Smuggler's Blues: A True Story of the Hippie Mafia (Cannabis Americana: Remembrance of the War on Plants, Book 1) (1) - Softcover

Stratton, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1628729112 ISBN 13: 9781628729115

Publisher: Arcade, 2019

Synopsis

Goodfellas meets Savages meets Catch Me If You Can in this true tale of high-stakes smuggling from pot's outlaw years.

Richard Stratton was the unlikeliest of kingpins. A clean-cut kid from an old New England family who entered outlaw culture on a trip to Mexico, he saw his search for a joint morph into a thrill-filled dope run smuggling two kilos across the border in his car door. He became a member of the Hippie Mafia, traveling the world to keep America high, living the underground life while embracing the hippie credo. With cameos by Whitey Bulger and Norman Mailer, Smuggler's Blues tells Stratton's adventure while centering on his last years as he travels from New York to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley to source and smuggle high-grade hash in the midst of civil war, from the Caribbean to the backwoods of Maine, and from the Chelsea Hotel to the Plaza as his fortunes rise and fall. All the while he is being pursued by his nemesis, a philosophical DEA agent who respects him for his good business practices.

A true-crime story that reads like fiction, Smuggler's Blues is a psychedelic road trip through international drug smuggling, the hippie underground, and the war on weed. As Big Marijuana emerges, it brings to vivid life an important chapter in pot's cultural history.

About this title

From the Author:

Richard Stratton wrote the novel Smack Goddess during his eight-year term in federal prison. He is now an acclaimed filmmaker and screenwriter whose films won prizes at Cannes and the Berlin Film Festival. A writer and consultant for HBO's Oz, he was the creator, writer, and executive producer of Showtime's Street Time. He is the founder of Prison Life, the former editor and publisher of High Times, and a contributor to Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, Details, Newsweek, and Playboy. He lives with his wife and children in New York City.

About the Author:

Richard Stratton is also the author of the cult classic novel Smack Goddess and an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. He was a writer and consultant for HBO’s Oz and the creator, writer, and executive producer of Showtime’s Street Time. He is a court-certified expert on prison culture, prison violence, and international drug trafficking. As a journalist, he won a New York Press Club award for his magazine article “Godfather and Son.” He was the founder of the magazine Prison Life and an editor and publisher of High Times. He lives with his wife and children in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcade
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1628729112
• ISBN 13: 9781628729115
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312