Book Review: Waiting to Inhale: The Politics of Medical Marijuana

• Author: Michelle Janning
• Published date: 01 May 2005
• Date: 01 May 2005
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016805275692
• Subject Matter: Articles

Although lengthy, Causes of Conduct Disorder and Juvenile Delinquency is well worth

the read. Collectively, the authors have demonstrated expert knowledge of theory implica-

tions and the need for further research. Easily viewed as a researcher’s dream, this book pro-

vides an unsurpassable amount of relevant testable hypotheses, related empirical support,

and more than thorough reference lists at the sum of each chapter. Researchers, practitioners,

and readers in general will find Causes of Conduct Disorder and Juvenile Delinquency more

than satisfactory, a beneficial addition to the literature, and a helpful tool that provides hope

for future treatment and prevention of conduct disorder. This volume provides teachers and

researchers with knowledge about causes of conduct disorder that is crucial when dissemi-

nating information and interpreting findings to students and other practitioners in the field.

Tiffiney Y. Barfield-Cottledge

Prairie View A&M University

Waiting to Inhale: The Politics of Medical Marijuana, by Alan W. Bock. Minneapolis, MN:

Seven Locks Press, 2000, 286 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016805275692

Bock’s book provides readers with a detailed, and largely anecdotal, history of the contro-

versy surrounding the medicinal use of marijuana in California, specifically related to the

passing of Proposition 215 in 1996 and the subsequent lack of clarity concerning marijuana’s

legal use for medicinal purposes. Bock, the senior editorial writer and essayist for the Orange

County Register and expert on the subject regionally, spent much of the past decade inter-

viewing key players surrounding the issue, reporting on key political events,and researching

the relationship between state/local-level jurisdiction and federal regulation of medical mari-

juana. He provides a trustworthy and fair voice in the debate, even as he offers occasional

first-person moments of frustration with conservative practices and ideologies.

The first half of the cleverly titled book is devoted to a retelling of the significant dates

(indeed, one chapter includes a date-by-date chronology of events), politician forces and foi-

bles, and activist group dynamics (and countless acronyms) that all played roles in the even-

tual passing of Proposition 215 in 1996 and in subsequent events. This state-levelproposition

provides patients the legal right to obtain marijuana as a medicine to help relieve symptoms

related to such debilitating illnesses as cancer, glaucoma, and epilepsy.However, the current

problem is in the implementation of the proposition that was approved by voters severalyears

ago. Bock is careful to explain through example that normative practices prevail in many

cases, with people continuing to be arrested since 1996 for possession of marijuana even after

receiving a recommendation from a physician and a legal right (at the state level) to possess

and use the substance. The author includes reference to conservative fears about the slippery

slope of legalization of marijuana for any purpose, and at the same time he makesreference to

concerns of patients and their advocates with regard to potentially dangerous black market

growth and distribution of cannabis.

The second half of the book tackles the issue at a deeper level. Bock goes into detail about

the policy changes in other states, the contested definition of marijuana as a medicine, and the

difference between the legalization of marijuana for medicinal versus recreational purposes.

Book Reviews 99