Written by Over the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure to get to know a man named Sweetleaf Joe through the California Compassion channels.
“Now as much as I’d love to sit with him and chat over various compassion journeys to patients in need – there’s not a lot of time for that as this is a man with a plan that’s been making a huge difference in the world of cannabis patients with terminal illnesses for quite some time. Working to help patients with life-threatening illnesses who can’t afford their cannabis is something we have in common – collaborating in this capacity is a humbling privilege for both of us. For there is no glory in true compassion – but there’s a ton of love and that’s what matters.
In the past weeks, it’s been beyond humbling to assist him in finding California dispensaries and delivery services willing to work the new law in California, SB 34, that once again allows the compassionate gifting of Cannabis and oils. As beautiful as the new law is, there are hurdles involved in getting owners of entities to understand how gifting works within the complicated legal framework surrounding all cannabis sales and now gifting in the state – but that’s where Sweetleaf Joe steps in to explain things.
“It’s best if owners that are serious make contact – it’s a little too much to ingest the regulation in an article,” he told me last night when I asked for an in-depth explanation of how the new law works. He’s right as most dispensaries I approach to help dispense the precious cannabis oils that people with cancers and other serious illnesses need will tend to shy away from the new compassion abilities due to the sheer lack of knowledge about it and the thought there could be a liability. “It’s a pretty basic transaction done with zero cost with zero tax to both dispensary and consumer – but in the current market, most won’t understand this easily or may think it will be a financial cost involved to do compassion when there isn’t. We’ll work with the patients and identify who’s in need – we just need them to dispense the oils.”
For the past 3 years, this type of help for compassion patients has been prohibited under the Recreational law Prop. 64. This put Joe and many others in a serious legal nightmare as we all were trying to continue to give cannabis and oils away – never did we imagine the state actually threatening us providers with committing a crime for helping people – but it happened. Our own program received not one but a total of 3 letters from the state – the last one wasn’t too nice and was enough for me to close down but I’ll never forget what I heard in early October 2017 after we shuttered, “There’s a guy named Sweetleaf in Santa Cruz – He’s affiliated with Dennis Peron – and he refuses to stop” one of our off-grid growers told me excited that someone was standing up to the state’s threats. Indeed it was Joe.
The cover photo for this article comes from Joe’s 2019 Social media post in which he states “The SB 34 press conference urging Governor Gavin Newsom to sign SB-34 couldn’t have been held at a better location than Air Force veteran’s Dennis Peron’s Castro Castle, ground zero of the compassionate cannabis movement with Prop 215! A big thank you to cannabis legends like the Peron brothers, Wayne Justmann, and everyone else who fought to get this bill to the Governor’s desk for the 2nd year in a row.” Joe Sweetleaf states in a recent Forbes article that “Dennis Peron, Brownie Mary, and Valerie Corral were big inspirations for me. They gave away free cannabis to AIDS patients in San Francisco in the 80s.”
S.B. 34 has brought about change once again - allowing compassion through licensed entities. Now it's a learning process on how to dispense cannabis to compassion patients.
He went on, “They are the founders of the compassionate cannabis movement. Dennis was incredibly outspoken and vocal in the media about the medical benefits of cannabis and the dramatic impact it had in combating wasting syndrome in AIDS patients. He also brought light to the fact that many of these patients could not afford the cannabis they needed to stay alive. Access to compassionate cannabis became the goal of many activists. Dennis did more to legalize cannabis and change the way the world thought about this plant than anyone else on the planet. He is the one we have to thank for where we are at today. He was also one of the co-authors of Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, in 1996, the first law in the United States legalizing the medical use of cannabis. “
California Senate Bill 420 was passed after Prop. 215 of 1996 which allowed compassionate care groups – people like Sweetleaf – to grow, distribute, and dispense cannabis to those who need it. In unison, SB 420 and Prop. 215 created the foundation of compassion that at one time made its way through the hearts of the cannabis industry which was built upon this subculture of love. Slowly as cannabis has become commercialized the world of compassion has diminished. The entire SB420/Prop 215 compassion framework fell apart due to Proposition 64’s strict regulations created to garnish maximum taxes from Cannabis – the sunset clause went into effect on Jan. 9th, 2019, and ended that era.
Knowing this was happening, Sweetleaf Joe partnered with the Dennis Peron Legacy Project to provide cannabis to HIV/AIDS patients one last time. On Dec. 18, 2018, a crowd of patients and Prop. 215 advocates gathered at the Castro Castle, Peron’s home in the Castro District of San Francisco. “Last year, we were able to give away 100 pounds of cannabis for free,” Sweetleaf told High Times after the crowd came and went, “And, this year, they’re telling us it’s going to be a five to six-figure tax bill if we do that same thing.”
Dennis Peron and the team created change based on those before them - and they've created a wave of people that have come along with hearts that want to spread the same joy and love that the Prop 215 team did.
The recent article in Forbes is so good it’s worth sharing, thank you for permission to reprint!
“Brownie Mary was on the front lines of compassion telling the media and the government that she would not stop giving away free cannabis brownies to AIDS patients. She said that they would have to lock her up to get her to stop. The passion she displayed showed the world that this was an important and relevant issue. The fact that she was an elderly woman helped soften the public’s opinion, that cannabis legalization was not just about young people wanting to get stoned and drug dealers trying to make money.
Valerie Corral was one of the founders of WAMM, the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, in Santa Cruz and a co-author of Proposition 215. WAMM began in 1993, making them the oldest medical cannabis group in the country. WAMM had a farm and grew plants with their patients. They have given away more than $20 million worth of cannabis since they began. They have always been an inspiration to me with their vertically-integrated system of compassion. Valerie’s project focused on those most in need, allowing members to pay what they could. If the patient did not have any money, they did not have to pay. “
Forbes: March 1st was an important date for compassion in California, can you share more about that?
“March 1st is the day that SB 34, the Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary Act was enacted in the state of California. This was a momentous occasion — it was the first time that a government acknowledged both compassionate cannabis and the nonprofit sector in the cannabis industry. This law corrects a major oversight in Proposition 64; 64 did not make a distinction between commercial and non-commercial cannabis. All cannabis was seen as commercial and came with a tax liability. This means that compassion programs were required to pay hefty taxes to the government to give away cannabis for no cost.
SB 34 became a reality after years of hard work from politicians, compassion projects, attorneys, and cannabis industry organizations. In its original incarnation in 2018, it was called SB 829. Senator Weiner from San Francisco introduced the bill on behalf of Sweetleaf. We brought patients to Sacramento to provide testimony in support of the bill. Veterans’ compassion programs such as Weed For Warriors and Operation EVAC lobbied republican politicians to vote yes for compassion.
Because of this group effort, SB 829 passed California’s state assembly and senate with an almost 90% yes vote. Unfortunately Jerry Brown, California’s governor at the time, vetoed it. He did not realize that he was sentencing indigent patients to death because they could no longer access the medicine that was keeping them alive. The bill was reintroduced in 2019 and again got sent to the governor’s desk. This time governor Gavin Newsom signed the compassion bill into law.
Now that compassionate cannabis is exempt from taxes, many groups and dispensaries are once again able to give cannabis to the patients who need it most. In the past month, Sweetleaf patients have received $75,000 worth of free cannabis. Compassion is finally able to function again.”
Forbes: How has the industry supported you to date?
“We have seen an incredible amount of support from the industry. We cannot do this on our own, so it is only by working with our farmers and supply chain partners that we are able to make compassion happen. We are seeing a dramatic increase in donations, it is heartening to see how much support there is. With the increase in support, Sweetleaf is able to source donations for other compassion programs, creating an ever-increasing web of access to compassion.
Together we are saving lives.
We encourage all cannabis consumers to support brands and businesses that support compassion. We are proud to be working with Sparc, Filigreen, HappyDay Farms, Padre Mu, Circadian Farms, Cornerstone Wellness, Flow Kana, Sonoma Lab Works, Cannaverse, Martyjuana, Hall of Flowers, Meadow, Huckleberry Farms, A Therapeutic Alternative, True Humboldt, CannaSafe Labs, Vapor Room, Chemistry, Anresco Labs, Juva, Tommy Chong, Viola, Higher Path, Green Earth Collective, Beard Bros, Moon Made Farms, King Range Farms, Silver Dragon, Garden of Eden, California Street Cannabis, Have a Heart, Dragonfly Wellness, Cookies, Nabis, Highway 1 Distribution, Emerald Exchange, Fully Melted, Grow Sisters, Humboldt Seed Company, Sanctuary, Doc Greens, OM, Cloud 9, Jetty, Kind Medicine, Heally, Hendrix, Mendocino Generations, Emerald Cup, KMUD, Green Earth Collective, and Deibel Labs. Thank you for being part of Team Compassion.”
How can people support the work Sweetleaf is doing?
“Donate to their online fundraiser. PAYPALDonate If you are in California, please purchase a compassion lighter. Follow Sweetleaf on Instagram: @Sweetleafbayarea “
Thank you Warren Bobrow of Forbes for taking the time to interview the legend, Sweetleaf Joe!
Compassion is what built our industry – and it also built my little family. Before there was ever ‘cannabis for sale’ or a ‘hemp industry’ there was giving. There were people that cared for each other.
The roots of compassion are deep and go far far beyond that of the hippies – who were of course right about cannabis and its ability to heal. Archaeologists have found evidence of the cannabis plant in southern and eastern Asia, Europe, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula that date back to 7,000 years B.C. – so for thousands of years, people have given each other cannabis.
Legalization is a new thing but love is not. The ability to participate in California’s Cannabis Compassion program is once again at the feet of anyone who wants to give compassion products or help dispense them per Regulation.
If you are an owner of a California entity and want to be involved please reach out – one thing is for sure – if you want to give we’ll be anxious to help you. What we don’t want to see is the word ‘compassion’ used to sell products – let’s separate that. Now if you want to give away some of the products you sell? Wow, now that’s a beautiful way to even the scales out and feel good about what you’re doing in the industry.
Thank you so much for reading –
WE LOVE YOU,
-Mike Robinson, Cannabis Patient and Founder, Global Cannabinoid Research Center. But, most of all, Genevieve’s Daddy
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