PERON PACKS UP FORMER POT CLUB

The air smelled sweet and pungent as a thousand hanging origami cranes
came down from the ceilings of the country's most famous medical
marijuana center last Thursday, August 6. It was move-out day for
Dennis Peron from 1444 Market Street, site of the former Cannabis
Healing Center. The somber event came two years after state narcotic
agents' infamous Sunday morning raid on the club that precipitated the
still-ongoing legal battle against Peron, despite voters' passage of
the medical marijuana Proposition 215 in November 1996.

According to Peron, the owner of the building is now looking to turn
the former medical marijuana club into a mini-mall.

Peron and his faithful followers, volunteers, and medical marijuana
advocates set about cleaning out the four-story building that has seen
some colorful celebrations and sad letdowns since state Attorney
General Dan Lungren made closing the club and prosecuting Peron his
obsession. Dozens of "Peron for Governor" remained in the building;
San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey had closed the club May 25,
days before the June primary, in which Peron ran against Lungren for
the Republican nomination. To no one's surprise, including his, he
lost.

"There's not an end, it's the end of a chapter," Peron said as he sat
on the floor in the middle of what was once his bustling but now
near-empty office. "That's how I met people, I sold pot for 28 years."

Supporters hung around; many came to wish Peron well, some stopped by
to help pack up the numerous tables, chairs, potted house plants,
hanging origami, and other assorted items. Nearly everyone had a
story to tell.

"You made it so that sick people can grow pot," one man said, as he
rolled a healthy-size joint to offer Peron, who gladly accepted.

Peron said he's been spending time at his ranch in Northern California
and while he still gets calls from members of the media, he doesn't
like the spotlight as much as he used too. "I'm even getting short
with the press," Peron told the Bay Area Reporter. "I was speaking
for a movement. I always had to be 'on,' and now, I don't."

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"