It was one thousand nine hundred and sixty nine in Milwaukee WI at and I was a flower child, the real deal and my cousin's wife and their six month old baby, we're staying with me and he sent her a package in the mail that contained pot. For her to sell and get a plane ticket or bus ticket back. This is Mary Volts one thousand nine hundred and sixty nine. She was twenty one years old and, like she said, a big hippie really into pod. Her cozen was also a big hippie living in Berkeley and he'd mailed four pounds of pot to his wife Patricia, but he didn't address the package to her. That was too risky, so he addressed the package to his own baby, Merite drove but

Trisha and the baby to the post office to pick it up, my cousins wife went in got the package from the post office and when she came out to the car, where I was waiting, she offered me either the baby or the package, and I took the package and We were surrounded by vice squad with guns drawn and I also had three joints for roaches in two seeds in my purse

they were taken into custody in Strip searched a police officer placed the package in front of minorities and told her to open it. She looked down at the package and then back up at the officer and said I can open. That is not addressed to me, and so I refused because it wasn't addressed to me, but you knew what was inside. I guess that the package was in a dress to me, so it didn't seem like I should know in the package. That's pretty clever right. That would have been a federal offense right there, and so I refused and he ended up opening the package himself. Their mug. Shots were printed in the Milwaukee journal. The next morning. Under the headline mail contains drug young women seized in the mug shots. Her cousins, wife is smiling, merit,

is not you think that that wouldn't be front page news, It was in Milwaukee and it is a felony one thousand nine hundred and sixty nine. There was a all different feeling in the air about people who used pot their bond He said it two hundred and fifty dollars and when they did go to trial, though lawyer argued that it was illegal for the police officer to open the package, because it was addressed to someone else, even though that someone else was a little baby according to the trial transcripts. The judge said quote I don't buy that by Golly, but in the end it worked case against the two women was dismissed, she was warned that the police will be watching her very closely and so Merridy left Wisconsinan moved to San Francisco and I smell western girl. No one would expect to become

a serious marijuana distributor, they called her the original brownie lady I'm Phoebe judge. This is criminal. At the time that I decided to move to San Francisco, I was writing and illustrating children's books for the Rockefeller Foundation. I had a pretty good. Before the old going when I'm at this woman named Sherry and she had a little business on Fisherman's warf, where she would bring coffee to the lottery in the morning, the street artist on Fisherman's wharf. At that time, had a lottery in the morning for the spots where they would go and set up and sell 'cause. It wasn't enough

parts for all the street artists and she would bring coffee a bigger, nerf, coffee and she baked, brands like pumpkin bread and an different sorts of, bread, and then she had just one dozen pot brownies that she had and a special bag. And I happened that day to be working on a painting and decided to do a. Little bit of lsd at the time. I remember I was a full on happy. And she called me while tripping and said I wanna give you my business now at that time and still is very much into the Yichang, which is the chinese book of changes. And what that is is a book is a method.

Of throwing coins and asking questions and consulting the occult and consulting the Oracle. So at the time I recall that day being very trip, the Howard and toss the hexagram and it was supreme good fortune to do it, and that was where the brownie business was born, problem was Merridy, knew a lot about pot, but she wasn't much of a baker and and in early attempt. She forgot. A key ingredient fly, and so we were left with a pan of just like liquid brownie and I call is sitting with her feet up looking at this span of liquid brownie, an kind of looking at you know, taking it just the batter and- and unto our fingers and just looking it up and pretty soon. We were way too high

and we realize that, how to make a good brownie the key to making a good brownie was under cooking the brownies. Why? Because you don't overcook the pot that's in it that's in the key which is in the brownie guy clarified butter, and you cook it with the pot. You want to get hot, but not too high. And more merit. He was sitting there with brownie batter all over her fingers. She had a breakthrough, she'd undercook, her brownies and call the business sticky. Fingers so tell me the difference between eating pot and smoking pot. It's a real different! I eating hot? You digest it and in your stomach, and it is just stronger, it's a different, it's a different kind of high and it's also easy to eat too much like it's lit. A bit difficult to gauge how much is in a Dallas

So there were many many stories over the years that began with I ate the whole thing and then dot dot. Dot happened because we would recommend a quarter at a time to split it in for, but at that time it was kind of a crapshoot Everyone wanted what she was selling and she was making a lot of money. She fell in love, got married and had a baby. They moved into Four thousand square foot warehouse in the mission that would become the sticky fingers headquarters you were all living in there with the ovens and the hot and one Evan. We had one little Wedgewood oven. One little Antique Wedgewood Oven would two shelves on it: teeny shelves on it and that's where all the brownies K

from it was pretty unbelievable how we didn't use, but what we did use was leaf, and so that was discussed that was disposed. All for all the pot growers, and so we could buy it at a very slow, all price or be given it, even because they wanted to get rid of it. That's a pretty good business model. It was great and every week we designed our own brownie bags and We do a pen and ink graphic on it every week and it be political or spiritual, seems or personal themes, and people collected the back eggs, and so every week there was another another piece of art that went out there and and we went out to sell the brownies weed. Justin, elaborate, costumes and um call

fall outfits and we began to photograph ourselves Before we went out to sell so that there the photo history of what we call the brownie bucks how we looked when we went out to do this, and there was SIRI about not tiptoeing around and sneaking and try to be low profile, there was something very, very safe and being extremely high profile. When did you become aware of what your mother did for a living? from probably from the moment I opened my eyes or started: breathing meridies, daughter, Alia Volts, I was often in the stroller when my mom would go out and do her runs, and I was part of it and the customers were the customers fa

and over me, and we're very sweet to me, and I and I loved a lot of them I can say that for me is the most charged, sensory memory. You know, I think we all have smell right or certain sound that'll. Take you right back to babyhood right back to your mom's arms and for me, however, small pot cooking, especially if I happen to small pot cooking with chocolate. It takes me right back to baby they would be fun Friday mornings. Thousands of oh nice. At a time. I think we did the math at one point and it was approximately twenty five hundred brownies in a weekend baked in about a twenty. Our period and then distributed over the weekend, so upwards of ten, as in brownies a month. This is, and

Seventy eight and seventy nine when sticky fingers was really going, and that was a huge process. The the warehouse or whatever kitchen would be absolutely billowing with green dust. Green dust would get into everything else get into your ears. It would get into your nose debt right. He had to be dry. I did in the oven first because it It was moist, it wouldn't break down. You know you couldn't turn. The idea was to turn it into a dust pretty much a dust and then that dust would be cooked, measured and cooked into butter and and then chocolate also in a double boiler was melted and then the two were merged with eggs in sugar and flour and poured into pan so we could make eight dozen. At a time and once the

is cooled. They had to be cut and then they had to be individually wrapped. They were making enough money to support three families with money leftover to travel to Europe. Were there a lot of women running pot businesses in the 70s? were you a pioneer, I think, pioneer only brownie business, edible business. We were written up in great ladies of San Francisco, there is a book and the great books of hashish where my my baby picture. Baby picture of me standing next to a pot, a pan of brownies that ran in the great books of hashish. Did you ever resent it. I don't think so, no uhm! No because I don't. I don't think that it that it took anything away from me.

As I got a little older, I was taught that I couldn't tell other children or other people what my parents did for a living and that it's made for awkward moments and in show and tell, but I always said that my parents were artists, which is true, just not the whole truth, but I was taught from a very young age that what the consequences might be. If anyone found out what my parents did. So I did learn to keep that secret and I don't I don't think I ever spilled it uh. That's all that's kind of a lot for a little kid to have to. Hold on to the you know. If this comes out them, my parents are going to maybe go away. I suppose so I suppose so at the same

time, they were so confident that they wouldn't get busted that I think that trickle down my parents were not living in fear and therefore for, I didn't, feel threatened. I knew that I had to play by certain rules, and I understood that from a very young age, but I believe that I felt as long as I did that that we would be safe. It's only in retrospect, as as an adult that I become aware of what the consequences might have been which, of course, were very serious, I could have lost my family. It never happened. Fortunately, Wall Merridy never go caught the culture was changing around her Harvey milk was assassinated, nine hundred people died at Jonestown and remember,

Mariti was a woman who took very seriously that ancient chinese text, the Chang when you consult the hexagrams of the e Qing, you ask a question: it's a dead. Do you make a decision? And so even though Merridy was a huge success, really is celebrity. She began to worry eventually, the business which was really rolling. It was really big. It was maxed out, it was more the We could even do and Hexagram started to not look good because remember the teaching was a silent partner right from the beginning and hexagrams, which were talking about misfortune and you eventually, AIDS hit the city and then everything changed and it just peep all you know you see him one day and the next day they have. You know karpos

the sarcoma in the face, and then the following week. They were in the hospital and then they were dead and it it really literally swept the city. It was a sweep very, very sad. It must have been horribly said it was horribly. Sand was tragic, and the Brown the brownie served a different purpose at that time because of increased appetite and help people sleep who are sick, You know with one way of elevating the depression, Incredibles Pression you know people losing everybody and you get one guy. The survivor, you know of a whole group, it just was terribly sad, and so it. It just seemed if I look back at that time, there's a whole wall.

Wash over the whole thing of sadness and the brownies just gave a little comfort, I think, but the whole charm in our Chan. You know magic. That was in the business from the beginning, with the costumes in the all of it just kind of when to maybe being a I'm and it was very, very different after AIDS hit the city she shut sticky fingers down in nineteen. Seventy nine a move, your family to Northern California an area known as the emerald triangle, because it's the law We just marijuana producing region in the United States when we, half the city and went up north eventually it seemed like a good idea to come down

on once a month with a little batch of brownies, and that was nice. 'cause could make just a little Little bit of pocket change and then go back up north and be in the country, and eventually you know that phased out in my life went on without the Brown when, when you've seen part b legal, and are you have seen over this time of something that was vilified in the beginning of of your whole career? Here you, you know for felony charge and now

today pot is everywhere. I mean their shops answers in terms as well all over it's becoming incredibly well accepted. What's what has it been like for you to watch this whole thing evolve. It's about time! That's what I say it's about time that that you know that is accessible for people. You know it's just it's yeah! Isn't that's what I have to say about that. It's really about time. Is past time you know, but I was glad to have had that in my life is certainly colorful and I love color. What do you make of the argument that it's dangerous bowl? I say ball to that yeah, it's not a

address, there's so many other things. If you ask me that are dangerous right now and so so small to be such a huge issue. Really, do you still smoke? I I do edibles in particular, when I paint I and smoke because my lungs yeah, my most. Seventy, my lungs are not quite what they used to be, so I protect that and occasionally could, occasionally do a little. If somebody has a vapor, I'm vaporizer, maybe or when I paint I love to do a little animal. And put on my music and paint

when word got around that the original Brownie lady was getting out of the business and leaving San Francisco. She says A lot of people tried to buy her recipe. She wouldn't sell in She baked one last batch and printed the recipe right there on the bag for all to see below the rest. It says power to the people and John TOP in big letters. She wrote, give it up and you get it all criminal is produced by Lawrencepur and me by Rob Byers, Alice Wilder Andres Henry Julian Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of criminal. You can see them at this is criminal dot, com, criminal,

recorded in the studios of North Carolina public Radio, W Unc were a proud man of radiotopia from Prx a collective of the fourteen bus podcasts around. We couldn't make the show with others sort of our sponsors. If you like to learn more about sponsoring criminal. You can email sponsor at radiotopia, DOT, fm and thanks to add Zirc for providing their ad serving platform to radio Topia radio topia from Prx is supported by the Knight Foundation and Mailchimp, celebrating creativity, chaos and teamwork. I'm Phoebe Judge this is criminal.

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