Long before California first legalized medical cannabis in 1996, Mary Jane Rathbun—better known to her many admirers as Brownie Mary—took the law into her own hands (and kitchen), personally supplying thousands of people suffering from AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses with her namesake medicated desserts. She also played a primary role in the campaign to pass Proposition 215, which made California the first state to allow cannabis use for medicinal purposes.
Once named Volunteer of the Year by the AIDS ward of San Francisco General Hospital, Mary played surrogate mother and grandmother to the sick and dying, offering her “kids” (as she called them) not just free, “magically delicious” brownies that cured their nausea and helped them eat, but also the intangible touch of human kindness that brings hope in the face of pain and uncertainty. According to longtime friend and fellow activist Dennis Peron, Mary got her start in the early ‘80s and at her height baked more than 1,500 brownies per month, all of them infused with marijuana trim and shake supplied for free by philanthropic local dealers and growers. Her tiny apartment building couldn’t contain the smell of all that baking, leading to her first arrest on the street while carrying a sack of brownies that she meant to distribute during her next hospital rounds.
Each time she was arrested, Mary Rathbun called bullshit, arriving for court adorned in pot-leaf jewelry and pro-legalization buttons and basically daring the prosecutors to find a San Francisco jury that would convict a little old lady for bringing brownies to AIDS patients. Only twice were they successful, and each time Mary was sentenced to community service—not exactly a punishment for a woman who selflessly worked to help others until she died in 1999 at age seventy-seven. Indeed, in Brownie Mary’s eyes, community service was the reason they had busted her in the first place!
So let us never forget that before medical marijuana was ever an “industry,” it was a crime, and that brave freedom fighters like Mary Rathbun turned outlaw not just because the law was wrong, but also because it was a matter of life and death for someone they loved. Nobody needs to make that choice in California today, but in most of America, countless Brownie Mary disciples face the same decision: whether to serve the needs of a loved one, even if it means running afoul of the law. Naturally, most do it just for a single suffering soul, be it an uncle, a wife, a son, a grandmother, or a friend, but they do it, quite simply, because medical cannabis works, and sometimes nothing else matters.
STONES 16
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons THC Oil (see recipe)
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1½ tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon applesauce
3 egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
3. Pour the THC Oil and the chopped chocolate into a double boiler over high heat. As the water boils in the lower pan, whisk the chocolate and oil until melted and smooth. Remove from heat, and whisk in the corn syrup, brown sugar, and applesauce. Stir in the egg whites and vanilla. Beat the mixture vigorously until smooth, then stir in the flour mixture until well incorporated.
4. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 18 to 23 minutes, or until the center of the top is almost firm to the touch. Let cool. Enjoy.