Product Description

To some it's the "Holy Herb", the healer of nations, the potential saviour of the planet, banned because of a conspiracy involving J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, the petrochemical industry and the yellow press. Others still see it as the deceptive weed that undermined Arab civilization. For millions of others in the west it's no longer even controversial - legalized for many patients under American state laws, tolerated in Holland, and openly planted in hundreds of acres of Swiss Alps. But what do we really know about cannabis? Why does it make you stoned? Does it kill off brain cells? Why do different kinds of weed have different effects? In this book, the author returns to the Rizla-strewn world he knew before becoming an award-winning wine writer and finds that researchers have unravelled the complexities of this plant, uncovering in the process much of the chemistry of our minds and emotions. And, as well as scientists, the author meets a mixture of characters - the connoisseurs, criminals and cultivators, both in the UK and in the Third World, who together make up our new cannabis culture. The book features sections on Holland, Morocco and the United States, and argues that weed is now an important symbol of Britain's multi-racial culture.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #455247 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 254 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Most books about Cannabis tend to fall into two camps. There are the stoned travel ramblings of the super-enthusiast. And then there are the DIY guides, available mostly in 'head shops', consisting of lovingly illustrated pamphlets showing you how to turn your upstairs toilet into a hydroponic hash farm grossing two hundred grand a year. Despite a deep-rooted affection for his subject matter, Patrick Matthews Cannabis Culture: a Journey Through Disputed Territory is about as far from the typical dope book as a hand-rubbed Nepalese temple ball is from a lump of industrial grade Moroccan. With its highly readable prose and artful mixing of historic, legal, medical, scientific and social evidence, alongside considerable chunks of personal anecdote, Cannabis Culture offers a sophisticated multi- dimensional take on the subject of the world's favourite illegal recreational drug.

Matthews makes two important contributions to the debate on Cannabis. First, as befits a wine writer (Matthews is author of the award- winning wine book The Wild Bunch: Great Wines from Small Producers), he introduces the notion of cannabis connoisseurship. Cannabis has a "set of expectations, a way of talking about the experience, the rituals of sharing joints and an idea of how to get stoned and how to behave when stoned, all of which matter," he writes.

The difference from wine is that there connoisseurship is about taste because that is where the chemical complexity lies. With cannabis the opportunity for discernment lies in the effect because it contains over 60 different psycho-active compounds. He also argues that we should develop cannabis culture, not repress it. His point being that the best way to control abuse and overuse of any drug is through ritual and the evolution of social norms, not through legislation. He points to the way that alcohol damaged American Indian culture because it had no social context. And he slates drinks firms who are "aggressively keen to demystify what they sell--stripping it in effect of the ritual which helps limit its potential for harm. "

Although this is obviously a book for enthusiasts, it will also make an invaluable and informative read for worried parents, agents of the law and legislators, all of whom tend to be hopelessly ignorant when it comes to what cockneys call "Bob Hope" (dope). --Alex Benady

From the Inside Flap
FULLY UPDATED EDITION

‘Excellent … A thorough portrait of an entire socio-cultural phenomenon … intelligent and wide-ranging … Impressive and wholly readable’ Observer

One of the biggest changes of recent years has been the new respectability of cannabis. In most countries it remains a serious offence to deal in this mind-altering plant, but its use has now been effectively decriminalized in Britain, and many younger people see it as no more controversial than alcohol or coffee.

Patrick Matthews, an award winning wine writer, takes a multi-layered look at the debate whose terms have changed in favour of greater tolerance. He meets scientists, connoisseurs, criminals and cultivators on a journey that takes him through 3,000 years of history and from Morocco’s Rif mountains and Amsterdam’s Cannabis Cup to New Scotland Yard and Westminster’s corridors of power. This updated edition reflects the new realities of modern cannabis culture – now more relevant than ever.

‘Hilarious and enlightening … The leaden-minded hypocrites who refuse to countenance even a discussion on researching the plant’s medicinal uses should read this. Even if they don’t inhale’ Big Issue

His findings are far more clear-headed than those of the law-makers and campaigners who claim cannabis muddles the mind’ Independent on Sunday

‘Hugely enjoyable … Matthews gives an intelligent insight into a culture poised at the crossroads of assimilation and protracted criminality’ Times Literary Supplement

‘Full of delicious factoids for stoned conversation … Matthews approached dope-hash-weed-herb-blow-grass-ganja in a connoisseurial manner’ Independent

About the Author
Patrick Matthews is a freelance writer and journalist. He has contributed to numerous publications, including the INDEPENDENT, the MAIL ON SUNDAY, the GUARDIAN and TIME OUT. He won the 'Wines from France 1995 Premier Cru' award for wine writing and won the Glenfiddich award for his book THE WILD BUNCH: GREAT WINES FROM SMALL PRODUCERS in 1998. He is also a television producer and director, with credits on THE LATE SHOW, ARENA FOOD NIGHT and FOOD AND DRINK.

Customer Reviews

A breath of fresh air in a smoky room
This is a work in keeping with the best traditions of travel writing, objective, unbiased and fascinating in its simplicity. The reader is guided through the world of marijuana and allowed to arrive at his or her own conclusions, there are refreshingly few value judgements, and no school of thought is judged to be beyond the pail. Patrick Mathews deserves much credit for attempting to remain impartial, and it is that objectivity which is most engaging. Not all dope smokers are part of the murky sub class of criminals that might deserve imprisonment, equally not all those opposed to the legalisation lobby are foaming at the mouth reactionaries. The reason then that so many are able to disagree so fundamentally has more to do with a lack of informed and dispassionate discussion than it does peoples intrinsic ability to disagree, for that reason if for no other Mathews attempt to present facts over opinions is to be commended. I wonder how many from each camp were forced to reconsider their pre-conceptions as a result, I'm sure I was.

I found his handling of the various conspiracy theories, which allege that hemp was prohibited due to its competing with the other industries of the day, to be concise enough. Moreover they showed a flair for historic analysis of texts which would put many mainstream historians to shame. Mathews meets and introduces the readers to a whole host of fascinating characters, and tries to demystify a subject which is so commonly too charged by opinion to discuss properly, and does a thoroughly entertaining job of it. I enjoyed it immensely and can only recommend it.

Something for everybody, but hard going in places.
I have heard much of this book, and was intrigued to find out for myself what all the hype was about. I have to say that the information contained within the book appears very comprehensive and meticulously researched, however without already possessing an in depth knowledge of the subject at hand it would be hard to quantify what is said without much further research, hence my use of the word appears. A lot of the books content comes from interviews and takes the form of direct quotation from the interviewee.

On the language of the writing I would say that this book doesn't exactly flow, the grammar is in places quite difficult to follow. I found myself reading and rereading sentences to fully understand and take them in. If you are accustomed to study and find yourself able to easily digest educational text then you will have no trouble reading this book. If on the other hand you are a reader mainly of novels you may find this book quite hard going. The book contains a huge amount of factual information that doesn't exactly inspire, but the subject matter at hand more than makes up for it.

I have to say that besides the broken nature of the book, with its factual quotations and jumpy subject matter, I was unable to put the book down and do something else if reading the book was possible at the time. I found myself reading it in queues, traffic jams and even the toilet!!

To summarise, it is my opinion that this book has a something for everybody, requires a bit of devoted reading to fully comprehend it, but gives a lot in return for the effort needed to read it properly. The book stays for the best part neutral, although to stay neutral in such a subject is damn near impossible, so it is probably better to say the book sticks to the facts and the facts speak for themselves.

Lastly this book also gives a lot of references to further essential reading for anybody who would like to extend their knowledge of this subject, and or speak on it's behalf with authority and credibility.

top book, read it.
i've smoked for many years now and was given a copy of this book. it's very infomative and interesting and very well written. but not much use if you want growing tips.