Fact: There are as many Marijuana smokers in the US today as there are cigarette smokers. The use of cannabis for medical purposes is legal in 33 states, plus the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the District of Columbia. Ten States (plus DC and several countries) have legalized recreational marijuana. The question is: If you are a Parent or Teen, how does marijuana affect your life? The Cannabis Craze: A Practical Guide for Parents and Teens is the first book to address teen marijuana use in a straight-forward and useful manner offering parents and teens options for being "smart" about a controversial subject. Written in short vignettes, The Cannabis Craze neither promotes nor dismisses teen marijuana use. Rather, the book examines ways to navigate the potential dangers and traps of smoking marijuana. Written for Teens who are either considering smoking pot or already smoking and Parents who are wondering what to do and how to cope, The Cannabis Craze is a no-nonsense resource guide focusing on harm-reduction and minimizing risks. The book covers a range of subjects associated with teen marijuana use, from peer pressure and addiction to pot-smoking parents. The book also tackles a unique truth: statistics have shown "just saying no to drugs" is not effective for most teens. If an adolescent chooses to smoke marijuana, and his or her mind is made-up, it is almost impossible to stop them. If this is true, there is a need for parents and teens to be skillful about the subject. This means, knowing how to dialogue as effectively as possible and keeping the lines of communication open. If we cannot stop our teens from smoking pot, we can at least offer options for being smart: practice making good choices, communicating honestly, and exploring self-knowledge. For Teens, The Cannabis Craze explores a myriad of issues that may be difficult to talk about, like Why Start?," "Secrets and Lies," and "Who am I?" For parents, the book offers insight into the challenges teens face with marijuana use and what a "good enough" parent looks like. "A Mental Health Counselor, Aronoff makes it clear from the beginning, that his purpose is neither to promote nor discourage marijuana use. Instead, he offers tips to teens on how to be a 'smart' consumer and guidelines for making informed decisions regarding relationships, goals, and personal habits." School Library Journal Marc Aronoff, MA, is a free-lance writer and Licensed Mental Health Counselor with over 25 years experience working with teens and youth at risk. He is Executive Director of The Berkshire Project, Inc. and has published various feature articles in local and national magazines. As a playwright, he is the winner of the 2017 Arts and Letters Competition in Drama. Contact: Marc Aronoff on 413-358-5755 or visit us at www.thecannabiscraze.com

In this book the author, an investigative journalist, traces the social history of marijuana from its origins to its emergence in the 1960s as a defining force in an ongoing culture war. He describes how the illicit marijuana subculture overcame government opposition and morphed into a multibillion-dollar industry. In 1996, Californians voted to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Similar laws have followed in several other states, but not without antagonistic responses from federal, state, and local law enforcement. The author draws attention to underreported scientific breakthroughs that are reshaping the therapeutic landscape: medical researchers have developed promising treatments for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes, chronic pain, and many other conditions that are beyond the reach of conventional cures. This book is an examination of the medical, recreational, scientific, and economic dimensions of the world's most controversial plant.

How the future of post-legalization marijuana farming can be sustainable, local, and artisanal. What will the marijuana industry look like as legalization spreads? Will corporations sweep in and create Big Marijuana, flooding the market with mass-produced weed? Or will marijuana agriculture stay true to its roots in family farming, and reflect a sustainable, local, and artisanal ethic? In Craft Weed, Ryan Stoa argues that the future of the marijuana industry should be powered by small farms—that its model should be more craft beer than Anheuser-Busch. To make his case for craft weed, Stoa interviews veteran and novice marijuana growers, politicians, activists, and investors. He provides a history of marijuana farming and its post-hippie resurgence in the United States. He reports on the amazing adaptability of the cannabis plant and its genetic gifts, the legalization movement, regulatory efforts, the tradeoffs of indoor versus outdoor farms, and the environmental impacts of marijuana agriculture. To protect and promote small farmers and their communities, Stoa proposes a Marijuana Appellation system, modeled after the wine industry, which would provide a certified designation of origin to local crops. A sustainable, local, and artisanal farming model is not an inevitable future for the marijuana industry, but Craft Weed makes clear that marijuana legalization has the potential to revitalize rural communities and the American family farm. As the era of marijuana prohibition comes to an end, now is the time to think about what kind of marijuana industry and marijuana agriculture we want. Craft Weed will help us plan for a future that is almost here.

Six years in the making, Drug Crazy offers a gripping account of the stunning violence, corruption, and chaos that have characterized America's drug war since its inception in 1914. Weaving a provocative analogy between the drug scene today and the failure of Prohibition in the 1920s, Drug Crazy argues that the greatest danger we face is prohibition itself. While the target of our nation's controlled-substance laws may have shifted from hooch to heroin, the impact on society--discriminatory policing, demonization of the users, graft and grandstanding among lawmakers and lawbreakers--is an instant replay. Instead of Al Capone, we have Larry Hoover of Chicago's Gangster Disciples running a multimillion-dollar drug syndicate from his prison cell in Joliet. In a riveting account of how we got here, conventional wisdom is turned on its head, and we find that rather than a planned assault on the scourge of addiction, the drug war happened almost by accident but has been continually exploited by political opportunists. From the explosive opening montage of undercover cops caught in a shoot-out on Chicago's South Side to a humid courtroom in Malaysia where a young American faced death by hanging for possession of marijuana, Drug Crazy takes us to the front lines of the war on drugs and introduces us to a cast of villains and heroes, profiteers and victims. Among them: ¸ Pauline Morton Sabin, a Republican aristocrat who administered the coup de grâce to Prohibition by leading a million women into the arms of the Democrats. ¸ Harry Anslinger, a former railroad cop who guided the Bureau of Narcotics through five administrations and engineered some of the most enduring and pernicious myths of the drug war. ¸ Pablo Escobar Gaviria, the Colombian kingpin who nailed a suspected informer with a bomb--killing him along with a hundred innocent airline passengers. From the men and women in the forward trenches, Drug Crazy brings back a grim report: The situation is deteriorating on all fronts. In a sobering tally of the cost in crime, human suffering, and cold, hard cash, it documents the failure of crop eradication in the source countries, the hopeless task of sealing the border, and the violent world of the major players. We see the steady erosion of the Bill of Rights and a grinding criminal justice mill so overwhelmed that it's running a night shift. We do, however, get a glimpse of a way out of this swamp. Lessons from Europe--and from our own experience--are pointing us toward higher ground. In Drug Crazy, Mike Gray has launched a frontal assault on America's drug war orthodoxy, and his frightening overview of the battlefield makes it clear this urgent debate must begin now.

An uncomplicated guide to growing the world's finest cannabis.

A handbook for understanding and using marijuana, written just for women--whether they're using it for medicinal relief or for pleasure. This book is like having a knowledgeable salesperson across the counter at a dispensary who can hand-sell you a product to fit your mood and tastes--because author Nikki Furrer is that person as a producer and distributor of marijuana products to dispensaries. The book answers the questions that Nikki receives from women every week.

Of all the plants men have ever grown, none has been praised and denounced as often as marihuana (Cannabis sativa). Throughout the ages, marihuana has been extolled as one of man's greatest benefactors and cursed as one of his greatest scourges. Marihuana is undoubtedly a herb that has been many things to many people. Armies and navies have used it to make war, men and women to make love. Hunters and fishermen have snared the most ferocious creatures, from the tiger to the shark, in its herculean weave. Fashion designers have dressed the most elegant women in its supple knit. Hangmen have snapped the necks of thieves and murderers with its fiber. Obstetricians have eased the pain of childbirth with its leaves. Farmers have crushed its seeds and used the oil within to light their lamps. Mourners have thrown its seeds into blazing fires and have had their sorrow transformed into blissful ecstasy by the fumes that filled the air. Marihuana has been known by many names: hemp, hashish, dagga, bhang, loco weed, grass-the list is endless. Formally christened Cannabis sativa in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus, marihuana is one of nature's hardiest specimens. It needs little care to thrive. One need not talk to it, sing to it, or play soothing tranquil Brahms lullabies to coax it to grow. It is as vigorous as a weed. It is ubiquitous. It fluorishes under nearly every possible climatic condition.