Grass Roots By Nick Johnson: History Of Marijuana

The book Grass Roots by Nick Johnson focuses on the history of marijuana across West America. It is in public domain that most countries in the world are against the legalization of marijuana but the book gives a completely different perception of the idea. It can be considered a bright spot in the ever-expanding landscape of cannabis literature. The author of the book Nick Johnson gives a firsthand, information regarding how people perceived cannabis in the western US. He has gone to the extreme of providing important information that would later help in making people stop opposing the plant naturally. This region has remained to be an area that has had an attitude that is not like other countries that view the plant as an illicit drug. To achieve the ideas that he has laid down in the book it is evident that he had to do a lot of research. As a writer, he shows exemplary skills in his work that make him be in a position to address the issue of cannabis.

Up to the current time, it would be difficult for an individual to convince the entire world that such a plant should be embraced after long years of perceiving as an illicit drug. As a writer, Johnson comes straightforward in the presentation of how cannabis became a menace in the Southwest and Beyond in the years 1851–1935 (Johnson 87). It is a great idea that he had the opportunity to look into the issue without hesitating that the plant changed the perception of people in terms of culture (Johnson 88). The topic of marijuana needs a lot of research and correct data before publishing he has incorporated actual data that makes it attain scholarly standards (Johnson 109). The tone that is utilized in the book plays a significant role in making it attain the standards that it has, which is a journalistic tone. It is a good book that most students who are initiating on specializing in cannabis studies as it has everything direct to the point without puns or rumors that most people would use in the attempt to advocate for the legalization of cannabis.

The author does several things well in the delivery of his message. To support his ideas he had to ensure that he had concrete pieces of evidence and facts from the real world. In search of facts and supporting pieces of evidence, he goes to the extent of getting data from police records and historical issues revolving cannabis in America. This is one thing that I can say the author does extremely well going deep above what is expected to get the correct ideas concerning the book. It is a good piece of article that he has also utilized simple language that feels unappreciated. A lot of information is revealed in the book whereby it is arranged in a logical manner that I feel it gives a clear and concise of how cannabis farming has evolved all along (Johnson 39). The book matters in a larger sense in that it has provided crucial information that readers were not aware of.

However, as much as he did well on the book, there are instances that according to me I feel he needs to improve. The first area is based on the title of the book, he would have at least make a strong connection with the issues he was about to address. For instance, he would have a title such as the history of cannabis, which would give the readers an estimate about what is discussed in the book. In the search for how cannabis affected the community the culture of the community between 1960 and 1980, he did not look much on the negatives that make the book somehow bias. In addition, the perception of marijuana in the inclination of agriculture does not fully provide the reasons as to why people would want to embrace the plant. From a logical point, it is true that in terms of agriculture it may be embraced but the business and social side it is not well illustrated.

It argues that cannabis was grown for the purposes of recreation although this was not only the case, in reality, we can see that is also grown for financial purposes, which are denied in the book. At the same time, it fails in the need to address the environmental effects that were accompanied by the cultivation of marijuana between 1980s and 1990s (Johnson 17). The book may be making sense but to some extent, the author failed in addressing important concepts of marijuana and the environment. It would be not effective if it does not provide both the positive and negative side of cannabis. The tone of the book should also not favor one side of the book but it should be neutral and allowing the reader to decide on the conclusion after reading it.

Source Response

Johnson makes good utilization of primary and secondary sources to come up with a unique book. One of the most significant primary sources of data that he utilizes was police reports and newspapers. These two pieces of primary data provided historical data that was provided with important data regarding the history of cannabis. The information that comes from such sources of data is mostly correct especially the one on the police report (Johnson 103). The report would give a correlation between the abuse of cannabis and the number of individuals that were arrested from using it. From the data, it is also possible to understand the states within America that had a high number of cannabis users, which would eventually lead to him developing interest in the story.

The newspapers that he used to analyze provide him with information about how far people have covered and published about cannabis. This helped him to avoid restating ideas that were already presented in the past. From the source, it is where he could get strong ideas to put on a foundation that will be used to begin writing the book. It is in public domain that most books and good article such as these depend on good primary sources utilized in the development of ideas (Johnson 103). At the same time, it is advisable that before writers come to the point of deciding to take a certain piece of the primary source to utilize it in developing such a book it is important to ensure that it is has credited information.

The author skillfully borrows an idea from the sources of data then interprets them and puts them in the writing. He has utilized other secondary sources of data such as academic publications and recent interviews that provided information on trending issues related to cannabis. From a logical perspective of things, the sources have provided more information on the topic, which without their correct utilization in literature it makes no effort in the development of cannabis ideas. It is incumbent to say that the author has the skills that have helped him all along in creating the book and logically giving his brains. He is in a better position to shift swiftly from synthesizing sources towards reflecting on implications. The topic covered in the book gives a hard time and an intriguing feeling to the reader wanting to understand what the author has written in the book.

From the sources and the book, it does not require one to go deep to understand that the book has borrowed much information from the sources although they are improved. Giving a connection between a book and a primary source without plagiarizing and providing unique data is very difficult but the author in this book does it swiftly. In other instances, authors tend to synthesis their ideas but in such a book, it is more scientific and social which is an implication that it is a combination of ideas that are both synthesized while are others are borrowed from scientific facts. This is a significant effort that the author has done and has shown great writing skills in utilizing sources of data.

Johnson has shown a great mastery of writing skills in his book whereby it has focused on a very critical topic. He has discussed on a topic that most authors would not think about publishing in the language that the author has used. The language used by Johnson is open and straight to the point something that most authors or writers would do while talking about such a topic. Authenticity is something that the author has proved in the delivery of his ideas. Most people would utilize puns and unnecessary information in writing such an article. Not many authors would go the extent that Johnson has gone in search of information that is important to the delivery of his ideas. The utilization of primary sources such as newspapers and police reports have also shown reasons as to why the book remains outstanding regarding the topic and message the author wanted to deliver to the readers.