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A review by daviddavidkatzman
Cannabis: A History by Martin Booth
4.0
Currently, 16 states and Washington, DC, have legalized marijuana for adults over the age of 21, and 36 states have legalized medical marijuana.
I have always found it absurd and ignorant that marijuana was/is illegal when alcohol was/is not. They are both intoxicants, and alcohol is far more dangerous. At a very basic level, alcohol for some individuals is physically addictive. Weed is not. Alcohol can also trigger violence in some people, while weed can trigger laziness and over-snacking. The first aspect is over-stated--while weed can make you feel lazy and chill, the right hit of the right breed, and marijuana can also induce bursts of creative thinking, activity and dare I say, laughter? Generally speaking, Indica strains induce relaxation and vegetation while Sativa can energize. As with anything...overdoing it is not recommended. Your lungs are organs, but so is your liver. Edibles and vaporizing can help reduce the negative effects of smoking. (Remember, there is no nicotine in marijuana.) Furthermore, alcohol has near-zero therapeutic effects. While weed can be used to reduce nausea such as that triggered by chemotherapy, it can provide pain relief for chronic pain sufferers, and it can reduce eye pressure for those with glaucoma. I sold marijuana for several years when I was an actor. One of my customers had stomach cancer, and it helped her pain. For the most part, though, I sold to people who just enjoyed getting high. Like I did. I still do occasionally, although not frequently. The biggest difference being that I can go down the block to a nice modern store, wait in line for five minutes, and then pick a strain based on a recommendation by the "budtender." And pay for it with my debit card. They even give you a proper receipt.
I remember the first time that I visited Amsterdam and dropped into a marijuana cafe. It was really kind of mind-blowing. The culture shock that comes from being an American and seeing weed as something clandestine. Something that has to remain secret because it's risky. You could get arrested for possession. And here, in the 'daam, you can sit down, order an espresso, pull out a notebook and draw or write while smoking a joint. You can go alone, bring a friend, or strike up a conversation with your neighbor. Some are very friendly social places. It was NO. BIG. DEAL. In fact, it was quite uplifting. It felt like I was being treated like an adult instead of being treated like a child by conservative ideology. Such a simple difference was an eye-opening experience for me that demonstrated social bias and how culture has the power to define morality in pursuit of social control. This system is aligned with sexism, racism, and the many other tools that frightened little men use to cling to their political power. Liberating us from marijuana laws certainly doesn't free us from the many other social controls, but it never hurts to take down another brick in the wall.
Cannabis: A History by Martin Booth is at times dry but had some very interesting content and kept my attention as a whole. The most fascinating parts were about methods of smuggling marijuana as well as the weed hysteria in the 1950s and 60s. I never realized how a great deal of the anti-marijuana sentiment was driven by racism. Weed smoking in the 50s was most common for Mexicans, Indians, and black Americans. It was seen as a corrupting vice that white women and teenagers needed to be protected from because it brought them into dangerous proximity to those other races and their out-of-control jazz music. There was even a period where it almost could have become legalized due to the numerous uses of hemp, a plant that is very good for the soil to grow. But fear of those non-whites drove hysteria about marijuana and kept prison sentences long and cruel. They were on par with heroin sentencing.
The only criticism I can aim at Cannabis: A History is that it wouldn't be any fun to read high.
I have always found it absurd and ignorant that marijuana was/is illegal when alcohol was/is not. They are both intoxicants, and alcohol is far more dangerous. At a very basic level, alcohol for some individuals is physically addictive. Weed is not. Alcohol can also trigger violence in some people, while weed can trigger laziness and over-snacking. The first aspect is over-stated--while weed can make you feel lazy and chill, the right hit of the right breed, and marijuana can also induce bursts of creative thinking, activity and dare I say, laughter? Generally speaking, Indica strains induce relaxation and vegetation while Sativa can energize. As with anything...overdoing it is not recommended. Your lungs are organs, but so is your liver. Edibles and vaporizing can help reduce the negative effects of smoking. (Remember, there is no nicotine in marijuana.) Furthermore, alcohol has near-zero therapeutic effects. While weed can be used to reduce nausea such as that triggered by chemotherapy, it can provide pain relief for chronic pain sufferers, and it can reduce eye pressure for those with glaucoma. I sold marijuana for several years when I was an actor. One of my customers had stomach cancer, and it helped her pain. For the most part, though, I sold to people who just enjoyed getting high. Like I did. I still do occasionally, although not frequently. The biggest difference being that I can go down the block to a nice modern store, wait in line for five minutes, and then pick a strain based on a recommendation by the "budtender." And pay for it with my debit card. They even give you a proper receipt.
I remember the first time that I visited Amsterdam and dropped into a marijuana cafe. It was really kind of mind-blowing. The culture shock that comes from being an American and seeing weed as something clandestine. Something that has to remain secret because it's risky. You could get arrested for possession. And here, in the 'daam, you can sit down, order an espresso, pull out a notebook and draw or write while smoking a joint. You can go alone, bring a friend, or strike up a conversation with your neighbor. Some are very friendly social places. It was NO. BIG. DEAL. In fact, it was quite uplifting. It felt like I was being treated like an adult instead of being treated like a child by conservative ideology. Such a simple difference was an eye-opening experience for me that demonstrated social bias and how culture has the power to define morality in pursuit of social control. This system is aligned with sexism, racism, and the many other tools that frightened little men use to cling to their political power. Liberating us from marijuana laws certainly doesn't free us from the many other social controls, but it never hurts to take down another brick in the wall.
Cannabis: A History by Martin Booth is at times dry
The only criticism I can aim at Cannabis: A History is that it wouldn't be any fun to read high.