The BPG has been praised by successive Mayors of Berkeley Tom Bates[3] and Jesse Arreguín[4] and described as "embraced by local officials as a model business that donates to the poor and pays millions in taxes.
But Proposition 215 produced an immediate backlash with regard to implementation"[8] leading to a slow roll-out of a system effectively allowing patients to access cannabis, and years of legal uncertainty.
[13] On 31 October 1999, the group obtained a miscellaneous retail sales permit from authorities and opened on 5th Street in Berkeley,[14] a city where "officials were more responsive to activists and aware of the importance of medical marijuana provision to their constituents.
The group aimed to "create a safe place where underserved patients can acquire high-quality medicine in a welcoming, community-centric environment",[14] but legislation at the time did not allow proper business operations or legal certainty for medical cannabis dispensation.
[18] Following the 2016 approval of Adult Use of Marijuana Act (California Proposition 64), the BPG opened its sales to non-patients in January 2018, being the first dispensary in the Bay area to obtain temporary permit.
In recent years, Fontan has also been involved with Michael Krawitz[26] and the NGOs ENCOD, FAAAT, and Fields of Green for All at the United Nations, sharing the history and experience of the BPG in conferences[27] and statements.