POT PLANET

An enlightening survey of 21st-century cannabis consumers, at an estimated 200 million strong.

British Columbia–based journalist Preston explains that although he was a “moderate toker” by local standards, his Rolling Stone editor perceived him as a “stoner dude,” and assigned him a story on the Canadian marijuana scene, which led to this study: “Pot lovers, psychologically landlocked by the War on Drugs, need to be reminded there’s a big ol’ world out there where the DEA doesn’t hold sway.” Preston modulates his pothead’s holiday with an alluring multinational slant—he narrates a journey through 12 countries (including Switzerland, Spain, Australia, Laos, Thailand, and the US), bookended by a local growers’ competition in Canada, and the infamous High Times “Cannabis Cup” in Amsterdam. Although Preston consumes much marijuana, hashish, kif, and sundry teas and baked goods during his travels, his observations stay thankfully sharp and lucid. Generally speaking, Preston discerns a subtle international watershed: while law enforcement in poorer countries like Nepal and Morocco ignore native cannabis consumers and tolerate (or exploit) the cash influx of so-called “drug tourists,” European nations (save France, Germany, and Sweden) are attempting to permit discreet particular cannabis possession without welcoming those same drug tourists. His jaunts through specific countries are always engaging, revealing the semi-organized underground communities necessitated by the herb’s illegal status. Back home in Vancouver, for example, a network of growers and seed/equipment suppliers pursue strains like “Bubbleberry” and “Pearly Girl” with gourmet zeal. In England, Preston follows the nascent “hempster” movement’s engagement with governmental agencies, a traditional gambit of European social activists. Elsewhere, localized irony abounds: in Muslim communities, liquor consumption is scorned over communal hash-smoking, while Holland’s tolerance of soft drugs incongruously results from that nation’s stolid conservatism. Beyond the endearing stoned camaraderie of Preston’s travelogue, he condemns pot prohibition with sound reasoning (e.g., that it encourages a criminalized black market) in case any social conservatives are reading, while his fellow travelers will enjoy knowing, for instance, how not to get hustled in Tangier. But the author also confirms there’s no alternative to getting hustled in America, courtesy of the taxpayer-financed, cannabis-focused atrocity of the drug war.

A blend of advocacy and (so to speak) sober reportage on an issue that’s only superficially whimsical.