The New Chardonnay

July 6, 2020
Journalist Cabot (coauthor, Geek Girl Rising) delivers an admiring examination of shifting attitudes toward cannabis and of the activists and entrepreneurs behind that change. Cabot follows Beth Stavola, a New Jersey mom of six and former Wall Street executive, as she invests in Arizona’s medical marijuana industry and expands into well-appointed dispensaries in Nevada and Maryland. Cabot also showcases unexpected legalization advocates, such as former U.S. attorney and devout Mormon Mel McDonald, who changed his opinion on marijuana after seeing how it helped his son’s chronic epilepsy. Readers also meet Bruce Linton, the “Willy Wonka of Weed,” so dubbed because he opened up what would become the world’s largest growing facility in a former Hershey’s chocolate processing plant in Smiths Falls, Ontario; and “cannabis chef” Jeff Danzer, whose tasteless, odorless, but precisely dosable cannabinoid oil enabled him to create gourmet food and drink experiences with a mild THC buzz. The diversity and respectability of these entrepreneurs helps to underscore Cabot’s central argument that “Chardonnay moms” looking to “shrug off the day” or to maximize their “wellness” are the new target market for cannabis products, and her clear affection for and appreciation of her subjects makes for juicy reading. Those seeking an agnostic investigation of these developments, though, should look elsewhere.

July 10, 2020

The changes in legislation toward cannabis in the United States and Canada over the past decade have created a new economy that mixes technology, culture, and cuisine. While traversing the country to follow Beth Stavola's evolution from banking VP to marijuana entrepreneur, Cabot (Geek Girl Rising) delves into the new frontier of building businesses based on a semilegal product. The author jumps among different narratives to reflect the massive movement that began with the first hints at legalization. While recounting the ups and downs of Stavola's business, she also follows rapper Snoop Dogg and TV producer Ted Chung, as they create a media and medical empire that adheres to Snoop's personal philosophy, and Jeff Danzer, "The 420 Chef," renowned for his edibles, who helps push cannabis cuisine to the next level. Cabot also focuses on the developments within Canada's legalized marijuana industry and shows how it has spurred the fledgling U.S. industry. The book does for the cannabis industry what Tracy Kidder's The Soul of a New Machine did for the microcomputer industry 40 years ago. VERDICT Cabot cuts through the hype and romance of the counterculture to identify the emergence of a burgeoning industry focused on housewives and seniors. Highly recommended.--John Rodzvilla, Emerson Coll., Boston

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July 1, 2020
Award-winning journalist and former ABC News correspondent Cabot traces the evolution of modern cannabis culture and the drug's eventual acceptance as social stigmas surrounding it began to disintegrate. Filled with thought-provoking interviews and a cast of characters including Snoop Dogg and his business partner Ted Chung, Cabot's narrative takes readers from California wine country to rural Canada, where the Willy Wonka of Weed resides. Having gained mainstream popularity, today's marijuana culture is a far cry from the days of reefer madness and D.A.R.E. programs. In the introduction, Cabot describes her search for answers: The idea that it might be ?okay'?socially acceptable even?for mature adults to partake in something once so strictly forbidden was frankly mind-blowing [. . .] and deliciously intriguing at the same time. This fun and enlightening read accurately summarizes the forward momentum that the cannabis industry has enjoyed these past few years, and provides an in-depth look at the movement's influence on social justice, modern cultural norms, and politics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2020
The complicated story of how marijuana went from back alleys to a multibillion-dollar American industry. In Geek Girl Rising (2017), former ABC news correspondent Cabot spotlighted successful professional women in the male-dominated tech industry. Here, she applies the same investigative reporting skills to the now-mushrooming cannabis industry, producing an intriguing, character-driven narrative about "a complicated and controversial topic." Wisely, the author focuses on primary figures who have not only profited from this new enterprise, but changed the culture around the substance as well--e.g., Beth Stavola, a Jersey Shore mother who attained wealth in the Arizona medical marijuana business; Wanda James, the first Black entrepreneur to own a business license in the cannabis industry; Bruce Linton, the founder of the first marijuana company to trade publicly; and Mel MacDonald, "former U.S. Attorney appointed by President Ronald Reagan, fifth-generation Mormon, elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), and unexpected supporter of legalizing medical marijuana." Perhaps the most interesting figure is Jeff Danzer, a home cook who has sought to match the various flavors and aromas of cannabis to a wide variety of dishes as well as distilling the plant down its purest, most delectable essences. Danzer created cuisine so delightful that Kate Hudson served up his treats at her star-studded birthday party, and he eventually earned the nickname "Julia Child of Weed." Another prominent figure is Ted Chung, a Wharton alum who leads Snoop Dogg's cannabis investment strategy. On stage in 2019, Snoop noted, "I love the fact that I used to be a bad guy known for smoking weed like you used to read about me....Now it's all love and it's all peace and all understanding." Indeed--and Cabot covers much of the relevant territory, from entrepreneurship to women's health to social justice. An entertaining story of the curious arc that brought the cannabis industry out of the shadows.

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