Pothead: My Life as a Marijuana Addict in the Age of Legal Weed

by Neal Pollack

A poignantly funny account of humorist and "Greatest Living American Author" Neal Pollack's years as a marijuana addict.


Beginning innocently enough in his 20s when pot made everything―food, music, sex―better. Getting married, having a kid, and enjoying professional success didn't tamp down Pollack's addiction. As cannabis grew stronger and more widely available, Pollack's dependence was shadowed by the expansion and acceptance of the marijuana Big Business.

By 2014, Neal was a correspondent for a national marijuana newspaper, mostly because it meant free pot. Diving into the wild, wicked world of weed with both lungs, Pollack proceeds to smoke, vape, and eat his way to oblivion, leading to terrible public meltdowns and other embarrassing behavior. After his mother dies in 2017, he spirals out of control, finally hitting bottom during a reckless two-day gambling and drug-filled binge, culminating in a public crack-up at the World Series in Dodger Stadium. Three weeks later, he quit.

Sober after joining a 12-step program, Neal outed himself publicly as a marijuana addict in a 2018 New York Times op-ed piece, leading to his decision to document his addiction experience as a cautionary tale for the millions of recreational users in the hazy age of legalized marijuana.

Often hilarious and equally self-deprecating, Neal continues his insightful probing of his life with Alternadad (Pantheon, 2007) through Stretch: The Unlikely Making of a Yoga Due (Harper Perennial, 2010).

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Addiction, Audiobook, Biography, Humor

300 pages, Paperback

Published June 16, 2020

About the author

Neal Pollack’s first book, The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature, was published in 2000, becoming an (almost) instant cult classic. His debut novel, Never Mind the Pollacks, hit shelves in 2003, and was shamelessly promoted by his band, The Neal Pollack Invasion. In 2007, he published Alternadad, a best-selling memoir. In 2010, Pollack became a certified yoga teacher and published Stretch, a nonfiction account of his adventures in American yoga culture. He has contributed to The New York Times, Wired, Slate, Yoga Journal, and Vanity Fair, among many other publications. Thomas & Mercer published his historical noir novel Jewball in March 2012, and debuted his "yoga detective" novel, Downward-Facing Death, in serialized fiction form in September, 2012. His latest book, a time-traveling romantic comedy called Repeat, will be published in March 2015. He and his wife, the painter Regina Allen, live with their son in Austin, Texas.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, if you’re one -- like me -- who has followed the career trajectory of the writer Neal Pollack you’ll be glad to find some of the greatest hits from social media and freelance articles expanded and fleshed out in Pothead: The Eggers breakup? Check; The pitcher of water over the head in Amsterdam? Check; The meltdown at the World Series? Check; His victory snatched from the jaws of defeat Jeopardy playing? Check. But it's mainly the story of the author’s addiction to marijuana.

The last time I saw anyone fess up to his pot addiction publicly it was a long, long time ago: Buddy Hackett bared his soul on The Tonight Show, telling Johnny that he’d let many years go up in smoke. Such are never stories to make big headlines, as weed addiction is seen as an “inconvenient truth,” I suppose. And sure, there’s a debate about whether pot addiction is a thing. Pothead falls firmly on the side of “Yes, it’s a thing.”

Pollack measures out the humor and pathos of his situation well. But fear not, it’s more instructive than preachy. And yes, quite entertaining. Understand that this isn’t Nelson Algren stuff. It just isn’t that down and dirty. Consider: Pollack, a writer of some success, got stoned for a long time, did a lot of fun things -- like fly off to Europe to drive luxury cars and publish stories about them -- but admits there were a lot of non-fun things that adults call “responsibilities” he studiously neglected. All because he got high.

Enjoyable to read scenes of poker playing in a couple sketchier Texas bars apparently weren’t that enjoyable to experience. This was a fairly big bump in the road to getting clean, when the card game filled the void created by quitting weed. Starting as a hobby it soon became an obsession, to the detriment of his family life. From pothead to card shark (in bars and online) was -- one might observe -- a bad bet.

But after a one-two punch of tragedy and some tense domestic times Pollack ultimately pulls himself together and ends his story on a positive and hopeful note. The evidence of his new sobriety is this well-crafted book.

[Nathan Hebda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a book about marijuana addiction or recovery. It’s a book about the author being a giant man-child as an addict, and then being a giant man-child while in recovery. It gets two stars instead of one for the occasional humorous anecdotes that also had very little to do with either topic.

[Robin Filipczak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat uneven for me, but am I glad someone is writing about marijuana addiction. Pollack is the stoner's spirit animal and he does a mitzvah for the recovery community.

[Cristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

mediocre read from an irritating egomaniac.

[Xina Uhl · Rating 4 out of 5]

About halfway through this book I had to step aside in awe at Pollack's skill in weaving a narrative of seemingly disparate subjects under the pothead umbrella. I couldn't seem to stop reading about Pollack's life as a Jeopardy contestant, poker-obsessed loon, and trivia magnate. Each fascinating vignette ends with "... and I didn't care because I was a stoner" or something along those lines. It's all interesting stuff, and the pacing is perfect. Pollack is a professional and his words read easy.

A bittersweet and wryly funny look at the troubles and triumphs of life, and a hopeful journey through addiction to recovery.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is worth a read. It manages to address grief and addiction in an entertaining manner without veering into deep melodrama. The grief of losing a parent resonates without ever hammering the reader over the head.

Though the writing is frank, it's not darkly, dramatically, paint off the walls honest, which left me curious about unshared details, while also satisfied w. what was shared. That takes skill. I think people who struggle with a slightly out of hand addiction of any kind would find merit in Neal's story.

[Hannah Hayes · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I did really like the depiction of marijuana addiction and how the author found recovery. However, I was left wondering about his possible gambling addiction. I felt like he wrote a significant about having a gambling addiction and how it affected him and his family, but after that it was not mentioned again. I would’ve loved to have read about if he found recovery and how that went for him.

[Jonpaul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neal doesn't attempt to make himself look good while retracing the steps that brought him to sobriety. Pothead is frequently funny but often in the cringiest ways. It may not seem it, but that's high praise. It takes guts to detail one's most embarrassing moments as an addict, and more readers will relate to it than the author even realizes.

[Cassie Bee · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF got more then halfway before I got bored. I don't know if the author was trying 2 be funny but by comparing taking dabs 2 crack and crack addiction was a bit of a stretch for me. 1.5

[Amber Sema · Rating 1 out of 5]

This isn’t a book focused on marijuana addiction and recovery. Instead, it was a man taking an opportunity to share his mediocre life story under the guise that the memoir is dedicated to the topic of marijuana addiction.

First, I don’t know what surprises me more: that this man has a wife, or that he has a son. It’s bad enough that it’s true that he did things like meet up with a random younger married woman for a baseball game while himself married, but it’s even worse that he felt the need to publish these stories in a book for the whole world to have access to. Publishing these stories was something like a humiliation ritual, not only for him, but also for his wife and son - I couldn’t help but wonder how they felt about the existence of this book. While there is some self-reflection on his behavior in the book, there’s not nearly enough. A proper amount of self-reflection would have led him to realize that there was no need to publish this book, as it offers no societal utility. Someone recovering from a marijuana addiction would not be able to extract any helpful tips from this story.

Overall, I listened to this book to hear about a man’s journey recovering from a marijuana addiction. Instead, I listened to him ramble on and on about his immature behavior and high school-level thoughts. As another reviewer said, this is not a book about marijuana addiction, but rather the memoir of a narcissistic man-child rambling on and wasting his readers’ time. His memoir should have a different title so that it won’t mislead readers who would like to hear about the alleged topic of the book.

[Danielle Freetly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would probably give this book a higher rating if it was named something different. The author talks about gambling, grief, and death just as much, if not more than he talks about his pot usage. I want to acknowledge that my expectations going into reading this book probably impact a lower rating, but the way it’s named makes the book sound like it’s about marijuana, addiction, and recovery. There was barely anything in this book about his recovery process, which was what I was most looking forward to hearing about. I’m not giving this book one star because the author is pretty funny and reading. It was semi-entertaining.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook. As one who does not partake of the green weed, the world of potheads is a complete mystery to me. And now I am even more certain that I’d like to keep it that way.

That said, I enjoyed listening to Pollack’s experiences. He’s a humorous and clever writer. The section about Jeopardy is quite detailed and exciting! I also liked that the author very frankly admits to missteps and seems to have grown as a person over the timespan covered by this book.

[Andi Plouffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even in the end, his thoughts and feelings are all him centered, but thinks he is empathetic and helpful.....for....doing the bare minimum. There to help care for dad but got upset he was expected to even pick up after himself? He was 'sober' then. Fuck this dude and his wife should have divorced him.

[Steve Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mix of hilarity and sobriety. Some bits were rather cringe-worthy, while at other times I was laughing out loud. I appreciate light being shed on the fact that a certain small percentage of people can become dependent on cannabis.

[Beth Slucher · Rating 4 out of 5]

When in San Francisco...read Neal Pollack's darkly funny and sometimes poignant memoir. Oh, his poor, long suffering wife. I hope he and his family are thriving. https://reginaallen.com/Artist.asp?Ar...

[Evil Secret Ninja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great memoir about marijuana use and addiction. The author has been through some stuff and struggled with his addiction. It is nice to add a voice to the growing community who are trying to address the problem of addiction in marijuana.

[H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A large part of the book is not about marijuana addiction, which makes the reading somewhat tiring for those who chose it based on the title. The final chapters dealing with family details are quite exhausting.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked first part. The rest not so much. Don’t like this author. Like the fictional yoga books but not repeat and last sections of this

[Kevin Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If you can stay mostly clear of what hurts you the most, then at least you have a decent chance at contentment”

[Erin Nudi · Rating 4 out of 5]

You CAN be addicted to pot. And gambling!

[Alison Donnelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story just made me nostalgic for life as a pothead.

[Asterios Kokkinos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super well done!

Crisp, fast and funny. Also heartbreaking. Give it a shot if you’re considering recovery yourself, it’s well worth a look.