Dennis Peron and his legacy of legalizing cannabis in California

With Remembrance Day in mind earlier this month, we’d like to share the story of Dennis Peron, a Vietnam War veteran and cannabis activist who helped legalize cannabis in California.

The early years of activism

Starting in the 1970s, Dennis campaigned for cannabis legalization for more than 40 years. His career began when he returned to San Francisco after serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. When he returned, he brought a duffel bag full of Thai sticks.

The upper floor of the island c. 1977 by Michael Zagaris

Then Dennis set up an illegal storefront in the heart of Castro Street to sell them. He opened a vegetarian restaurant called The Island, where he used the restaurant’s upper floor to sell weed. The restaurant attracted a lot of people. It became a hippie hangout that slowly turned into a political hub. Dennis took the opportunity and founded the Island Democratic Club.

The first political campaign to emerge from the club was Proposition 19 in 1972. Passing Prop 19 would mean that anyone over 18 in the state of California could use, transport, and possess cannabis for personal use with no penalty. Unfortunately the proposal was rejected.

Although the proposal resulted in a loss, they saw it as a win for the club. The fact that it got on the ballot was a big deal. Dennis also had the opportunity to connect with the likes of Gordon Brownell. Brownell became California’s first registered cannabis reform lobbyist in 1973 and served on the board of directors of the nonprofit cannabis advocacy organization California NORML.

It seems that the failure of Proposition 19 gave Dennis more impetus to continue his cannabis activism. He joined the Youth International Party (Yippies) and was one of its prominent speakers. In 1991 Dennis organized another proposal, Proposition P. In essence, the proposal was that a sick person in California could legally obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.

Licensed doctors should not be punished or prevented from prescribing hemp preparations for medical purposes.

-Proposition P [November, 1991]

Dennis Peron speaks at a Yippies event (Forbes via Getty Images)

The resolution passed marks the beginning of cannabis legalization in the United States. Suddenly, the discussion about the medicinal use and legalization of cannabis caught the public eye.

Of course, Peron’s cannabis activity also caught the attention of the authorities. The police constantly harassed him and put him under surveillance. Dennis repeatedly and blatantly challenged the police. In response, they ransacked his club and arrested many, only to have him back out there with a speaker the next day to talk about the absurdity of the police and how it is an illegal act to prevent people from using or selling cannabis .

The San Francisco narcs hated him. Dennis was even shot and killed once during a raid on his office on Castro Street. The policemen wore plain clothes and looked like thugs. Peron thought a gang was going to rob him, so he stood at the top of the stairs and threw down a four-gallon water bottle to fend off the intruders. This resulted in his being shot in the thigh.

On the night of January 27, 1990, a drug squad from San Francisco searched Peron’s house and found four ounces of cannabis. The pot belonged to his longtime partner, Jonathan West, who died of AIDS and suffered from Kaposi’s sarcoma. His medication made him sick to eat, so he used cannabis as a panacea to help him eat, sleep, and relieve pain. In August, West testified in court that the amount of cannabis that police seized was his and that Peron had nothing to do with it. West died of AIDS about a month later.

The AIDS epidemic and its link with the legalization movement

The AIDS epidemic of the 1980s swept San Francisco like a storm. AIDS emerged in 1981, and by 1985 16,458 people had died from the disease in the United States. Dennis witnessed many deaths, including his partner Jonathan.

He recalled that West was taking many prescribed medications that caused him several side effects, such as nausea and loss of appetite. Cannabis was an effective remedy for this. Many of Peron’s HIV-positive friends also relied on cannabis to relieve symptoms of nausea, pain, and insomnia. So Dennis decided to get less involved in politics and focus more on providing cannabis to AIDS patients and those in need.

Brownie Mary and the Cannabis Buyers Club

If Dennis Peron had a fanatical kinship with cannabis activism, it was Mary Jane Rathbun, aka Brownie Mary.

Mary Jane Rathburn, also known as Brownie Mary on August 4, 1992 (San Francisco Chronicle)

In 1981 Rathburn was arrested for selling weed brownies. Her sentence was 500 hours of community service. Through her volunteer work, she came to San Francisco to care for the very first AIDS patients. She even adopted some of them as their children. And from that point on, she devoted her life to baking weed brownies to help treat AIDS patients. At the height of the epidemic, Rathburn was baking around 1,600 brownies a month.

Her activism and volunteer work has been ambiguous. She was arrested a few more times for making weed brownies. At the same time she received several awards as Volunteer of the Year. In August 1992, Rathburn met with the San Francisco Board of Directors to advocate the medicinal value of cannabis. Her testimony not only convinced the panel to pass a resolution ending the arrest and repression of medical cannabis suppliers, but also led to the creation of Brownie Mary’s Day.

That same year, Mary and Dennis opened the Cannabis Buyers’ Club. In addition to being a medical cannabis dispensary, the club was also a community center for HIV-positive people, the LGBT community, and people with other incurable diseases. Dennis also hired people from the community to work for the club.

Brownie Mary and Dennis Peron in 1993

Located on Church and 14th Street, the club had a coffee shop and several lounges with couches and other furniture for people to relax and get comfortable in. Members came there to smoke, socialize, and eat at the club.

Inside the Cannabis Buyers’ Club

The closure of the Cannabis Buyers Club and proposal 215

In 1995 the Cannabis Buyers’ Club had over 4,000 members. Although the club was operating illegally, the city of San Francisco closed Peron’s stores, largely because his work brought many benefits to the community.

With membership and support growing, Peron and Rathburn campaigned in 1996 for Proposition 215, a state vote that would allow everyone in California to own and grow marijuana for medicinal purposes. The campaign received a lot of media attention, support and philanthropic contributions. It qualified for the 1996 California vote with 763,000 signatures.

Suggestion 215 led the polls by 60:40. The opposition leader was Attorney General Dan Lungren, a staunch supporter of the drug war. His strategy was to turn the vote into a referendum on Dennis and his cannabis club. However, since the proposal was in Peron’s favor, the attorney general had a different idea.

A San Francisco sheriff’s deputy carries confiscated marijuana plants from the Cannabis Cultivators’ Club

On August 4, 1996, more than 100 agents from the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement raided the Cannabis Buyers Club. At the same time, five other teams searched the homes of club members and staff across the city. Authorities confiscated a total of 150 pounds of cannabis, $ 60,000 in cash and 400 plants. A day later, William Cahill, a judge in the San Francisco County Superior Court, ordered the club to be closed.

Two months after the raid on conspiracy and possession, transport and sale of cannabis, they arrested Peron at his home. He left Alameda County Jail on October 12th.

The legacy of Dennis Peron

On November 5, 1996, Proposition 215 was passed with 56 percent of the vote, legalizing the use of medicinal cannabis throughout the state of California.

Peron moved to a farm in Lake County where he spent the last years of his life. He kept growing and distributing grass to the people. He passed away in 2018.

Dennis Peron on his Lake County farm (San Francisco Chronicle)

With 2 pounds of Thai sticks brought back from Vietnam, Dennis Peron joined the cannabis crusade. He sold lots of weed, came into conflict with the law, helped fight the AIDS epidemic, opened the country’s first public cannabis dispensary, and successfully convinced Californians to legalize cannabis. Even after his death, his legacy continues to influence cannabis policy. On October 13, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary Act (SB-34) to support compassionate programs for medical cannabis.

Thanks to people like Dennis that we can smoke openly and freely today. He served his country well beyond the battlefield. The only thing left to say is salute, legend!