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| Dennis Peron, father of medical marijuana in California, dies at 72 | Dennis Peron, father of medical marijuana in California, dies at 72 |
| (25 days later) | |
| Dennis Peron, the activist who fired up the movement to legalize medical marijuana in California, died on Saturday in a San Francisco hospital. He was 72. | Dennis Peron, the activist who fired up the movement to legalize medical marijuana in California, died on Saturday in a San Francisco hospital. He was 72. |
| Also a prominent figure in San Francisco’s gay community, Peron was credited as a pioneer in recognizing the health benefits of pot at the height of the Aids crisis in the 1980s. | Also a prominent figure in San Francisco’s gay community, Peron was credited as a pioneer in recognizing the health benefits of pot at the height of the Aids crisis in the 1980s. |
| “A man that changed the world,” his brother Jeffrey Peron wrote on Facebook. “It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my brother Dennis Peron.” | “A man that changed the world,” his brother Jeffrey Peron wrote on Facebook. “It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my brother Dennis Peron.” |
| Peron, a friend of the murdered gay rights activist Harvey Milk, helped push through a San Francisco ordinance that allowed the use of medical marijuana. | Peron, a friend of the murdered gay rights activist Harvey Milk, helped push through a San Francisco ordinance that allowed the use of medical marijuana. |
| That was seen as a precursor to the statewide legalization of medical pot in 1996, with the passage of California Proposition 215, which Peron co-wrote. Today, medical marijuana is legal in most US states and Washington DC. | That was seen as a precursor to the statewide legalization of medical pot in 1996, with the passage of California Proposition 215, which Peron co-wrote. Today, medical marijuana is legal in most US states and Washington DC. |
| Peron suffered from lung cancer. He lost his partner, Jonathan West, to Aids in 1990. | Peron suffered from lung cancer. He lost his partner, Jonathan West, to Aids in 1990. |
| Born in New York, he was drafted in the late 1960s to serve in Vietnam, where he first encountered cannabis, according to media reports his brother posted on Facebook. | Born in New York, he was drafted in the late 1960s to serve in Vietnam, where he first encountered cannabis, according to media reports his brother posted on Facebook. |
| At the height of the US war on drugs in the early 1990s, Peron founded the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club, the nation’s first public marijuana dispensary. | At the height of the US war on drugs in the early 1990s, Peron founded the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club, the nation’s first public marijuana dispensary. |
| He was arrested several times and was once shot in the leg by a police officer, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. | He was arrested several times and was once shot in the leg by a police officer, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. |
| “Not many people would have had the courage at the time that he took up the mantle,” Terrance Alan, a member of the city’s Cannabis Commission, told the newspaper. | “Not many people would have had the courage at the time that he took up the mantle,” Terrance Alan, a member of the city’s Cannabis Commission, told the newspaper. |
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