Brownie Mary

Mary Jane Rathbun (December 22, 1922 – April 10, 1999), popularly known as Brownie Mary, was an American medical marijuana activist.

Sourced

• I make them for the worst of the patients, the ones on chemotherapy and the ones totally wasting away. I pick out the worst of the worst and turn them on.
  • Associated Press. (1992, July 24). "'Brownie Mary' busted for treats marijuana-laced goodies relieve AIDS patients' pain, she says after release". San Jose Mercury News, p. 3B.

• I'm not a criminal. I did nothing wrong. I was helping my kids. We desperately need medical marijuana in this country..
  • Herscher, E. (1992, August 5). "'Brownie Mary' Is Cheered During Testimony at City Hall". San Francisco Chronicle, p. A1.

• They can't drop the charges without saying I haven't done anything wrong. And if they do that, I'm going to ask for my marijuana back.
  • As quoted in Torgoff, Martin (2005). Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743230116. p. 443.

• I know from smoking pot for over thirty years that this is a medicine that works. It works for the wasting syndrome - - the kids have no appetite, but when they eat a brownie, they get out of bed and make themselves some food and for Chemotherapy - - they eat half a brownie before a session, and when they get out they eat the other half. It eases the pain. That's what I'm here to do.
  • Rathbun, Mary; Dennis Peron (1996). Brownie Mary's Marijuana Cookbook and Dennis Peron's Recipe for Social Change. Trail of Smoke Publishing Co. ISBN 0963989200.

• It's all about politics, and it's stupid.
  • Hubert, Cynthia. (1994, September 4). "Underground Club a Hit with Medical Pot Users". The Sacramento Bee, p. A1.

Quotes about Brownie Mary

• Brownie Mary gave her life for people that she didn't even know, essentially young people with AIDS and people who had been abandoned by their parents, by their friends. She took them into her heart, into her home and cared for them.
  • Dennis Peron, as cited in Gonzales, Richard (1999, April 12). All Things Considered. National Public Radio.