HELLO AGAIN

Can*nois*seur  (kan' us sur') n. one competent to render critical judgement on the qualities and merits of cannabis.

"The most amazing property of cannabis is its ability to fog the minds of those who do no't use it."

THE BILLION DOLLAR BUD BIZ
Hello Dear Readers, after a hiatus of 3 years during which i wrote 4 novels i'm back at the same old stand surveying the booming present and wide-open future of legal cannabis. The states that legalized completely are enjoying a tax windfall that benefits everyone. Here in San Francisco where the sale and distribution is limited to Medical cannabis it's clear the all dispensaries are thriving and awaiting the  vote in November. Right now the dispensaries have a semi-monopoly on the market. Legalization will change that. How is not yet clear. As of yet there is no equitable plan in place.
At the moment however my favorite dispensary is The Bloom Room at 471 Jessie Street SF at Mint Plaza. Consistently high grade buds and righteous deals on their "littles". Check their well presented home page, click on Menu then click on Cannabis for their sale days.

THE HUCKSTERS 1972

 Being an account executive was frustrating. My first instinct was to dream up a campaign and write it up. Unfortunately that was the creative department's job. My job was to deal with the client. The ladies at Ms. were a gracious bunch but extremely wary of male influence.
Still one day, when the agency's art director, a strapping dude who resembled Tom Selleck, visited the Ms. offices, our wary feminists reverted to blushing high school girls. Can't fight Mother Nature.
Everything seemed to be in a holding pattern. Cocaine was sweeping the city and i was scooping up my share. Certainly there was more money than the bohemian days in Rome the previous year. There were parties with friends, dinners, perks (free magazines). i had found a two room duplex on the upper east side which was both cheap and cool,  My novel Raga Six was due to be published in December a month considered certain death for books. Having already died my first time out with Doctor Orient i was bracing for extinction. (During that period i began writing song lyrics.) The art Director at Bantam books Len Leoni was the best in the business. we had maintained a friendship since my early days at Bantam based in part on our mutual admiration of Alex Raymond the extraordinary comic artist who drew Flash Gordon. i asked Len if he could get the artist Szafran to do the cover to Raga Six. He had done a brilliant cover for Bradbury's I Sing The Body Electric. 
Len hired Szafran and H.B. Gilmour wrote the copy. The "package" when finished was striking with a deep blue cover and the same typeface Len used for The Exorcist. When I showed a proof to Gloria Steinem she thought Raga was a beautiful name. Future author  Letty Cotton Pegrobin  accused the cover illustration ( a voluptuous semi-nude female) of being sexist. i thought it looked good for a doomed novel.
Meanwhile my relationship with my other client Saturday Review was deteriorating. The publishers who were fresh from a huge success with their first venture Psychology Today had the bright idea to split the venerable Saturday Review into 4 fucking magazines. As the recipient of a shit load of free magazines each month, most of which remained unread, i knew along with everyone else at the agency the world did not need four new magazines to do the job of one. Underlying this brilliant idea was the fact they managed to quadruple the stock--if not its value.
The more the magazines faltered the more abrasive the publishers became.. Finally December rolled around and New York was in all its holiday glory. It became clear that my days in advertising were numbered and i had vague plans of getting back into publishing. One Saturday night the phone rang. It was Basel Winston new husband of dear friend Arlene Erb.
"Have you seen tonight's New York Post?"
 "No why?"
"Raga Six is on the bestseller list."
My brain blew right through the top of my skull. And stayed up there for weeks.

NEXT: HIGH SOCIETY


Edited by Robert Gilman