Product Description

After many years as a successful documentary film producer and director, Michael Poole found himself suffering from serious bumout. Retreating from the demands of the city to a waterfront acreage on British Columbia's idyllic Sunshine Coast, he threw himself into wholesome toil: the cultivation of marijuana. Romancing Mary Jane is an intimate, funny and eye-opening depiction of ten months in the life of a neophyte marijuana grower. It is also an entertaining examination of cannabis culture. As he plants and cultivates his crop in the company of hummingbirds, woodpeckers, eagles, biting flies and a bear who shows signs of reefer madness, Poole ruminates on many things: the age-old use of mind-altering drugs; the wrong-headedness of drug laws; the medical use of pot; the genetic diversity of the lovely marijuana plant. Poole embarked on this life of crime with the idea that he'd make a bundle, live like a lord and loll away the winters on tropical beaches. Things didn't work out quite that way. But what he discovers instead, on a mountaintop overlooking the deep blue water of the Strait of Georgia, is a reconnection to landscape, weather and the turning of the seasonsónot to mention some of the best pot he has ever smoked.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47475 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .64 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Books in Canada
It is always a pleasure to come across a book that informs the reader as much as it entertains. This happens to be the case with Michael Poole's Romancing Mary Jane. Poole's objective was to provide a candid glimpse of his entrepreneurial experience as a cannabis gardener. Readers will find this to be an entertaining adventure tale, which still manages to produce a balanced study of marijuana and its impact on society.
Poole, a fifty-plus, well-renowned filmmaker, frequently battled bouts of serious depression. As a possible solution to this problem, he left his secure lifestyle to seek something different. Poole chose to explore the world of cultivation and sale of marijuana. The setting for Poole's journey of self-discovery was the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Readers will become intimately acquainted with Poole's new surroundings as well the seasonal changes and tribulations facing his assorted gardens.
The narrative is absorbing. Whether delivering a humorous tale, factual information, or random musings, Poole consistently captures and maintains the reader's attention. His lifestyle was simple, his daily routine disciplined and physically challenging, but Poole's observations of his environment are refreshing and interesting.
Readers will also enjoy the variety of unusual characters such as Ned, the author's marijuana mentor, Brett and Carrie, big time bunker hydroponic growers, Hoot and Pete, Dieter, and so on. Each one shares humorous or frightening tales revolving mainly around marijuana cultivation from seed to harvest. In the wilds of British Columbia, the author discovers marijuana growing is an acquired skill. The growers' plots are sought out by the police in their helicopters or are invaded by hikers looking for a quick and free supply. As a result, safety and camouflage were a frequent topic of discussion between the author and his associates.
What is particularly rewarding in Romancing Mary Jane is the way the factual information is integrated to complement the narrative. Poole has done extensive research and delivers a superb overview of this illegal marijuana industry. He frequently quotes from books, citing laws, reports, and studies to support his writing. Readers will be interested in how drug laws in Canada and the United States differ or coincide. The type of marijuana available is also a lengthy talk, introducing readers to such names as Skunk Passion, Night Queen and Dutch Treat. Importing of drugs, their economic value, and the medicinal/therapeutic uses are just some of the many other topics that Poole explores in detail.
Concluding his book Poole offers a summary of "cannabis facts and fables" and addresses ten myths such as "marijuana impairs motivation and performance". He further supports his research with notes broken down by chapter which can serve as suggestions for those interested in additional reading.
Romancing Mary Jane is a rewarding memoir and an appealing tale that will entertain all readers.
Jo-Anne Mary Benson (Books in Canada)

About the Author
Michael Poole is an avid builder and paddler of canoes, a fly fisher, a photographer and a woodcarver, and he is also an award-winning director with scores of films to his credit. His first book was Ragged Islands. A Journey by Canoe through the Inside Passage.