It’s a ‘simple act of fairness’ to approve Cannabis dispensary at former Emily’s Bakery site
Santa Cruz AIDS Crisis: A Personal Reflection from State Senator 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 that 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 during 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 with people with HIV. Our dental program was transportation vouchers to San Francisco, where such care could be found.
I am loath 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. STATE SEN. JOHN LAIRD
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 who 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.
