By Sen. John Laird
I’ve been involved in the Santa Cruz community since I arrived as a student at UCSC in 1968, and I realize it gives me a historical perspective those who have come of age since are not aware of.
It has been almost two generations since the dawn of the AIDS Crisis gripped our country and our county, and it is hard to believe that even in the Santa Cruz community it was a very difficult road until the drug cocktail became available that limited the effects of HIV.
Lost to time has been the stigma associated with HIV then. In those early years of the AIDS Project, a woman was fired from her job in Santa Cruz for volunteering with a person with HIV. As a city councilmember at the time, I authored an ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of HIV, so that things like that would not happen again.
In the 10-year period beginning in 1985, roughly 240 Santa Cruz County residents died from HIV. In the mid-1980s, six of us formed the Santa Cruz AIDS Project (SCAP), a nonprofit community mobilization to provide education and client services. I was executive director in the 1990s, and at one time in that period we had 225 clients and 600 regular volunteers. We faced many challenges then. For example, it was almost impossible to find local dental services for people with HIV. Our dental program was transportation vouchers to San Francisco, where such care could be found.
Most of those who died in that period were our clients. Counted among them were many of my friends. But in a community as small as ours, almost no one was not touched by the epidemic. Among those lost were well-known community members — a letter carrier, local physician, business owner, teacher and many more.
There were many individuals — among them medical personnel, mental health therapists, massage therapists, friends and family — who volunteered to help in some way. I will always remember and be grateful for those individuals and organizations that took the risk to step up in those difficult times.
The disease ravaged those with HIV. A majority considered being diagnosed a death sentence. In the final weeks and months, it was a painful experience. One of the few things that helped with symptoms was cannabis — which, at the time, was not even legal for medicinal purposes. It was a risk to grow and provide cannabis for those it truly helped. It was an incredible act of legal bravery and personal compassion.
One organization in particular stepped up — Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, known as WAMM. Val Corral, together with her then-husband Michael — were at the core of the organization. She was in a major automobile accident earlier in her life, which led them to this issue due to her own medicinal needs. They were arrested in this period for their actions.
Why do I write about this today? WAMM is a partner in an application for a cannabis dispensary in the former Emily’s Bakery in Santa Cruz. They invested their savings in bringing the property up to speed for this use, and met all the city requirements and made it through the permit process. The application was appealed to the Planning Commission, which voted 5-2 to approve the application. It will now be in front of the City Council on May 14. It is a simple act of fairness to approve this application, since they invested their savings, played by the existing rules, and would quite likely go broke as individuals and an organization if it is not approved.
I am loathe to express an opinion on any local planning matter, particularly since I deal with my share of controversies at the state level. But I have always had a special place in my heart for those who stood up in a challenging time, when many did not. I could not live with myself if I remained silent about their history and the fairness in this matter.
It is the local school district that has pushed to not approve this application. I sympathize with some concerns. Last year I authored legislation to require a pamphlet on cannabis to be distributed to first-time buyers, and a second bill to allow for easier access to illegal grows for the state water board, now that there is a legal process for cannabis. With former Assemblymember Mark Stone, I previously authored a successful bill to set up common testing standards for laboratories that test cannabis before its sale. When voters approved the initiative for legalization, it is now up to us to make the system work.
WAMM’s application has adhered to the current city rules, and most of the fears about this location apply to other locations that pre-exist in Santa Cruz. I hope that the history of WAMM will count for something in the process. They stood up for people in need when not many others were standing up for them. I hope that people stand up for them now.
State Sen. John Laird represents the 17th District.