The Complete Illustrated Guide To Cannabis (Nick Brownlee, Sanctuary HB ????pages £??)

I find it really difficult to take any kind of ‘formality’ attached to cannabis seriously. Drugs are one of those things that you learn about through clandestine peer encounter – not a 168-page book. And once you’ve learnt the basics, the type of person that would be interested in this book wouldn’t be reading it. Oh no. They’d be lying on the floor staring at the ceiling to see how beautifully the cobwebs move. Meanwhile, all around us the debate rages on…. Should it be legalised? Is it dangerous? Is it directly attributable to the boom in sales in chocolate HobNobs? Brownlee’s most complete tome is a journey through important events in

pot history, celebrity hash-heroes and often amusing sideswipes at changing attitudes to the world’s favourite illicit herb. There’s even a guide to types of the drug – from Nepalese to Nederhash. All in all, it’s a beautiful coffee table book – a talking point and, dare I say it, a valuable reference work on a subject that’s almost lost its taboo qualities… and yet you might want to not leave it out when the in-laws come round for Sunday lunch.  7.5/10

Chris Merriman