> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Once underground, Berkeley cannabis pioneers get their due - URL: https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2026/08/20/community/berkeley-cannabis-pioneers-cultural-landmark-ceremony/ - Published: 2026-08-20T03:12:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-20T03:12:02.000Z - Description: Berkeley Patients Group and Cannabis Buyers Club of Berkeley will be honored Friday in a cultural landmark ceremony at Chapel of Flowers. - Author: Guest Contributor - Tags: Community, West Berkeley, South Berkeley, #articles *By Vicente Vera* Berkeley's tourism sector is banking on a once-heavily restricted herb to draw visitors wanting to immerse themselves in the countercultural cannabis community that found its roots here. The nonprofit promoting tourism in the city, [Visit Berkeley](https://www.visitberkeley.com/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com), is teaming up with The Cannabis Trail to recognize the [Berkeley Patients Group](https://www.mybpg.com/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) and the [Cannabis Buyers Club of Berkeley](https://cbcbberkeley.com/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) (CBCB) as the nation's longest-running support network for medical cannabis consumers. Berkeley's [Chapel of Flowers](https://chapeloftheflowers.love/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) is set to host a cultural landmark ceremony to honor them Friday at 6:30 p.m. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-19-at-7.13.50---PM.jpg) Berkeley Patients Group director Etienne Fontan told The Berkeley Scanner they're gearing up for a move to 2555 San Pablo Ave., where the dispensary hopes to bring back on-site consumption of smoke and drink. Toking on-site will not only revitalize the dispensary's communal aspect, he said, the move will also bring the Berkeley Patients Group back to its original mission. "A lot of our patients are federal patients, and they need to medicate — but they can't medicate in their homes" at risk of losing them, Fontan said. "Once we get back going, we will go ahead and request … on-site consumption for that location." The idea of working with mainstream civic institutions on permissible cannabis use was far-fetched when Fontan and fellow activists launched underground markets to provide dying patients medical marijuana at the height of the AIDS epidemic. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-19-at-7.29.42---PM.jpg) Berkeley Patients Group director Etienne Fontan. [**Courtesy*](https://www.instagram.com/p/CiskehwrMaq/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) "Etienne from Berkeley Patients Group has been a pioneer in the industry, and then creating that space for folks, thinking throughout the decades, through the AIDS epidemics, for folks who are terminally ill, and giving folks dignity and compassionate care," Visit Berkeley CEO Jeffrey Church told The Scanner. "I think it's just going to be a really big part of the story on Friday." Legal battles that ensued from local cannabis activism set the stage for cannabis decriminalization and education. The activism was also personal for Fontan, who treated his own Gulf War Syndrome symptoms with cannabis. "We were adopted by the [Seva Foundation](https://www.seva.org/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com), which was supported by the Grateful Dead, and of course, Bill Graham Presents really was supportive of us. They hooked us up by putting us on tours such as Lollapalooza and [H.O.R.D.E.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.O.R.D.E.?ref=berkeleyscanner.com)," he said. "I've been with the Berkeley Patients Group for 25 years coming up this November. So for me, it has been a labor of love — and frustration." > "This isn't just a place to get pot. This is a place where Berkeley has thrived in welcoming everyone." Brian Applegarth, founder of [The Cannabis Trail](https://thecannabistrail.com/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com), saw Fontan's decades-long fight for patients as a wider part of Berkeley's pivotal influence on dispensaries statewide. The Berkeley landmark designations are part of The Cannabis Trail's growing map of cultural landmarks and points of interest across Northern California. "Each of those landmarks tells a specific story about cannabis or hemp history in California, the pioneers, the places and the significant moments," Applegarth said. "And Berkeley's role is incredibly important." [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2026/08/cannabis-trail.jpg)](https://thecannabistrail.com/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) A map of [The Cannabis Trail](https://thecannabistrail.com/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com), which runs from Santa Cruz to the Emerald Triangle. **Courtesy* For many folks, the stigma with cannabis has been difficult to shake off, Church said, which is why a big part of what they want to do with tourism goes beyond consumption. It's also to learn the city's decades of history with the plant and its intersectionality with both the LGBTQ+ and disability community. "We really want to bring all these pieces together and just weave this story that you can find anything in Berkeley," he said. "This isn't just a place to get pot. This is a place where Berkeley has thrived in welcoming everyone." CBCB owner [Aundre Speciale](https://beardbrospharms.com/aundre-speciale-compassion-first/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) said, for her, compassion is at the heart of the movement's history. "Compassion meant taking care of people — making sure they had medicine, food, community and someone looking out for them,” she said. "This landmark honors that spirit and the people who built a culture of care when doing so required courage." *Vicente Vera is a freelance reporter based in the Bay Area who graduated from the San Jose State University School of Journalism and Mass Communications. He covers politics, community and culture.* ## Sign up for The Berkeley Scanner Authoritative public safety and politics news coverage in Berkeley, CA Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.