Dennis Peron

Dennis Robert Peron (April 8, 1945 – January 27, 2018) was an American activist and businessman who became a leader in the movement for the legalization of cannabis throughout the 1990s. He influenced many in California and thus changed the political debate on marijuana in the United States.

Biography Peron was born in The Bronx, New York City, into an Italian-American family and grew up in Long Island. He served in the United States Air Force in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive.

After the war, he moved to the Castro District, San Francisco, where he became an active Yippie and organized smoke-ins. He also supported gay activist Harvey Milk, a former Long Island resident, That same year, he co-founded the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club, the first public cannabis dispensary. His businesses were raided by authorities in 1978 and 1990. In 1993, Peron and Brownie Mary jointly released a cookbook with recipes for cannabis edibles.

In 1996, Peron coauthored California Proposition 215, which sought to allow the use of medical cannabis. Peron worked with other activists such as Scott Imler and Valerie Corral. Proposition 215 was passed soon thereafter, which allowed the club to reopen. Later in 1996, the Grassroots Party fielded Peron as their nominee, in the U.S. presidential election. Peron was on the ballot in Minnesota and Vermont, and received 5,400 votes. In 1998, Peron ran in the Republican primary for California governor against Lungren, who won the primary and lost the election to Gray Davis.

Peron voiced support for decriminalization of all marijuana use, believing that it is medicinal. He opposed medical marijuana use for children. Peron opposed California Proposition 19 in 2010, which would have legalized recreational cannabis, because he did not believe that recreational use exists, as all people who use marijuana are using it medicinally. He opposed California Proposition 64 in 2016.

Later life Later in life, Peron owned and operated a cannabis farm near Clearlake, California. Peron died of lung cancer at the Veteran's Administration Health Center in San Francisco.

Denis Peron Award In 2013, an award for life achievements was given posthumously to Denis Peron at the Emerald Cup, because "The marijuana legalization movement would not have achieved its great breakthrough in 1996 had it not been for Dennis". In subsequent years, a "Denis Peron Award" has been awarded at different events to a series of prominent medical cannabis activists, honoring the leadership of veteran cannabis entrepreneurs, like Wanda James or Etienne Fontan.