Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana - Medical, Recreational, and Scientific

Well researched. Interesting and emotion enducing content. Speaks the truth. Does it make me angry at our government? Yes.

Yes

No

Just brought frustration and resentment.

As someone who is really close to this issue, and fairly well informed on the subject, I might be more critical than someone with less information. My rating is really 3.5 stars, but with Audible not having the in-between option, I could not justify giving it four stars.

My main complaint about the book is the way that the information is presented. The case the author is making is strong enough that he didn't have to go down the road of making his contempt for the opposition so blatant. The facts about cannabis are so overwhelmingly in his favor that he would have been better off going out of his way to be fair instead of so obviously allowing his politics and philosophical views to bleed into the text. History is an examination of the facts as they are available, not telling a story with good guys and bad guys. Don't get me wrong, I'm on his side on almost every issue covered, I just got sick of hearing him pick apart every criticism leveled at pot and pot smokers, indignant at the lack of fairness, and then turn around and paint his opponents with a broad brush, even resorting to name calling and mockery, over and over again. It sounded more like a speech being delivered to a friendly audience at hempfest to rally the troops than a book for the general public. I kept expecting him to break out the Pom poms and lead a cheer for the almighty weed.

Nick Pohdel is a competent narrator, he's steady, clear and I only noticed one mispronounciation. I'm not sure he was the right choice for this book, however. Pohdel's reading can sometimes make Lee's writing sound preachy or indignant when it doesn't have to. His stiff, overly serious sounding style and dorky, white guy accent prevented the humor and lightheartedness of the writing from coming through.

All this being said, there's a lot of good information here. A lot of it was covered in Jack Herer's "The Emperor Wears No Cloths", but the later chapters provide a good crash course in what has taken place in the last twenty years. Political events are important, and he covers all of the big ones, but I would like to hear more about the cultural and economic aspects of the story that were not political in nature. Still, for a person who has not read a whole lot on the subject, this book has a lot to offer.

This book literally blew me away. I listened to an interview between Lee and Terry Gross and was impressed by Lee's nuanced answers. History buffs, alternative medicine seekers, law makers, civilians, pot heads, the sick, Republicans and Democrats, old and young alike will find so much to love about this book. I gave the hard copy to not one, not two, but three family members this holidays season, all of whom are as diverse as they come.
The history behind marijuana is well researched and the most complete I've ever come across, in terms of time and geography. The footnoted research done with medical journals is unlike any I've come across in the past and the reverence for the sacred use is refreshingly un-sappy.
I've learned so much from this book and hope you will too.

No "refer madness" here, just a well researched, comprehensive, reality based breath of fresh air that has been long over due.

Too many to list.

This is a must read.