SMOKE THIS BOOK!

How-to-grow books aside, movies about pot are far more common than
marijuana literature. But if you're more a reader than a watcher, here's a
few dope titles worth tracking down.

Baked Potatoes: A Pot Smoker's Guide to Film and Video by John Hulme &
Michael Wexler (Delta, 1996)

Imagine if Roger Ebert got stoned and wrote his own movie guide, complete
with categories like "Bad Seeds," "Unsung Heroes" and "Risky Calls." Comes
with a zero-to-five pot leaf rating system for more than 150 films. Almost
funnier to read than it is to use.

Pot Planet: Adventures in Global Marijuana Culture by Brian Preston (St.
Martin's, 2002)

B.C. writer Preston travels from the Cannabis Cup in Vancouver through
Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Thailand, Australia, Holland, Switzerland, Spain,
Morocco, England and even the USA, doing what most writers do--smoking and
writing. The difference is, Preston has chosen to write about what he's
smoking.

The Emperor Wears No Clothes: The Authoritative Historical Record of
Cannabis and the Conspiracy Against Marijuana by Jack Herer (AH HA, 2000)

"The book that inspired the modern hemp revolution and marijuana movement,"
says Cannabis Culture editor Dana Larsen, and who are we to argue?

Paradise Burning: Adventures of a High Times Journalist by Chris Simunek
(Griffin, 1998)

Man, is this a dream assignment or what? Flash your High Times press pass
and get into some deep smoke. Like, wow. I'll take a hit of that.

Loaded: A Misadventure on the Marijuana Trail by Robert Sabbag (Little
Brown, 2002)

The same guy responsible for the cocaine classic Snowblind takes us back to
those heady days of the '70s, when the Doobie Brothers were hip and there
was more pot coming from Colombia than Canada. Thank god for Free Trade.

The Joint Rolling Handbook by Liz McBeth (Bobcat Press, 1997)

Sixty-four pages on how to roll joints? Get busy! Too bad it doesn't come
with a sample pack.

- --J.T.