Fred Gardner is an American political organizer and author best known for his opposition to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and his writings about the medical marijuana movement in the United States.

Biography

Gardner received his bachelor's degree from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1963. He has been an editor at ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

'' and ''Ramparts,'' a private detective, a songwriter, an author, a freelance journalist, one of the credited screenwriters for ''

Zabriskie Point Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 mil ...

'' directed by

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...

, the owner of Variety Home Video, the editor of ''Synapse'' (the UCSF Medical Center weekly), Public Information Officer for the

San Francisco District Attorney's Office The San Francisco District Attorney's Office is the legal agency charged with prosecuting crimes in the City and County of San Francisco, California. The current district attorney is Brooke Jenkins. Occupants of this office have gone on to highe ...

, and the editor of ''O'Shaughnessy's Journal of Cannabis in Clinical Practice''. In the fall of 1967 Gardner, with Donna Mickleson and Deborah Rossman, started a coffeehouse in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

, that became
hang-out for GIs
an alternative

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

called the UFO ( United Freedom Organization). Gardner covered the court martial of 27 GIs charged with mutiny at the Presidio of San Francisco in October 1968 and wrote a book about the case, ''The Unlawful Concert'', published by Viking in 1970 and reissued by Gryphon Press in 2005. In April 1970, Gardner worked as a stage manager for Free The Army (FTA) tour with actors

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...

and

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...

. This traveling road show for soldiers was meant to counter

shows put on by

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

. As a journalist in the 1970s, Gardner helped break the story that the US government was funding the spraying of

paraquat Paraquat (trivial name; ), or ''N'',''N''′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium dichloride (systematic name), also known as methyl viologen, is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H7N)2l2. It is classified as a viologen, a family of redox ...

by helicopter to defoliate Mexican marijuana fields. Farmers had been harvesting plants before the poison could work, selling it, and US consumers were inhaling paraquat-laced pot. Gardner also helped expose the hidden ownership of

Erhard Seminars Training Erhard Seminars Training (marketed as est, though often encountered as EST or Est) was an organization, founded by Werner Erhard in 1971, that offered a two-weekend (6-day, 60-hour) course known officially as "The est Standard Training". The semi ...

, and

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was an American soldier, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and r ...

’s strategy of marketing

Prozac Fluoxetine, sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem, among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorde ...

by publicizing the prevalence of

clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introdu ...

. In 1999, he foresaw and wrote about the medical and political significance of

cannabidiol Cannabidiol (CBD) is a phytocannabinoid discovered in 1940. It is one of 113 identified cannabinoids in cannabis plants, along with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and accounts for up to 40% of the plant's extract. , clinical research on CBD incl ...

(CBD), a non-psychoactive compound in cannabis that may have diverse medical benefits. O’Shaughnessy’s was launched by Gardner in 2003 at the urging of Tod Mikuriya, founder of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians. It is distributed by SCC doctors to their patients. An offshoot of O’Shaughnessy’s, Project CBD, expedited demand for and production of CBD-dominant cannabis in the U.S. Gardner is a frequent and long-time contributor to ''

CounterPunch ''CounterPunch'' is a left-wing online magazine. Content includes a free section published five days a week as well as a subscriber-only area called CounterPunch+, where original articles are published weekly. ''CounterPunch'' is based in the Unit ...

'' and the ''

Anderson Valley Advertiser The ''Anderson Valley Advertiser'' is a small weekly tabloid published in Anderson Valley, California. It was founded in 1955 as a local, community-based paper. The ''AVAs masthead features mottoes borrowed from the French Revolution and the Ind ...

''. Gardner lives in

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda (island), Alam ...

with his wife Marci. He has six sons and a daughter.

References

External links

Hollywood Confidential Part I

Society of Cannabis Clinicians website

O'Shaughnessy's Journal of Cannabis in Clinical Practice website

The Anderson Valley Advertiser
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Fred American cannabis activists American anti–Vietnam War activists Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area Harvard University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people

Biography

See Also

References

External links