View source for Reefer Madness (Sloman book)

{{Short description|1979 book by Larry Sloman}}
{{for|the 2003 book by Eric Schlosser|Reefer Madness (Schlosser book){{!}}''Reefer Madness'' (Schlosser book)}}
{{Infobox book
<!-- |italic title = (see above) -->
| name             = Reefer Madness: The History of Marijuana in America
| image            = File:Reefer Madness.jpg
| image_caption    = First edition
| author           = [[Larry Sloman]]
| title_orig       = 
| translator       = 
| illustrator      = 
| cover_artist     = 
| country          = United States
| language         = English
| series           = 
| subject          = 
| genre            = 
| publisher        = [[Bobbs-Merrill]]
| pub_date         = 1979
| english_pub_date = 
| media_type       = Hardcover
| pages            = 404
| isbn             = 0-672-52423-6
| dewey            = 
| congress         = HV5822.M3 S54
| preceded_by      = 
| followed_by      = 
}}
'''''Reefer Madness: The History of Marijuana in America''''' is a book by [[Larry Sloman|Larry "Ratso" Sloman]], originally published in 1979.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hightimes.com/culture/high-times-greats-larry-ratso-sloman/|title=High Times Greats: Larry "Ratso" Sloman|date=July 9, 2020|website=[[High Times]]|language=en-US|access-date=May 31, 2023}}</ref> The book is a history of social [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] (also known as marijuana) use in the United States. The book was reissued in 1998 with an introduction by [[William S. Burroughs]].

==Reception==
Writer [[Abe Peck]] gave ''Reefer Madness'' a mostly negative review, writing, "Sloman knows what he's talking about; the problem is that he presents his material as a multistyled hash of unsifted information. [...] [H]is reporting is so skeletal you can still see the ribs of a book outline poking through his prose."<ref>{{cite news|last=Peck|first=Abe|author-link=Abe Peck|date=April 29, 1979|title=Some publishers try to score with drug scene|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-lincoln-star/150547194/|newspaper=[[The Lincoln Star]]|location=Lincoln, Nebraska|page=15TV|access-date=July 3, 2024|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

''[[The Boston Globe]]''{{'}}s Lee Grove criticized the book for its pro-cannabis bias and selection of interviewees, whom Grove describes as "[Sloman's] boring [[wikt:pothead|pothead]] friends", while also noting, "I would have expected Sloman to interview at least one major [[Rock music|rock star]] smoking in the seventies – he alludes to so many of them in the book – but he doesn't."<ref>{{cite news|last=Grove|first=Lee|date=February 11, 1979|title=Marijuana history one toke over the line|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/150547384/|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|location=Boston, Massachusetts|page=A11|access-date=July 3, 2024|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

Larry King of ''[[Democrat and Chronicle]]'' referred to the book as an "exercise in futility", criticizing a lack of details and statistics: "Sloman consistently fails to include any body of information that might lend some credibility to his subtitle, with its claim to be a 'history.' The book reeks of haste and sloppiness."<ref>{{cite news|last=King|first=Larry|date=February 25, 1979|title=Getting low on pot history|url=https://newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle/150547419/|newspaper=[[Democrat and Chronicle]]|location=Rochester, New York|page=2G|access-date=July 3, 2024|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of books about cannabis]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Reefer Madness (1979 Book)}}
[[Category:1979 non-fiction books]]
[[category:1979 in cannabis]]
[[Category:American books about cannabis]]
[[Category:Non-fiction books about cannabis]]
[[Category:Bobbs-Merrill Company books]]


{{US-hist-book-stub}}