Pubdate: Wed, 17 Jul 2013
Source: East Bay Express (CA)
Copyright: 2013 East Bay Express
Contact: http://posting.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/SubmitLetter/Page
Website: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1131
Author: David Downs
Column: Legalization Nation

BUD LIT: A 2013 SUMMER READING GUIDE

Legalization Nation collects the highlights of 2013 cannabis
nonfiction so far.

Why kick back and relax during your vacation this summer when you can
give your brain a workout with the best cannabis nonfiction of the
year? We're talking about key messaging for the California
legalization battle of 2016 (yes, that's happening); pot-growing
exposes; pee-test explanations; a field guide for bud-watching; and
some baked Italian recipes.

Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?

The activists who made marijuana legal in Colorado have updated the
research in their 2009 book, and have included a first draft of
history - as told by the victors in Colorado. Safer Alternative for
Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) director Mason Tvert, NORML's Paul
Armentano, and Marijuana Policy Project's Steve Fox explain how the
SAFER-led Amendment 64 effort garnered more votes in Colorado than
President Obama in the November 2012 election.

In 2005, after two fatal alcohol poisonings at a college in Boulder,
SAFER homed in on a core problem with the legalization argument: Up to
two-thirds of Americans believe cannabis is as dangerous or more
dangerous than alcohol. In truth, alcohol is associated with
two-thirds of all domestic violence incidents, anywhere from 30 to 50
percent of all violent crime, and about 100,000 sexual assaults each
year. Ex-Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper provides a sharp contrast
in the foreword: "It is abundantly clear that marijuana is rarely, if
ever the cause of harmfully disruptive or violent behavior."

Humboldt: Life on America's Marijuana Frontier

Columbia University journalism school graduate and Sonoma County
native Emily Brady spent a year in the epicenter of domestic cannabis
production - the Emerald Triangle of Northern California, which
includes Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt counties - to explore the
ethos of "keep weed illegal": a policy that props up crop prices, land
values, and an entire way of life.

Brady effectively draws you into the story of four eccentric dopers -
Mare, Crockett, Emma, and Bob - who are real people (and the book
details real events in their lives), although Brady changed their
names and fictionalized their identifying characteristics to protect
them. A small glossary of Humboldt terms, such as "CAMP," "diesel
dope," and "hipneck," opens the paperback book. Humboldt is truly a
world unto itself.

Marijuana Smoker's Guidebook: The Easy Way to Identify and Enjoy
Marijuana Strains

For many Americans, weed is weed. But in the Bay Area, Boulder,
Seattle, and other cannabis hubs, it's "OG Kush" or "Grand Daddy
Purple" or several hundred other varietal names. And Matt Mernagh, a
grower, activist, and writer, has compiled a small, handy, full-color
paperback with 150 descriptions of the world's most popular strains.

Mernagh describes, for example, Juicy Fruit as being "like the gum:
its effects are not long lasting, ... [but its] heavy and beautiful
bag-appealing buds make it a commercial cropper for fruity flavored
strains." Big Buddha Cheese's "stink will give you away in public at
100 paces. ... The really relaxing stone is great for a slow, lazy
afternoon." Mango is "packed with ripe, melon richness" and "will have
you flying out the door without a jittery 'too much coffee' effect."

Baked Italian

Edibles are evolving past sweet treats like pot brownies and dankies
(medicated Twinkies) and into savory, healthy dishes. Billing itself
as a "high-end marijuana cookbook for the Jamie Oliver generation,"
Baked Italian contains more than fifty gourmet recipes and one hundred
images, along with step-by-step instructions.

Weed is a spicy, harsh-tasting plant that's difficult to cook because
of its flavor, consistency, and inability to dissolve in water. Baked
Italian tackles the sticky pungent herb head-on with five extraction
techniques using butter, oil, milk, Campari, vodka, and gin.
Subsequent recipes counteract the problematic flavor, texture, and
solubility of cannabis. They include marijuana-infused spaghetti
marinara, crostini, lemon panna cotta ganja gin, and coffee gelato.

California NORML Guide to Drug Testing

Dale Gieringer, head of the California chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, has released a primer
on the very widespread and consequential practice of drug testing for
marijuana. The 44-page, fact-packed booklet covers the kinds of drug
testing medical cannabis patients might encounter at work, on the
road, and in the delivery room, as well as the astoundingly shitty
reliability of the tests.

Gieringer sat in on the California Center for Medical Cannabis
Research at UC San Diego and details factors that can confound weed
tests. For example, common baby soaps can make an infant test positive
for pot. The guide also explains the dark art of beating common
workplace urinalysis through dilution aids and tampering, and provides
concrete data on exactly how marijuana can impair an automobile driver
and how much weed is needed to do so.
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MAP posted-by: Matt