This is a photo of him in 1980, when he was 16. He’d had only a few seizures at the time. I don’t know if he had started on Dilantin – the first of many pharmaceuticals that failed him. Some were effective for months, and hopes would get raised… Intractable epilepsy is a nightmare that gets worse after you wake up. Each seizure creates or expands lesions in the brain. This makes seizures more likely to recur. It took a few years for John’s doctors to conclude that he was among the one-in-four epileptics for whom pharmaceuticals offer no relief.
Although John is the reason I got so interested in the medical potential of marijuana, I never wrote about him when I covered the movement. He wouldn’t have liked it.
I decided to focus on the MMJ story in April, 1996 after getting a call from Dennis Peron, the founder of the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club. We’d been good friends since the ‘70s. I’d even written a narcocorrido about his career as a dealer/organizer: https://fredgardner.bandcamp.com/track/the-ballad-of-dennis-peron
Note that Dennis was running a club, not a dispensary. He knew a tremendous amount about club members’ medical conditions and how they used marijuana to alleviate symptoms, because he listened to their stories and was authentically interested. People could hang out at the club.
Next-generation retailers would call their stores “dispensaries,” and refer to their customers as “patients.”
I thought “dispensary” was a good word for pot stores. Pharmacists dispense drugs at drug stores. At Cannabis dispensaries, budtenders knew which products reportedly helped people with various medical problems.
But I didn’t like it when the dispensary owners (and activists who were their de facto publicity agents) began referring to customers as “patients.” I’m sure that many young men and women, including my son John, would not want to be defined as a “patient.” The right term would have been “medical marijuana user.” Or even better, “Science fiction fan.”
The twisting of words is revealing, and the activists who did PR for the ganjapreneurs thought they were slick. Consider the widely used term “Cannabis patient.” Doctors and nurses treat patients categorized by their ailments. The patient treated for Cancer, or Covid or Obesity is not called a “Cisplatin patient,” “Paxlovid patient” or “Wegovy patient.” The spinmeisters who came up with odd term “Cannabis Patient” obviously didn’t like the sound of “Marijuana user.” The term “Cannabis patient” is meant to inspire sympathy, not to assert a right. It’s whiney and doesn’t compute.
Fred, this is such a great piece. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you several times over the years, and Dennis was also a dear friend of mine. His work and spirit lit a fire that still guides so many of us today. I’ve tried in my own way to keep running with that torch — fighting for compassion, dignity, and access for the people who need it most. Thank you for continuing to honor and preserve this history.
And today, on what would have been John’s 61st birthday, I want to wish him a Happy Birthday in spirit. Reading about what he went through — the struggles, the pain, and the strength it must have taken — is deeply moving. His story reminds us why this fight has always been about people first, about easing suffering and honoring lives touched by hardship. My heart is with you and your family today.