Weed Land: Inside America's Marijuana Epicenter and How Pot Went Legit
Even as resistance to legalizing marijuana eases, clashes between the perspectives of patient advocates, recreational users, cannabis capitalists, law enforcement, and various political factions continue to thrash out what legalization will look like. Journalist Hecht traces the journey toward legalization from a 2002 DEA bust on an idyllic California garden cooperative growing plants for suffering patients to legalization in 20 states and the District of Columbia, including legalized recreational use in Colorado and Washington. Hecht details the successes, setbacks, and culture clashes that took place in California, the epicenter of the debate, where legalization saw its first victories and greatest challenges and where the major effects on the economics, politics and social landscape were first apparent. Along the way, Hecht tracks an assortment of figures—counterculture rebels and many who started as very unlikely advocates for legalized pot—across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, who gained both ­medical and spiritual knowledge of marijuana as well as the political savvy to wage a long, hard battle. Readers interested in the evolving story of marijuana legalization will appreciate the scope of this book. --Vanessa Bush