Bhang Warriors

CELEBRATING, DENNIS PERON!

It’s been three years since the world lost Dennis Peron.

Born April 8, 1945, Peron is today remembered for his incredibly important work, which took on a number of forms. Early on, Peron was providing AIDS patients with medical cannabis. In 1991, he formed the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club: the first public cannabis dispensary in the U.S.

Despite numerous raids and the constant threat of arrest, Peron and his peers stood strong. By 1996, Peron had co-authored Proposition 215, which sought to allow the use of medical cannabis in California. When it passed later that year, it became the first medical marijuana ballot initiative to succeed at the state level.

In 2017, shortly before Peron’s death, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors honored the activist with one of them deeming Peron “the father of medical cannabis.”

It’s not hyperbole.

In a New York Times obituary for Peron, longtime California NORML state coordinator Dale Gieringer (who also assisted on the language of Prop. 215), underscored just what a difference one life can make.

“No person is more responsible for the legalization of medical marijuana than Dennis,” said Gieringer. “He was in the right place, at the right time as a gay rights leader at the time of the AIDS epidemic; he had the right experience as a pot dealer, the gumption to go ahead and do it and the trust of the people of San Francisco, who respected his efforts.”