Lookin' Back on 1444 Market Street Final Raid

Agents Outside door at 1444 Market Street 5/1998

Back in 1998, even though Prop 215 had been around for a while, raids were still being conducted on places like Dennis Peron's Cannabis Buyer's Club  There weren't many in the city/county of San Francisco at the time and Peron's was the biggest.

It probably didn't help matters that he was running for governor on the Republican ticket, in direct competition with then-California's Attorney General Dan Lungren.

Mr. Lungren had taken Dennis to task before, just a few months previous he instructed local law enforcement to close the CBC down....and in a sense they did.  Actually they just sort of pushed a change forward that allowed Dennis more time to concentrate on his campaign.

Hazel Rodgers, one of Dennis' long time friends and an historic figure in her own right,was given the reigns and title of Director of the newly named Cannabis Healing Center.  The transition had been beautiful!  We were all either herded out the building or met up with one another outside the building and just sort of stayed there.  Luckily the sidewalk outside 1444 Market was particularly wide, so we were able to stage kind of a sit-in, handle the press crunch and still allow pedestrians their right of way.  Now THAT's how to have a protest!

Once the locals were done nosing around inside, they just kind of left.  John, Dennis' right-hand person, got up inside the building through the rear fire escape then came to the front door and let everybody in.  John was good at those second story jobs!

The final raid was, to say the least, brutal and painful on all counts.  Apparently Mr. Lungren was pissed that Dennis' campaign was not only still alive, it was picking up momentum. He dragged in the State law enforcement folks this time and pulled an early hours, jack-booted, thuggish raid; unnecessarily kicking down doors and destroying property.

Those who lived there, homeless A.I.D.S. and HIV patients that Dennis was housing on the residential floor, were forced to sit for hours in hand cuffs...unable to go to the bathroom or get dressed or anything while State law enforcement agents bullied and belittled them.

There was no need for what was done to those poor people, let alone what was done to the CHC.

To make a long story short, the entire building was closed down including Dennis' access to his political headquarters in the basement and second floor office.   Some, including yours truly, questioned the legality of the raid and more importantly the attack on Dennis' campaign headquarters, which though housed in the same building was operating completely separate from CHC activities.

With the closure of 1444 Market Street, approximately 140 patients died in the course of one year....some from their illnesses and inability to get medical cannabis, some through suicide. No one walked away from that raid unscathed.

Jane and several core volunteers got together and developed Compassion On Wheels (C.O.W.), a delivery service to help patients until something else could happen. It would be over a year before the S.F. Patients' Cooperative, at first called the S.F. Patients Resource Center, would be up and running

So anyway, for today Fifty Five is the new Lookin' Back....on 1444 Street Final Raid....isn't it strange that this sort of thing is still happening today?

Comfort

I woke up this morning craving Mom's chili, done her way served over mashed potatoes.  For some reason, the day screamed comfort food. Maybe I had a strange, unremembered dream, maybe I've just been watching too much news.

"Irish chili" we called it...nary a trace of capsaisin (sp? chemical in peppers that make them hot) in the mix; thick with ground beef, onions and green bell peppers, Mom would brown everything then add kidney beans and Campbel's Tomato Soup and let it simmer a few hours on the stove.

Any foodie purists are probably turning their noses up at the concoction, condemning the dish for its' lack of heat and use of the dreaded tomato...soup or otherwise.  Agreed.  Authentic it is not.  What it is, is one of those gastronomical anomalies which transcends propriety while it wraps around your guts' memory like a big, warm quilt.  A dietary hug...plain and simple.

I've had the real thing, even had it made of rattlesnake instead of beef or turkey....them's good eatin', and besides it's great fun watching people's face when talking about eating unusual entrees.  Ants aren't bad, either....lemony from the formic acid they carry, but if you're out in the middle of nowhere and that's what there is to eat, food is food.

But when it comes to comfort food...when it comes to that feeling of being hugged from the belly on out, to me there's nothing like Mom's "Irish chili!"  She always seemed to know when to make it. I'd come home from a hard day at school-hell, or come running up the basement stairs after being caught in a summer downpour...for some reason, there  it would be...the old dutch oven on the rear burner, it's lid cocked jauntily, tempting a peek, daring a taste from its perch on the stove.

To this day, when I get back there for a visit, it's the one dish I beg her to make without exception.
I've tried to duplicate it....and have come fairly close.....but nobody does it quite like her. And nobody ever will.

So for today, Fifty Five is the New Comfort, because there is nothing wrong with seeking comfort, refuge from a world gone mad. Even if it is found in a bowl of "Irish chili."

The New Sentinel

Emperess  by rcw

Fifty-Five is the New....
been thinking about that topic for quite a few passages and have arrived at several unique yet somehow not dissimilar notions. It's the new Thirty, the new Beginning, the new 100....what is it all trying to mean?

What I'm discovering is the fact that what ever age your Fifty-Five is, it IS the new. The new Discovery, the new Renewal...each day its own unfolding.  And that's okay. At the same time, it's also the New Realization. The New Eye-Opener.

There's a great deal going on these days....Lots of questions; who's working for who, who's zooming who...the Gulf Oil "Spill" ("Leak" what have you-it's all the same thing-a Disaster), economic problems, immigration...all the "sexy" news topics on constant display....where are we heading, as a nation, as a planet, as a species?

Fifty-Fife is the new...I've already cited the new Hope, still have a lot of that-but I am guarded and careful with my exuberance these days. I'm thinking Fifty-Five can also be the new Sentinel, standing alert and at the watch....and that's a good thing.

P.S.   We've entered our video in the "America's Got Talent" and "YouTube's Got Talent" contests.
Look for Boo Boo's Bargain Basement Band and if you like us, say so!  Thanks!

New Student (And Boo Boo's Bargain Basement Band Caffe Greco Video)

                                                     Thanks Riki Chen for capturing us at the Caffe Greco's Poet's Gallery gathering.
The Poet's Gallery meets weekly in North Beach, on Mondays they gather at the Caffe Greco and it's a lot of fun.  Philip Hackett is there, complete with stories of the old days, and sometimes some of the old Beat Poets come by....great time.

About the song "Trick Of Time" - it was written around 2001, there were a lot of changes going on at the Co-Op....and meditating on good memories was a great coping tool...and a great song inspiration.

Anyway, being fifty-five for a little over a month doesn't qualify me as an expert on the subject, not by any means.  All I can do is live it day to day and hope for the best. I have noted an increased number of "reflective moments," where I question whether this live has been a supreme waste of time or something worthwhile...you know how it is.

Bottom line, I think it's okay....regrets? A few. But not enough to cause a melt down.
Enough to seek improvement on a daily basis...enough to keep humble....and PLENTY to learn from!
But that's how we know we're still alive, eh? Still able to learn.

So for today, Fifty Five is the New Student, because that's what we all are....students of live, cramming for our final exam.

Boo Boo's Boo Boos-Blooper Reel from How Far Video

                                                     Every video deserves a Blooper Reel and ours is no exception.
Hope you enjoy!

Blessing

 Original Poster of the 420 Blessing by rcw

(Medical Cannabis was blessed every day at 4:20pm...feel free to continue the tradition!)

      Been so busy lately, most entries have been brief. I guess that's okay, some folks think blogs are all about brevity; perhaps this isn't the space for that "Great American Novel" everyone talks about.  But tonight the house is quiet, Jack is resting and even the cat is curled up in a corner of the bed,  so....a cup of coffee and a little cannabis spell R-E-L-I-E-F to me!

Relief and relaxation. These days it's hard to come by, and those who do are oft times made to feel guilty for having achieved a moment of stillness.

Everywhere I go lately, people have the news on in the background....on their t.v., on the computer, on the phone, on the radio. It's like when we've had other disasters; everyone goes on a 3 day News Binge, only this time it's been going on for months and months and right when you think the news story's played out another one comes along to fill in the space! There's no break any more.  At least after the '89 quake, by the third day they were talking about some progress...people getting water, power being restored, someone being found alive.

Well, I say we give ourselves a break!  Just for one hour, one day if we can stand it; a National Day of Relaxation....no news, no work, no bull...just a real concerted effort to breathe and enjoy.  Enjoy what?
Son, if  you have to ask that question you've been in front of the flat screen too long!

Look out the window!  That blue thing? It's called the Sky! And the yellow junk shining all over the place? It's called the Sun! There are a lot of other things in the world beyond the twenty four hour news feed....things like trees, birds, flowers...even other people, should you have a mind toward interaction.

We all have stories of feeling like we live at our jobs;  it's good to be dedicated, good to be passionate.  But it's also good to remember to pull back once in a while and recharge those batteries.

A Siesta is a good idea.  A little time to lean back....let the world spin on its own two feet for a while.

Cannabis is a great restorative! When I can get it, it really helps. Tonight I am fortunate, grateful for the blessing and hope that others in need find relief too.

When we ran the Co-Op, we used to bless the medicine every day at 4:20...It was kind of a break, a chance to make some announcements and a chance to focus on the movement, and the healing nature of the medicine-and of the shared experience.

It all started like this:
On our first day at the Co-Op (August 24, 1999), we hardly had a stick of furniture....the place echoed, wasn't yet ADA accessible and generally needed a lot of work. BUT! It was ours, and by ours I mean everybody's. The patients who came there were friend, patients from Dennis' old place...patients we'd been delivering medicine to through Jane Weirick and Compassion On Wheels.
When they came into the storefront, their eyes weren't casting aspersions about the need of paint or the lack of rugs...hell no!
They, like us, looked around and felt at home.  There was an audible sigh of relief as we greeted one another...many a tear was shed.

Anyway, at 4:20, Jeremy produced a rather sizable medi stick (Co-Op parlance for joint) and we shared it, laughing and applauding the ability to do so again in our own facility.  So many patients died between May 1998 and August 1999...I personally know of 150 patients who passed during that time.
So being able to gather together took on even more significance as we looked around the room and saw who wasn't there.

Anyway....

We continued the tradition, each day stopping at 4:20 pm to share medicine...it developed into that and announcement time (activities, legislation, events, etc), and we started writing little sayings to be handed out at 4:20 too.   Patients started collecting them and some say they have them all....Wow!
The sayings were written by staff and patients too....we encouraged creativity.

As things went along, the Co-Op (which had been originally called the Resource Center) went through a few changes....a few members of staff and 3 of the 4 directors became ordained into the Third Order Disciples of St. Martin de Pores.  4:20 took on an additional significance, as we began the tradition of blessing the medicine.

Now, there's a lot of flack these days (well, actually for quite some time) about God and prayer and all that....okay fine. So sue me.  We blessed the medicine because it was the right thing to do. It removed the "Cheech ^& Chong" aspect of "marijuana.."  literally removing it from that theater entirely...placing it, "cannabis" in a completely different realm by virtue of the following words:

The Institution
(The Preamble)
These medicines are laid upon this altar
that they be Consecrated and Glorified,
so that their Curative Power be Magnified
as a Balm for the distressed
and those in need of Their Grace. Amen.

The Epiklesis 
(The Invocation of the Spirit)
May the Holy Spirit of Love
come and Rest upon this medicine,
and Bless it and Hallow it
that it may become a Sacrament
of Healing and Comfort for us
and Sanctify our lives. Amen

This tradition continues, even to this day, among some circles of patients and in our home, too.
It isn't wrong to believe in something. It isn't wrong to think about it and share the positive aspects of it with one another. And it isn't wrong to be thankful to whatever....even if it's just your own two hands if you believe in only that....for your daily bread.

What is wrong is to shove a belief system down somebody's throat.
Hell, I may be a nun but I ain't no preacher!

Maybe some find it shocking to have the words cannabis and prayer in the same sentence....well, waaaay back in olden days-before we got so intelligent-we used to use it all the time, both cannabis and prayer.   Couldn't hurt to try it again, eh?

So for today, Fifty Five is the New Blessing, because it is-a blessing to be alive, to be able to put the brakes on for a few minutes, and a blessing to know that it is always 4:20 somewhere.