Book cover of Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana - Medical, Recreational and Scientific

Book description

ā€œHallelujah and glory be to Smoke Signals, Martin Lee’s bodacious new book…Lee chronicles everything and everyone worth chronicling in the annals of marijuanaā€ (High Times).

This is the great American pot story, a dramatic social exploration of a plant that sits at the nexus of political, legal, medical, and scientific…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Smoke Signals as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Published in 2012, before cannabis liberation had truly begun to take hold, this is a lively look at the illicit cannabis market as it’s morphing into a legitimate industry. Irreverent and richly written, this book tells it like it is, tracing the racist roots of marijuana prohibition to its popularity among Mexican immigrants and jazz musicians and teasing out the vast implications of the US government’s attempts to eradicate it. Everyone needs to know this history, whether they enjoy cannabis or not.

If you love Smoke Signals...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancĆ©, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like Smoke Signals?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 71 books like Smoke Signals.

Browse books like Smoke Signals

Book cover of The Emperor Wears No Clothes: Hemp and the Marijuana Conspiracy
Book cover of The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Cannabis: Its Role in Medicine, Politics, Science, and Culture
Book cover of Marijuana Grower's Handbook: Your Complete Guide for Medical and Personal Marijuana Cultivation

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?

šŸ“š If you like Smoke Signals, you might also like...

Book cover of Foxfire in the Snow

Foxfire in the Snow by J.S. Fields,

It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.

Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…

Book cover of The Main Gate

The Main Gate by Yvonne Kjorlien,

Dr. Elise Marquette has spent years burying the past—until the past refuses to stay buried.

Hired to join Earth’s first interstellar contact team, she hopes the vastness of space will finally offer distance from the ghosts of war and the wounds left by a mother who never let her be…

5 book lists we think you will like!