states and the District of Columbia (though it remains illegal under federal law). Other states followed suit, setting the stage for legal, nonmedical cannabis use in 16 U.S. That’s because activists fighting for access to medical marijuana for terminally ill patients during the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and ’90s (most notably Dennis Peron) helped get California’s first-in-the-nation medical marijuana law on the books in 1996. As Pride Month rolls along, it’s worth noting that legal weed - not just in California but across the country - owes a huge debt of gratitude to the LGBTQ community.