or Duncan Hines,” she said. “And take
the profi ts and buy an old Victorian
for my kids with Aids.”
Today with increasing acceptance
of medical cannabis and marriage
equality, it can be tempting to
think activism is no longer needed.
A study by The Trevor Project, an
LGBT+ suicide prevention group, has
revealed members of the community
are four times more likely to attempt
suicide. As cannabis continues
to go mainstream, how long will
marginalised groups be able to stake
a claim?
reasons: appetite, relief from nausea,
relief from pain, to be able to sleep.”
Following the raid, Peron went on
to set up the Cannabis Buyers Club
where he sold cannabis to HIV/Aids
sufferers to ease their symptoms.
Buyers clubs were originally set up to
provide prescription drugs to patients
that were not approved by the FDA.
They provided as many as 112 different
chemicals that slowed
the progression,
killed cells and
helped with liver
damage caused by
medication. The
club proved to be
so successful that it
moved to a warehouse in
1995 to accommodate 11,000
patients – half of which were
suffering with Aids. To gain entry you
needed to have an ID and a doctor’s
note to confi rm your illness, but Peron
gave away marijuana to the poor and
cancer, glaucoma or arthritis patients.
The club offered a range of smokables,
tinctures, topicals and edibles but
refused to offer a delivery service.
“Sick people tend to withdraw and
that’s the worst thing they can do.”
Peron explains. “We don’t have a
delivery service, because we want
them to get out of the house.”
The buyers club was raided in 1996
and shut down.
Peron went on to draft and organise
support for California proposition
215 which exempts medical
marijuana users and carers from
prosecution.
Another campaigner,
Mary Rathbun was often
described as the Florence
Nightingale of medicinal
cannabis. She was
nicknamed ‘Brownie
Mary’ as she made
brownies for Aids
patients that she saw
during her time as a volunteer at
San Francisco General Hospital. She
made little money as she used any
profi ts to buy ingredients.
She was arrested three times and by
1984 was baking up to 600 brownies a
day. Mary referred to the Aids patients
that she cared for as ‘her kids.’
“When and if they legalise it, I’ll sell
my brownie recipe to Betty Crocker