Pothead

My Life as a Marijuana Addict in the Age of Legal Weed

By: Neal Pollack

Narrated by: Tim Paige

Length: 6 hrs

Publisher's summary

Beginning innocently enough in his 20s, Neal Pollack discovers that pot makes everything - food, music, sex - better. Getting married, having a kid, and enjoying professional success didn't tamp down Pollack's addiction. As cannabis grew stronger and more widely available, Pollack's dependence was shadowed by the expansion and acceptance of the marijuana Big Business.

By 2014, Neal was a correspondent for a national marijuana newspaper, mostly because it meant free pot. Diving into the wild, wicked world of weed with both lungs, Pollack proceeds to smoke, vape, and eat his way to oblivion, leading to terrible public meltdowns and other embarrassing behavior. After his mother dies in 2017, he spirals out of control, finally hitting rock bottom during a reckless two-day gambling and drug-filled binge, culminating in a public crack-up at the World Series in Dodger Stadium. Three weeks later, he quit.

Sober after joining a 12-step program, Neal outed himself publicly as a marijuana addict in a 2018 New York Times op-ed piece, leading to his decision to document his addiction experience as a cautionary tale for the millions of recreational users in the hazy age of legalized marijuana.

©2020 Neal Pollack (P)2020 Tantor

Relatable

Love listening to Pollack Great stories as always. I loved how he highlights pos and neg sides of weed.

Thanks for sharing!

There is some really important and useful information in this book if you are wondering about your own habit.

4.5 I disagree with bad reviews

Some reviews called this messy, disorganized, and selfish. While I can see why some might be put off by the nonchronological order of the book, it made perfect sense to me to categorize the impacts of addiction and recovery by the areas of life and relationships rather than by the years. The language used to describe the addiction was familiar to me and something that felt good to hear from someone else. I've been sober for 4 years now without a 12 step community so it felt nice to listen to another addict. Maybe it's time to find an MA meeting.

Thanks for sharing

I feel inhibited to write a real review, because in Marijuana Anonymous we mostly refrain from commenting when another member shares their story. This book is a lot like a much longer version of something you might hear at an MA speaker meeting - a member talking about their personal journey. Neal's story is pretty unusual in some specifics, but I also found a lot I could relate to. I was a little confused by the transition between his "bottom" and entering recovery - it seemed like there was no discussion of making the decision to try sobriety. Also I got a little confused because the story seemed to jump back and forth on the time line a little. Overall, it is great to see a prominent story about marijuana addiction and recovery because too many people (even some marijuana addicts) don't know that it is a real thing. Thanks for sharing Neal!

You are not going to like the author,but that is the point.

This is the life and times of a man with an addiction to cannabis, the so called harmless drug. It is true, Cannabis is a drug that you can use on a daily basis and get by in life, but you turn into a selfish P.O.S.. This is a message that is not expressed enough. Life with a stoner revolves around their next toke. The people around them will always have to take a back seat. Of course the stoner will not admit this. Ask friends and family and you will learn the truth of the affects of marijuana.

Finally! A groundbreaking memoir that exposes the the silent struggles of successful privileged white guy addicts.

As a white multi-decade pothead myself, I thought,
“Maybe I’ll relate to someone that could be a dad at my kid’s school.”
WRONG
The stakes never felt high. I was never worried he’d lose his wife, kids, job.
His well-told history of pot use, and when/how he got it and used it, the lengths he went to—all great detail.
But I felt no real sense of healing, full acceptance, a clear plan for lifelong recovery.
This is the only addiction memoir that did not show me, as much as tell me, that life was spinning out of control.
The writing is too good to believe that these experiences weren’t incredibly painful, but the feelings are never present in the retelling. 
Mr. Pollack they not have been ready to relive them on the page. That’s a fairly honest commentary on how difficult it is to let go of shame. Or acknowledge hubris.

The narrator is great at landing the dark comedic nuance. I laughed a lot. It made me really want weed. By the end of the book I was already on my way to a dispensary. I don’t think that was the author’s intent.

I look forward to a next-edition.

real

he's so honest you sometimes hate him but can also see yourself in him if you've ever been a w**d addict

i can relate

if you are a big addict/stoner this book is good. i liked it because I related to the author as well

Probably should have read the description first

I did listen to the whole book and it thoroughly enjoyed it. The time frames confused me at times but perhaps I wasn’t giving it my full attention at times. I am 22 years old and have been smoking pot since I was 12 about five days ago I decided to kick the habit and was looking for some inspiration while this was not exactly what I was looking for after listening to the whole thing it was definitely well worth listening to. hopefully I can avoid the same mistakes Neil made and kick substance abuse and adult media Content before I lose too much of my life to constantly trying to get stoned and fucking off relationships along the way. Thank you!

Leaves out all the important details

This could easily be titled “My Path to Relapse” because I just don’t think he’s done with all his addictions. That said, it’s a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks being a functional addict is a great life choice. But on the whole it was a shallow, narcissistic, disappointing listen. Also the narrator’s use of other voices (women, kids) for other people in the book was pretty bad.