Pot Culture features celeb quotes and stories

“Pot…“Pot Culture: The A-Z Guide to Stoner Language and Life” By Shirley Halperin and Steve Bloom Foreward by Tommy Chongt

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Deep inside colorful glass pipes and smoky basements lies a culture that most know about, but few expose: It’s called pot culture. In an attempt to pull marijuana, the most commonly used drug in the United States, out of the closet, Shirley Halperin and Steve Bloom co-wrote “Pot Culture: The A-Z Guide to Stoner Language and Life.”

The book covers all the basics and beyond, explaining the language, the life and the tricks of a subculture that has been growing and redefining itself since the first marijuana leaf was ever plucked from the ground.

Not coincidentally, the book will be released on April 20, also known as 4/20 or the chosen day for everyone inclined to get together and smoke weed.

“We really don’t think pot is a bad thing, it’s been a positive influence and has spurred creativity,” explained “Pot Culture” author and weed enthusiast, Shirley Halperin in a phone interview. “We are making light of something that is a huge presence in a lot of people’s lives.”

Halperin wasn’t alone in her investigation of the secret lives of potheads, though she does have a broad personal background in the area. Halperin met her coauthor of “Pot Culture,” Steve Bloom, at her first journalism job at High Times magazine, the major literary resource for pot-lovers all over.

According to Halperin, Bloom was her managing editor at High Times, but it was his similar enthusiasm for weed, and for the band Phish, that forged a close friendship. Bloom also offered another knowledgeable outlook for the making of the book.

“It was really important to me that it be multi-generational. Steve really represents the baby boomers, the people who grew up in the ’60s, stuff that I wasn’t connected to because I was too young,” she said.

One of the most important contributors to the book was a prominently large group of mainstream celebrities who spoke out on their favorite aspects of marijuana.

“That’s what makes the book really special. We got all these people to come out and say ‘I smoke and I love it,'” said Halperin

“Pot Culture” includes facts, quotes and photos from big names such as Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Dave Chappelle, Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman and Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas.

From a more personal standpoint, some celebrities give lessons in the art of smoking weed. Redman will teach you how to roll a blunt, Adrienne Curry, past winner of America’s Next Top Model, will educate you on how to hide the smell and Steve-O explains how to make a can bong.

The book even includes an in-depth interview with Melissa Etheridge and her personal experience using marijuana to combat breast cancer.

Beyond the star-studded references, the book takes its readers deep inside the quirky world of the everyday stoner. Explore the “seven stoner wonders of the world,” read up on smart munchies and great stoner innovations and discover everything from drug references in Beatles songs to Jack Nicholson’s “stoniest” movies.

When questioned about controversy over such enthusiasm and hype for an illegal substance, Halperin isn’t too worried.

“I think we’re anticipating some parents being perplexed about the book. We were very careful that the book didn’t mention high school or anything kid-related,” she said. “Our take is that there’s a much bigger problem in our country with other things.”

“Pot Culture” may just be the beginning in a movement toward mainstreaming marijuana through literature, according to Halperin. She hopes to explore the subculture a little further and zero in on less generalized features of the phenomenon.

“Maybe the ultimate stoner guide,” she said. “Or perhaps the ultimate stoner travel guide – hippie-friendly spots all over the world.”

Whether these ideas will come to life is unsure, but pot culture will be around regardless. Halperin hopes her work will bring together different people in the name of a common interest.

“I want people to have a good time with it. It’s meant to be the kind of thing you read in a group,” said Halperin. “Stoners come from different ages, races and backgrounds, but we all have something in common.”