Check out this list of books to deepen your weed knowledge and open your mind to the world of psychedelics.
It’s National Book Month! Yes, that’s right, a whole month dedicated to one of the greatest, most time-honored activities – reading! It’s the perfect excuse to crack open the pages of a new book and learn something new about cannabis or psychedelics. Below, discover ten of the best books for weed and psychedelics lovers over the last decade.
Treat yourself to one (or a few ) of them to catch up on different methods, topics, and aesthetics within the psychedelic and ganja genres.
1. Growing Weed in the Garden: A No-Fuss, Seed-to-Stash Guide to Outdoor Cannabis Cultivation by Johanna Silver (2020)
This gorgeous guide is the first ever to focus exclusively on home-growing cannabis in your own garden. The book says it “brings cannabis out of the dark, into the sunlight” by focusing on outdoor growing.
It features gorgeous photography and is a fully comprehensive guide, leading you from seed to harvest. Silver’s growing insight can also be found right here on Leafly.
2. Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana – Medical, Recreational and Scientific by Martin A. Lee (2013)
Barely making the decade cut but nevertheless insightful comes this book by investigative journalist Martin A. Lee. With a dramatic tone that engages the reader, the book explores cannabis from its most ancient origins to the multibillion-dollar industry plant it is today.
Along the way, Lee explores cannabis’ political, legal, medicinal, and scientific history.
3. Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America by Emily Dufton (2017)
Follow Smoke Signals with this complimentary book by historian Emily Dufton to get an even more in-depth look at the history of cannabis and the drug war in America.
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Showing you dispensaries nearDufton examines cannabis’ journey of acceptance, scorn, and now acceptance again while paying homage to the thousands of grassroots activists who made it possible.
4. High on Design: The New Cannabis Culture by Santiago Rodriguez Tarditi (2020)
This book, by another one of Leafly’s contributors, Santiago Rodriguez Tarditi, showcases the creators, brands, and designers who have evolved cannabis into the high-level “en vogue” business it is today.
Delve into the culture of cannabis and how it has influenced the landscape of design while enjoying stunning and immersive photography as you read.
5. How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan (2019)
You may already be familiar with the Netflix adaptation of the same name, but this one is worth a read.
This New York Times bestseller offers an interchanging first and third-person point of view into altered states of consciousness and dives deep into the science and medicinal benefits of psychedelics.
6. Weed the People: The Future of Legal Marijuana in America by Bruce Barcott (2015)
Bruce Barcott is another one of our own here at Leafly, and his book is the perfect follow-up after you’ve delved into the history of cannabis. Barcott takes the reader on a journey into the future of cannabis in a world beyond failed prohibition.
Examining questions about cannabis etiquette in a world where it’s inevitably normalized, the book is both escapism into the future and a fascinating look at what’s to come.
7. Bong Appétit: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Weed [A Cookbook] by Munchies (2018)
If you’re looking to read something practical that will give you a skill to use later, this excellent cookbook is a great place to start. Featuring a wealth of “high-end” recipes for those who want to make “serious, sophisticated food–with weed.”
Learn how to make the basics like butter and oils, and then put them to use in sweet and savory dishes.
8. Green: A Field Guide to Marijuana by Dan Michaels (2015)
If you want a visual feast, this book is the meal. Author Dan Michaels, together with photographer Erik Christiansen, delivers a stunning, high-definition look at the beauty of cannabis.
Featuring 170 strains, this weed guide explores culture, botany, lineages, flavors, and the mental and physical effects of cannabis.
9. Higher Etiquette: A Guide to the World of Cannabis, from Dispensaries to Dinner Parties by Lizzie Post (2019)
Following in the steps of her great-great-grandmother Emily Post, Lizzie Post takes the reader on a journey into etiquette, but this time centered on cannabis.
The illustrated guide explores the social norms and expectations, tackling questions such as how to act at a dispensary, bring cannabis to a dinner party, or faux pas such as canoed joints.
10. Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences by William Richards (2018)
Explore the connection between psychedelics, human consciousness, and religious experiences in this book by clinical psychologist and psychedelic researcher William Richards. Based on three decades of legal research, the book looks at psychedelics’ ability to improve quality of life and advances the social and political conversation around these substances.
