As featured in the January 2022 edition of … Booklist Magazine from the American Library Association!!!
Dear Science Teachers… Thank you for reading this. My 10th grade biology teacher, Mr. Lee, had a profound impact on me, he inspired me to study biology and to ultimately become a scientist with a Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology. Now 50 years later, I am asking you to have a different kind of impact on a student.
When I recently retired, I wrote a book on a serious problem that has affected my family, my community and I know… your students. It is a book for the general public about the Science of the Harmful Effects of Marijuana. It is informative, entertaining, non-judgemental and readable. Not so easy for a science book.
Whoa Dude! Think on these things before getting too deep into smoking Weed *or what the science of marijuana tells us about the harmful health effects for you, your friends, and your kids. This is a description of the book: https://whoadude-the-book.com/
It has excellent reviews from the professional review services, Kirkus, Blue Ink, Midwest Book Review, Readers Choice, as well as on Amazon.
Contact me if you would like a free copy of the ebook to peruse. Or you or your students read it for Free on the Internet Archive. Have your students take the Weed quiz.
I naively hope you can discuss this book from a scientific perspective in class, maybe as a book report or as a presentation in class. Possibly suggest it to be discussed in Health class or in a school presentation or student presentation on drugs. Maybe ask the school librarian to include it in the library’s collection. I hope it would raise the level of discussion of this topic and help teens and their parents make wise decisions. To help in that, I have a free accessory web page where I have posted all of the references with over 600 links to the original scientific papers.
I would also like to ask if anyone would like to collaborate on creating a presentation on the Science of the Harmful Health Effects of marijuana, that would be appropriate for High School or Middle School.
Regardless of your views on marijuana legalization (I generally support decriminalization, not crass commercialization), What community in America is not confronted with this issue? It affects every state, every family, and every teenager in the US. They all are confused and have questions about weed. The internet is filled with misinformation and industry self promotion that often is wrong, if not harmful. I am sure you know that today’s marijuana is greater than 10 times stronger than in the 1969 Woodstock era, with concentrates up to 50-80% THC. These can cause acute and chronic psychosis. It’s no longer Peace, Love and Woodstock, it’s big business selling increasingly powerful weed and concentrates. I mean for real, do you even think that parents know what Dabs, Budder, or Wax or Shatter is? Do you?
It is about the basic science of the harmful effects to your health, especially to teenagers, young adults and pregnant women. These include psychosis, increased anxiety, dependence, increased fatal car crashes, as well as other harmful effects.Tragically, I get the greatest support from FB groups that have lost kids to drug related suicide or addiction. I find this terribly sad. It should be the other way around. We need to reach these kids, before they get in trouble.
What advice do you have to get this book discussed in High School science class, Health class or added to High School libraries ? Please contact me if you can offer advice, who can I contact? hints, good ideas or even have any questions about weed! If you think this topic is important in the lives of teenagers, their families and young adults… consider suggesting it for your school’s library collections. Contact me if you would like a free copy of the ebook to peruse.
If you are a parent, ask your Librarian to add it to their High school or Public Library collection.
This is not an anti-pot book, with scare tactics or with a just say no vibe. It is also not about medical marijuana, it is about recreational marijuana. It is more focused on the fact that now that marijuana is being legalized or legislation is being debated, you should know about the science of marijuana to make informed health decisions. How can I get this book into every high school library in the US? It is in our local Baltimore County Public Library system in Maryland. It is in at least 31 public and high school libraries in the US… and counting. From Ithaca, NY…to Littleton, CO… to Fairbanks, AK… Please ask your librarian to add it to your collections.
It’s not about me making money, it’s about getting the science out to the public, especially teenagers. I will be surprised if I even approach making back the financial investment I have put into it.
It is found on Amazon, distributed through Ingram and is listed on many book distributors lists, including K-12 book distributor Mackin.
ISBN: 978-1-7367521-0-4 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1-7367521-1-1 (ebook), LCCN: 2021904477
What advice do you have to get this book into High Schools? Please contact me if you can offer advice, hints, good ideas or have any questions about weed! If you are interested in collaborating on a presentation for High school or Middle school, please drop me a line.
Thank you very much. Please pass this link on to your friends and colleagues or post this message to Science teacher blogs, newsletters or lists.
Take care,
Kevin G. Becker Ph.D., Baltimore, MD
p.s. I hope you read it too!
WhoaDude-the-book 
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