Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
laws which drive the phenomena underground and force those who sell marijuana to come into ever greater involvement with drug subcultures and with other higher risk drugs. The two most important books in a marijuana library should be Cannabis (Report of the Canadian Commission on Non-Medical Use of Drugs) and Marijuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding (Report of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse), supplemented by the The Pleasure Seekers (Fort), Consumers Guide to Drugs (Brecher), and Marijuana Reconsidered (Grinspoon). Joel Fort, MD Lecturer (Professor), School of Criminology University of California Berkeley, CA The Book of Highs. Edward Rosenfeld. Quandrangle-New York Times Book Company, New York. 251 pp. 1973. $4.75. Man's perennial interest in altered states of consciousness is reflected in this intriguing compendium of techniques for transcending normal consciousness. The author describes no fewer than 250 ways to get high without drugs: an astonishing array of natural processes through which one can learn how to focus consciousness, enhance awareness, and gain new perspectives and perceptions that transport us to other realities. The methods range from techniques of sensory awareness, meditation, trance, spin- Marijuana Users and Drug Subcultures. Bruce Johnson. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 206 pp. 1973. This is a well done and comprehensive sociological study of college student marijuana use. It will be of most value to researchers and drug specialists and to those in the health field who feel a need for more scientific data before reforming our harsh and ineffective drug laws. The author's most serious omission is the problem of use of alcohol and tobacco, our two hardest drugs, in college and elsewhere. He does correctly indicate that tobacco cigarette use, along with being male, nonreligious, and politically left, is highly correlated with marijuana use. The institutionalization of "better living through chemistry" by advertising and the parent culture, the overconformity to peer culture, and the development of separate black and white drug subcultures sometimes evolving into a drug-selling subculture are among Johnson's major findings. As has everyone who has bothered to study it, this author finds no support for the traditional steppingstone theory but does confirm the criminogenic effect of the marijuana Before Addiction: How to Help Youth. Florence Lieberman, Phyllis Caroff, and Mary Gottesfeld. Behavioral Publications, New York. 131 pp. 1973. $8.95. This book should have carried a different title more appropriate to its content. Although it does discuss the circumstances which bring adolescents to use drugs, the differences between drug users and drug addicts, the effects of the most commonly used drugs, and finally, the danger of referring drug users to nonprofessional therapists, it is mainly a first aid manual for parents ning, sleep deprivation, through Zen, Gestalt therapy, theater games, rolfing, massage, hypnosis, tai chi, sex, sky diving, skiing, stroboscopes, biofeedback, and many others, some extremely exotic, others familiar but here seen in new perspective. The Book of. Highs raises some thoughtful questions about our current social attitudes toward drug-taking. As Andrew Weil writes in the introduction, "The desire to have peak experiences operates in all of us ... it is so basic it looks like an inborn drive. If we could teach people other methods to achieve highs, the drug problem would take on more manageable proportions." Those who are interested enough to delve beyond the brief introductions here given, and 1104 AJPH NOVEMBER, 1974, Vol. 64, No. 11
American Journal of Public Health – American Public Health Association
Published: Nov 1, 1974
You can share this free article with as many people as you like with the url below! We hope you enjoy this feature!
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.