[420 Girl]

California - This week’s Barbary Coast column is about people who have become millionaires running medical marijuana dispensaries. Some are trying to give away their new-found wealth, but often charities won’t take it due to the legal gray zone of the money’s origin. Selling pot is still a federal crime.

One charity that has accepted donations from pot clubs is San Francisco’s Maitri, the last remaining hospice in California caring exclusively for people dying from AIDS. It’s a reminder that the pandemic isn’t over.

Maitri has space for 15 patients, and there’s typically a waiting list of ten more who need care. When I visited, I expected to see the rooms filled with older gay, white men—reflecting the Castro neighborhood where the hospice is located. Not so. The patients represent a diversity of age, race, gender, and sexual orientation. I was surprised to see women.

“It mirrors the current state of the epidemic,” said executive director Tim Patriarca.

When asked why in 2010 there is still a need for an AIDS-only hospice, Mr. Patriarca said the facility “does the best dealing with the most medically intensive folks.” Translation: Expensive care that other hospitals and charities don’t want to absorb.

But there’s another, sadder reason why. Discrimination. Traditional nursing homes tend to shun people dying from AIDS, according to Mr. Patriarca. Yes, thousands of miles of red ribbons later, fear and ignorance remain.


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