stories, it eventually served 5,000 sick people, expanding from AIDS patients to include people with cancer, glaucoma, MS, depression – anything marijuana could help alleviate.
I told the whole world I smoke marijuana.
~ Dennis Peron
“All use is medical,” declared Peron. “I’m an alcoholic. Marijuana helps me stay away from alcohol. That doesn’t show up on an x-ray.” (Given that I have the same affliction, and owe my sobriety, even my life, to marijuana, I too have endeavored to tell the world. Although in a much smaller way, obviously.)
Inevitably, the Cannabis Buyers Club was raided. Dennis was busted, beaten, and jailed, along with friends and fellow patients. “It’s terrorism,” he said, “with the Federal government coming after sick and dying people, beating them up, robbing them of their money and their medicine.”
“Tired of being busted,” Peron decided to change the marijuana law. He knew he had to start with medical and it had to be in San Francisco. He created Proposition P, making weed the city’s lowest law enforcement priority. It was another first, and it passed in November of 1991 with 80% of the vote. After that, local attitudes began to change.
“I’d like to be remembered as that fat old lady who helped
change these stupid marijuana laws. That’d be good”
~ Brownie Mary Rathbun
Meanwhile, another popular San Francisco dope dealer, “Brownie Mary” Rathbun, was baking her famous pot brownies for AIDS patients. In spite of multiple arrests, she took them to her “kids” in San Francisco General Hospital, where they were wasting away, dying, abandoned by their families and by society.
Jonathan West was one of Mary’s “kids.” Her brownies gave him an appetite, which kept his weight up and helped keep him from wasting away. He lived until 1990, thanks to Mary.
I'm leading my people to the Promised Land.
~ Dennis Peron
The Compassionate Use Act – A Message of Hope
In 1990, Dennis Peron decided it was time to put an initiative on the statewide ballot. He co-wrote the Compassionate Use Act, aka Proposition 215, allowing patients with a doctor’s recommendation to use or cultivate marijuana. He launched a massive signature gathering campaign and his army of activists hit the streets, fanning out all over California.
On November 5, 1996, Prop 215 passed with 56% of the vote. Peron stated, “The people have spoken. Democracy has won. The rest is history.”
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