"Join the Club" Film Tells the Story of Dennis Peron and Medical Marijuana

"Join the Club" is a powerful documentary about Dennis Peron and the origins of the medical marijuana movement, set in the gay rights movement and the AIDS crisis in San Francisco. The tactics of the US war on drugs that began with Richard Nixon and was carried on by successive US presidents is also presented in the film, making the DEA and its multi-jurisdictional forces look like the ICE of its day. 

Filmmakers Kip Andersen and Chris O'Connell were able to conduct the last interview with Peron just before he died in 2018, and his story is told in flashback with remarkable footage of Peron's historic Cannabis Buyer's Club, including police video from an officer who infiltrated the club, news reports, and interviews all skillfully edited together. 

Born in the Bronx, Peron was drafted into the Vietnam War where he recounts seeing 1000 dead soldiers the month that he arrived. Eschewing alcohol as "the war drug," Peron smoked his first joint instead, and the filmmakers do a wonderful job of depicting how that changed his life. Bringing back three pounds of marijuana when he returned from Vietnam launched his career as a pot dealer and activist in San Francisco. 

Peron began his political involvement as a supporter of Harvey Milk, who was the country's first elected gay politician when he became a San Francisco supervisor. The assassination of Milk and Mayor George Moscone highlighted the terrible ongoing prejudice against the gay community, as did the arrests and police shooting of Peron. 

The film does an excellent job of taking us to the origins of the AIDS epidemic and the relief that patients were getting from cannabis. The death of Dennis's young, beautiful lover Jonathan West from AIDS catapulted him to begin distributing cannabis to AIDS patients and operating what was described as the first AIDS hospice, where patients could gather and support each other in community.

Interviewees include Cal NORML's Dale Gieringer, who played a key role in taking the medical marijuana movement statewide with California's breakthrough Prop. 215 in 1996, along with Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, Peron's right-hand man John Entwhistle, journalist Fred Gardner, artist Ruth Frase, and activist Terrance Alan, among others. Peron's attorneys Tony Serra and David Nick are interviewed, as are Dan Lungren, the conservative CA AG who brutally went after Dennis, and Joe Bannon, the country's first openly gay policeman who was reviled when he went undercover to take down the cannabis club. 

Footage highlights Brownie Mary Rathbun, a sweet little old lady who was arrested for baking and distributing cannabis brownies to AIDS patients. Also in the film are Gilbert Baker, the designer of the Pride rainbow flag, Wayne Justmann, the OG medical marijuana card holder who was a fixture in the movement, and San Francisco's progressive DA Terence Hallinan (whose policies were adopted by his successor, Kamala Harris). 

After his interview for the film, which was conducted after Peron had a stroke and had difficulty speaking, the filmmakers reported that he seemed to be at peace, as though he knew his story would be told. He died a few months later. 

"Join the Club" was shown as part of the SF Indie Fest at the Roxy Theater to a crowd of activists and supporters that thoroughly enjoyed it, cheering for the heroes and jeering the opponents. So far, it's only been making the festival rounds since its release in May 2024, but hopefully will soon see a broader release.