Home Baked Quotes

“On the stages at the Cannery and Ghirardelli malls, busking was not only tolerated, it was encouraged; free performances lured shoppers and buskers enjoyed freedom from police interference. Out on the streets, it was a different story. Business owners—worried that performers were literally and figuratively stealing the show—filed complaints with the city. “Whenever somebody who’s paying for a business license and paying taxes on his property sees a crowd of people facing away from him, they immediately assume that business is being lost,” says tap dancer Rosie Radiator. “Now, art being the glue of all of us, it was, of course, the street performers who were drawing the people to the location. They weren’t coming for the trinkets in the shops as much as they were coming for the artisans on the sidewalks and the street performers who gave it ambiance and personality and the fun aspects of a destination.”
― Alia Volz, Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco

“Moscone had grown up poor in San Francisco, raised by a single mother. He had street smarts and true-blue populist appeal, a mayor for the people—and he was rumored to smoke the occasional joint. He had been the California state senate majority leader before moving back to what he called the “greatest city in the world” to run for mayor, a post he said he’d wanted since childhood. During his senate years, Moscone had coauthored a bill decriminalizing sodomy and oral sex between consenting adults in California—a felony before then—earning the undying appreciation of the gay community. He’d also ushered in the Moscone Act, which knocked possession of less than one ounce of marijuana down from a felony to a misdemeanor, earning the undying appreciation of stoners like Meridy.”
― Alia Volz, Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco

“On September 18, 1975, the day Mer arrived, FBI agents swarmed two safe houses, including the one where Patty was hiding. Four days after the arrests, another female radical fired two shots at President Gerald Ford as he exited the St. Francis Hotel on Union Square, missing his head by inches. The would-be assassin later said she’d been inspired in part by Patty and the SLA. The astonishing case of the heiress turned kidnapping victim, self-proclaimed revolutionary, terrorist, fugitive, and frail penitent would keep the press enthralled for many moons.”
― Alia Volz, Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco

“I picture my mom on an airplane in 1975, forehead pressed to the window, hoping for a first glimpse of her new home. She wouldn’t know that the airport lies beyond city limits, situated such that you can never quite see San Francisco until you’re inside it.”
― Alia Volz, Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco

“The danger, the report concluded, was political, stemming from the perception of marijuana as “fostering a counterculture that conflicts with basic moral precepts.” The commission asked if criminal punishment for cannabis might be causing more harm to society than the drug itself. Instead of tearing the ass out of pot advocacy, the report recommended decriminalization. Nixon allegedly refused to read beyond the first few pages. His administration buried the report and continued its alarmist rhetoric. Marijuana’s “temporary” Schedule 1 status—categorizing cannabis as one of the most dangerous substances in the United States—quietly became permanent.”
― Alia Volz, Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco