In The Ganja Complex Ansley Hamid skillfully welds together two decades of ethnographic research on marijuana in the Caribbean and the United States. Hamid juxtaposes an in-depth study of the spread of Rastafari in the 1970s with an examination of the rise of an international marijuana economy. This revisionist work departs radically from previous scholarship by identifying Rastafari, not as a messianic or millenarian cult, but as a participant in the essential functions of a community's overall economic life. It demonstrates how Rastafari has revitalized third-world economies using indigenous resources, capital, and talent, and documents the internationalization of the 5000-year-old Asian pattern of marijuana use--centered about worship of the Hindu god Shiva--that is the "ganja complex."

Many universes have come and gone where our Milky Way appears in the cosmos. Coming into presence in order to evolve, previous ones were scrapped when they failed to do so. Our Milky Way is at that crossroads, and Barzhad Osama has been sent to Earth to make sure it succeeds and survives. However, there are obstacles, including a dispute with his wife, Millie, which may result in divorce! Will Barzhad overcome them? The answer illuminates the causes and emergent consequences of the global, economic downturn of 2008-9, the collapse of the banking system, the plans being formulated to fix them, the strengths and weaknesses of the current administration in Washington, and human destiny.

This basic analysis of the drug problem in America describes the histo rical and present use of mood-altering drugs; the economics of drug tr afficking; theories of addiction; and the resulting crime, violence, a nd community deterioration. In addition, the author focuses on the eff ects of legalizing drugs and the role of law enforcement. This is an i deal text for any course discussing drug use and abuse.