Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco

In the 1970s, when cannabis was illegal, Alia Volz's mother ran Sticky Fingers Brownies, an underground bakery that produced ten thousand marijuana edibles per month for San Francisco during a period of significant social change, including the gay liberation movement and the tragedy of the Peoples Temple. Volz's parents operated in disguise, moving through the city with their products hidden in a stroller. When HIV/AIDS emerged in San Francisco during the 1980s, Volz's mother shifted from dealer to provider of edibles for those with the disease, contributing to the early development of medical marijuana. The memoir traces the family's experiences through this era, covering themes of love, loss, and belonging. Home Baked won the California Bookseller Association's Golden Poppy Award for Nonfiction and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography. The edition includes a reading group guide, author Q&A, and additional photographs.