Dennis Peron, Cannabis Activist, Dies of Lung Cancer

Purple rain marijuana feature

A flower for Peron. [Photo by Kym Kemp]

Today, Dennis Peron, a cannabis and gay rights activist, died of lung cancer. Peron, born in 1945 and a veteran of the Vietnam War, became a leading proponent of using marijuana to help AIDS patients when the epidemic cut a huge swath in the gay community during the late 1980’s. The epidemic later took the life of his partner in 1990.

Peron has been called the father of medical marijuana for his work to legalize cannabis for patients. In 1991, he worked with Mary Jane Rathburn aka Brownie Mary to pass an ordinance in San Francisco legalizing cannabis for patients. Then, in 1996, he was crucial in taking a similar ordinance (Prop. 215) statewide–making medical marijuana legal in California.

Eventually, Peron began advocating that anyone consuming cannabis was consuming medically. He famously told Herb Magazine, “Marijuana is a medicine…There is no recreational. Medical marijuana people don’t get high; they get normal. It makes them feel complete.”

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37 Comments
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just me
Guest
just me
6 years ago

He was my friend. ill miss him.

Another gem lost. ..
Guest
Another gem lost. ..
6 years ago

RIP
Thank you for your tireless work that truly helped carve a path that so many of us now walk on.

Georganne Ross
Guest
Georganne Ross
6 years ago

Om mani padme hum, thank you for your early activism in San Francisco to promote medical cannabis, Dennis Peron 💛💐🌈🌿

LabeledaNazi
Guest
LabeledaNazi
6 years ago

No rec use????? People dont smoke to get stoned but normal? Marijuana is not a drug? Hmmmm. Well RIP man. Thanks for your enlightenment.🤘🏼

caroljo
Guest
caroljo
6 years ago

He was my friend, too. Rest in Peace dear Dennis.

Mogtx
Guest
6 years ago

RIP

Milton Phegley
Guest
Milton Phegley
6 years ago

Picked this up at a yard sale recently. 1998 campaign button.

bill dance
Guest
bill dance
6 years ago

Fare the well Dennis

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[…] Dennis Peron, Cannabis Activist, Dies of Lung Cancer  Redheaded Blackbelt […]

OMG
Guest
OMG
6 years ago

Thank you to two pioneering activists. Long live Dennis Peron, and Brownie Mary Rathbun.

Chef Jeff
Guest
Chef Jeff
6 years ago

I don’t post much, but this one got me.
Goodbye, Dennis. You were a light in the dark.

Antichrist
Guest
Antichrist
6 years ago

Sounds like he was a great being, it is sad there is one less on this rock. If only more could meet people like this or learn about and from them before they pass, what a world we could be

Walt Wilson
Guest
Walt Wilson
6 years ago

Did any of you potheads out there happen to notice what killed Peron? Lung cancer, for God’s sake. Gee, I wonder what causes lung cancer?

Freedom Club
Guest
Freedom Club
6 years ago
Reply to  Walt Wilson

I happened to notice that we are now living in 2018 and as cannabis has grown in acceptance thankfully there are now many options to consume it that don’t include combustion.

Patricia
Guest
Patricia
6 years ago
Reply to  Freedom Club

Exactly!! Dumb choice to smoke it. Causes lung cancer…

Matthew Meyer
Guest
Matthew Meyer
6 years ago
Reply to  Walt Wilson

The largest study of its kind has unexpectedly concluded that smoking marijuana, even regularly and heavily, does not lead to lung cancer.

The new findings “were against our expectations,” said Donald Tashkin of the University of California at Los Angeles, a pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for 30 years.

“We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use,” he said. “What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729.html

Patricia
Guest
Patricia
6 years ago
Reply to  Matthew Meyer

I know of at least 4 people who have gotten “lung cancer from marijuana. Bad advice to Smoke Anything.

Juniper Jim
Guest
Juniper Jim
6 years ago
Reply to  Patricia

guess what bob marley died from.

Pat M.
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Juniper Jim

Melanoma

in his toe

Sorry to disappoint

just me
Guest
just me
6 years ago
Reply to  Walt Wilson

Walt Wilson you should talk about stuff you know.stop embarrassing yourself in public. he as a kind man. not like you. thanks for cheep shots. what a man you are.

Patricia
Guest
Patricia
6 years ago
Reply to  Walt Wilson

Exactly! Such denial. Pathetic.

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
6 years ago
Reply to  Walt Wilson

Do we know what other risk factors he had, like tobacco use? Actor Christopher Reeves’ widow died of lung cancer and didn’t smoke tobacco ever, according to reports. Thank you Dennis for your service, across the board. Remember, you don’t have to inhale it. Enjoy yourself gloating, Patricia. Have fun. Dennis had fun. Geez.

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[…] Dennis Peron, Cannabis Activist, Dies of Lung Cancer  Redheaded Blackbelt […]

Sue
Guest
Sue
6 years ago

Omg…irony…and karma..brainwashed potheads will never get it

Say it ain't so
Guest
Say it ain't so
6 years ago
Reply to  Sue

Second hand cigarette smoke. Pollution in the big cities. Chemicals everywhere.

Tessa Mae
Guest
Tessa Mae
6 years ago

Omg? How’s that possible?!? They tell us over and over and over they cannabis not only curse cancer but prevents it??? Another one to add to the list.

anon traveler
Guest
anon traveler
6 years ago
Reply to  Tessa Mae

and I had a friend pass from Lung Fibrosis when cannabis was the ONLY thing he smoked ever..

SMOKING anything puts tars & Carbon Monoxide directly into your lung tissue..

eat or vape your cannabis… DONT smoke it ever..

a COPD patient(from tobacco&?)..

J
Guest
J
6 years ago
Reply to  anon traveler

Right, I was smoking only marijuana and coughing up tar every day. I’m grateful I stopped and my lungs are healing now. Research shows that if you smoke marijuana and cigarettes you are less likely to get cancer because marijuana helps you cough up the tar from your lungs but that doesn’t mean it’s a magical substance that you can inhale with no repercussions. Thats why doctors, including 215 doc’s are so adamite about edibles. A friend of mine had to quit at age 55 because of a black spot on her lung and breathing issues. The doc said if she continued she would die. After one year of no use it had cleared up and she could breath well enough to exercise and be active again. She smoked zero cigarettes in her life time and lived in Humboldt were there is little air pollution.

anon traveler
Guest
anon traveler
6 years ago

RIP Dennis, you were the one who got me involved with the medical cannabis issue after I visited you at your place in lake county, that was my introduction to Dr Todd Mikuriya & Jeff Jones (Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club)..

you will be missed
Fellow Traveler

Timothy McVeigh's ghost
Guest
Timothy McVeigh's ghost
6 years ago

RIP Dennis.

And for all you backyard Dr’s You can get lung, throat and mouth cancer without smoking anything. If you have colon cancer you probably didn’t get it from sticking things up your a$$. Testicular cancer isnt from jacking off or someone sucking your testies. Breast and ovarian cancer doesn’t mean she was a slut. Get a clue. A good man died and it has nothing to do with activism. Cancer rates like everything else that affects all of us continue to rise. Focus on that thought for just a moment

Matthew Meyer
Guest
Matthew Meyer
6 years ago

Word.

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[…] Dennis Peron, Cannabis Activist, Dies of Lung Cancer  Redheaded Blackbelt […]

Greendenny
Guest
Greendenny
6 years ago

Thanks brother!!! You were our rock!!!!!!!! Growth can only keep growing!!! Love you n all others supporting/fighting for our health!

Jim Gogek
Guest
Jim Gogek
6 years ago

Although one commenter here says that marijuana does not cause lung cancer, many studies, including from the Journal of the American Medical Association, show the link between smoking marijuana and lung cancer. Here are a few:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/410634

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10552-013-0259-0?utm_source%3D1be16992-d8f0-4483-8eb5-3137299827e1%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dlong

http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/31/2/280?maxtos=

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02791072.1994.10472442

flip
Guest
flip
6 years ago

living in a city can give you lung cancer,using a wood stove can give you lung cancer, living on this planet can give you lung cancer

Grin Reaper
Guest
Grin Reaper
6 years ago

Hello, everyone. Dennis Peron smoked commercial cigarettes, which I had heard years ago when he started to become ill. Inform yourselves. Better yet, if you’re going to guess the most likely cause, guess cigarettes. Am I the only person who could figure this out? Long live Dennis Peron. Fly high, brother. https://www.ganjapreneur.com/activist-dennis-peron-sparked-californias-medical-cannabis-movement-dies-72/

Pat M.
Guest
3 years ago

Grin Reaper~ thanks for clearing this up. I met Dennis @ Long Beach ca.pride in 2011. Yes he was a cigarette smoker as well.

Thanks for your bravery Dennis..
Rest in Power✊