One of the forefather’s of modern medical marijuana, Dennis Peron, credits his time in the Vietnam War with giving him the clarity and resolve to come back home and end the war on pot.

Peron founded the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club at the height of the U.S. drug war in 1991. While thousands played a role in legalizing medical marijuana in California in 1996 — Peron played a singular role with the CBC. Along with ‘Brownie’ Mary Rathbun, Peron’s civil disobedience — doling out cannabis to AIDS patients — made him a cause celebre, tilting public opinion in favor of legalizing medical cannabis.

California upended a century-old order with Proposition 215 in 1996, followed by SB 420 in 2003, as well as a string of hard-fought victories in court from 1996 until today. Those victories helped lay the groundwork for legalization in four states and Washington D.C.

In past interviews with Dennis, one of the more chilling stories that stuck with me was his time in Vietnam. Carrying bodies to the morgue during the Tet Offensive fundamentally changed the man. He decided to the come out of the closet. After the war, the idea of a little jail time for giving pot to AIDS patients didn’t scare him in the slightest.

Here’s an excerpt from my 2013 interview with Peron for CULTURE magazine:

“So I went [to Vietnam]. I was drafted into Army but joined the Air Force. I was a serviceman, but I didn’t really want to fight. I’m a lover not a fighter. A lover of men, not a killer. “In the Vietnam War they tried to give me a gun to kill during the Tet Offensive. I said, ‘I can’t shoot.’ [They said,] ‘Why not?’ … ‘I’ll close my eyes. I can’t shoot.’ “They say, ‘Take that gun.’ … ‘Alright, who you want me to kill?’ … They say, ‘We want you to kill Vietnamese.’ … ‘I’m not going to kill Vietnamese,’ [I tell him]. ‘I’m going to shoot the wrong guy.’ Looking right at him I was going to frag ‘em right there. … ‘Don’t give him a gun. He’s smart, [they said].’” “[During the Tet Offensive,] it was a perfect storm. They brought the war home to Saigon. They got even with me. They put me on the morgue for 30 days and I’m 20 years-old. I’ve never seen a dead person. That month I saw 25,000 dead people. I came out of my closet and found out who I was.” It made time in jail for opening the San Francisco Cannabis Buyer’s Club, “almost nothing.” “I’ve done a lot of time,” Peron told me. “I’ve done two years in jail. I always try to better myself. I taught a guy how to read and write last time I was there. I worked out a lot. I was buff. In a way, it was vacation.”

You can read more about it in Peron‘s 2013 memoirs.

A big salute to all the “veterEnts” out there today. Those who fought for freedom deserve the live under it.

[vintage portrait via DBacon