Maine Author Publishes Children’s Book About Marijuana

Maine author Russ Hudson published an illustrated children’s book about marijuana last week, adding further controversy to an already sensitive subject for Mainers.  The rhyming book, titled “What’s That Weed?”, makes the case for normal marijuana use by families, and features Hudson’s 6-year-old daughter as the main character. 
 
Hudson – a cannabis industry consultant and author – said he wrote the book to quell the fears of the public, not to add to them. 
 
“Cannabis use is completely normal, including the consumption of marijuana,” Hudson said, noting that the people of Maine voted to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults in November of 2016.  “We must teach our children the truth about marijuana, and be open and honest with them about it.  We can’t keep hiding it and lying about it.”
 
In some of his previous work, including a 2015 article titled “Coming Out of the Cannabis Closet,” Hudson claims that users of marijuana are doing their children and the cannabis industry overall a disservice by hiding and lying about their use of the substance. 
 
“Many of these [people] are my friends and colleagues we’re talking about,” Hudson explained, “but they’re still afraid, so they lie to their children, and their kids grow up thinking there’s something inherently wrong with cannabis.  We have to change this.”
 
What’s That Weed is Hudson’s attempt to change basic ideas about marijuana, though he admits the book is likely to encounter opposition.  In one passage, the father in the story consumes marijuana from a water pipe directly in front of two young children:
 
“Into the house the girls raced as they laughed
stopping when they came upon Stella’s dad.
In a big wooden chair, with a book where he sat,
a strange apparatus perched in his lap.
 
“Hello, girls,” he said with a smile,
“I’m taking a break to read for a while.”
And then with a flash and a flick of his wrist,
he brought forth a lighter, and a glass pipe to his lips.”
 
[Passage used with permission of the author.]
 
In some states, a person can be charged with a crime for using marijuana in front of a child.  Hudson strongly condemns such punishment;
 
“Why is it okay to consume wine, beer, or liquor in front of a child, but not marijuana?  Why can families hold barbecues and gatherings where alcohol is consumed, people get intoxicated, and that’s perfectly normal, but the moment someone lights up a joint to relax, they’re at risk of persecution?  It’s legal to smoke cancer-causing cigarettes in front of your children, but a joint is worthy of prison or the forfeiture of parental rights?  This has to end,” Hudson bristled, “our children deserve to know the truth, and we owe it to them.” 
 
What’s That Weed discusses recreational use of marijuana, as well as medical use for conditions like PTSD and Epilepsy.  The book also talks about the use of cannabis as animal feed, for seed and oil stock, and as food.  In fact, Hudson – a resident of Liberty - claims that, one day, marijuana leaves will be bundled and sold at farmer’s markets across the state, and in the produce section of Maine’s supermarkets;
 
“Cannabis is perhaps the most valuable natural resource we have on this planet.  We were wrong to demonize it, and we’ve been unhappy as a result.  It’s time to reset the balance on marijuana, and restore it to its rightful place in our lives; on our plates, in our oils, in our industries, and in our minds and bodies.”    
 
What’s That Weed is available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle versions, with significant sections of content from the book available for review at no-cost at the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Whats-that-Weed-Russ-Hudson/dp/1976178746/
 
The author is also making free copies available to Maine libraries.  Librarians can request free copies by emailing the author at russ@cannabizconsultant.com   

Contact Information

Russ Hudson

Editor-in-Chief

MarijuanaGames.org

russ@marijuanagames.org