7 Must-Read Books About Marijuana To Check Out
The marijuana industry in the United States is expected to make 11 billion dollars in sales in 2018, so it’s safe to say that this magnificent plant has become fully mainstream.
As the weed market has expanded, so too has the market for its companion products. No, I’m not talking pipes or bongs, I’m talking books – the best drug-free mind-altering substance in existence.
After all, what goes better with a fat, hearty joint than good books about marijuana?
The 7 Best Books About Marijuana
The literary scene for books about marijuana has exploded, but before you go aimlessly sifting through the botanical section of your local Barnes & Noble, check out these seven books about marijuana.
1. Big Weed: An Entrepreneur’s High-Stakes Adventures in the Budding Legal Marijuana Business
Big Weed, by Christian Hageseth is a memoir of sorts about Mr. Hageseth’s entrepreneurial career through the now-legal marijuana industry.
This book starts you off at the beginning of his career, with the founding of his marijuana company Green Man Cannabis, and takes you through all social and legal obstacles that come with starting a career in cannabis.
Hageseth then speculates about the future of the industry. He believes the industry will be carved out into two categories, artisanal weed, and mass-market weed.
Much like the beer industry in the U.S. there will be weed brands that will cater to those looking for a more nuanced pot-smoking experience with the finest ingredients available. Then there will be marijuana-version of Bud Light or Coors, brands that aim to produce as much cannabis as possible into everyone’s lungs.
Hageseth drops nuggets of wisdom throughout the book that will be invaluable for anyone trying to carve a lane in the industry in the future.
2. Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market
Reefer Madness, by Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation) was a classic when it came out in 2004, and it’s still worth reading today.
In this book, Schlosser takes you through not just the weed’s illegal black market (remember this is 2004), but through America’s black market as a whole. Schlosser asserts that pot, porn, and illegal immigrants are the three wheels that keep the whole thing turning. It’s an enthralling read for anyone interested in the Prohibition Era of pot.
3. Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower’s Bible
This book, by Jorge Cervantes is like the Farmer’s Almanac for potheads. With 512 full-color pages, and over 1120 pictures and diagrams, Marijuana Horticulture contains everything an aspiring marijuana grower would need to know about growing healthy hemp and dank weed.
Whether you want to grow indoors or outdoors, Sativa or Indica, this book with over 300 different contributors has essential knowledge for you.
4. The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook
For years, High Times Magazine has been a trusted name in the cannabis community. Their official cookbook, which should serve as the definitive guide to cooking with marijuana, serves only to bolster that glorious reputation.
Their cookbook is chock-full of simple, delicious recipes that even a monkey could make. It contains recipes on how to make anything from pumpkin pie to shrimp spring rolls, and even some weed-infused cocktails to break out at your next dinner party.
Your favorite stoner celebrities, like Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson, and Cheech and Chong serve as the inspiration for many of the book’s recipes.
5. The Secret Life of Plants: a Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Relations Between Plants and Man
This book isn’t explicitly about marijuana but instead takes the broad view. The Secret Life of Plants, by Peter Tompkins explores the history humanity’s relationship to plants as well the history of scientific research regarding plants.
The scientific experiments Tompkins highlights in this book come to some astounding conclusions that will change the way you look at marijuana and plants altogether.
For example, a study highlighted in this suggests that sending words of love to a plant can actually help it grow. It also discusses how the use of commercial pesticides in our agriculture has permanently changed the DNA of both humans and plants.
It’s the perfect book to get stoned to.
6. Cannabis: A History
Cannabis, by Martin Booth, is for those of you with on a more singular search for books about marijuana. While The Secret Life of Plants will take you through the scientific side of horticulture, Cannabis aims to give the reader a comprehensive look at the sociological underpinnings of marijuana.
Booth’s book explores how attitudes regarding marijuana have changed over the years. It seeks to explain how it’s complex relationship with the law has changed the plant forever. Moreover, Cannabis aims to explain how different societies’ understanding and acceptance (or lack thereof) of cannabis has come to shape our global economy in the present day.
7. Weed: The User’s Guide: A 21st Century Handbook for Enjoying Marijuana
Care to learn about the ancient history of pot? How to roll the best joint or cook the best edible?
Or what about an encyclopedic breakdown of all the compounds that make pot the mind-altering substance that it is?
Whether you’re a novice or a pro. Whether you like to smoke joints, rip bongs or hit dabs, this book has some weed wisdom for you.
In Weed, the witty and affable David Schmader unlocks all the possibilities that weed can hold. His book will guide you through all the different ways to enjoy weed. How to cook with it, how to avoid trouble with the law because of it, and maybe most importantly, how to share your love of this amazing plant.
Ready to Read?
With books about marijuana, you can get lifted both physiologically and intellectually. We couldn’t ask for a better pairing.
Before you pick up one of these fantastic books, check out our blog for some mind-altering knowledge about the plant we all know and love, marijuana.