Brave New Weed: Adventures Into the Uncharted World of Cannabis

Dolce, former editor-in-chief of Details and Star, guides readers around the changing world of marijuana culture. Employing aspects of travel narrative, pop history, journalism, and personal diary, Dolce provides a wide-ranging introduction to the drug, aiming to refute stereotypes and showcase the many ways in which people interact with marijuana. These range from recreational fun, as showcased in his coverage of the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, to pain relief and even healing, as demonstrated by research he cites into cannabis’s potential for mitigating traumatic brain injuries. As might be expected from a book about pot, the focus is soft and the narrative meandering, moving from profiling different types of cannabis users, to connecting the chemistry of cannabis to that of the brain, to diagnosing the growing pains of an underground market as it becomes regulated and mainstream. Dolce is a genial and engaging narrator with a knack for breaking down complex science and making it easily digestible for laypeople. The book will likely prove popular with cannabis enthusiasts, and it will surprise and entertain the general reader, even if, at times, the excessive detail feels in need of pruning. (Oct.)