Too High to Fail

May 28, 2012
In his chaotic and entertaining new book, Fine (Farewell, My Subaru) examines the potential of the legal cannibis industry via profiles of cannabis farmers, law enforcement officials, medical marijuana patients, and a cannabis plant during the 2011 growing season in Mendocino County, Calif. Cannabis is all but fully legal in the county (though not under federal law), and Fine uses the county’s new experiment to advocate for an America where cannabis is legal, regulated, and taxed. Relying primarily on an economic argument, he hammers home his point that the U.S. has wasted 40 years and vast amounts of money on the war on drugs. He suggests ways in which cannabis can fix government budgets and drive the economic engine. Industrial hemp, he posits, could revive struggling farms, and fermented cannabis could lead to energy independence. Fine halfheartedly reports on potential downsides of legalization, but gives precedence to distinctive characters like Tomas Balogh, a cheerful farmer, and a gruff-but-fair Mendocino ordinance enforcer, Sgt. Randy Johnson. Though sometimes Fine packs in too many people, he successfully illuminates an unusual world where cannabis growers sing “Happy Birthday” to Sergeant Johnson while crossing their fingers against the threat of federal raids. This informative book will give even hardened drug warriors pause. Agent: Markus Hoffman, Regal Literary.

Starred review from June 15, 2012
NPR contributor Fine (Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living, 2008, etc.) reports on his year spent in Northern California researching the hazy world of medical marijuana. As the epicenter of the sustainable cannabis-growing industry in America, Mendocino County serves as the starting point for the story. Fine's intention was to track one cloned female cannabis plant, later named Lucille, from the farmer who tended her to the first patient who inhaled her smoke. Along the way, the author explores the intertwined history of humans and cannabis, as well as potential future benefits of cannabis, including biofuel, textiles, foodstuffs, farming and substantial economic boosts for cash-strapped communities. In 2006, Fine writes, the medical cannabis crop contributed $100 million in "sales tax to California's general fund." The author peoples the narrative with a colorful cast, including Sheriff Tom Allman, who touts the departmental and countywide benefits of the cannabis industry in Mendocino; a ganjapreneur and member of the National Cannabis Industry Association who hopes medicinal cannabis will one day be branded in a manner similar to fine Napa Valley wine; and an indoor grower turned outdoor cannabis farmer who simply wants to pay his taxes while providing high-quality organic medicine to his patients. Fine also examines how the American people have borne the massive economic and social expenditures of the failed Drug War, which is "as unconscionably wrong for America as segregation and DDT." A captivating, solidly documented work rendered with wit and humor.

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