Review: The Pot Plan (From High Times, November 2005, page 34)

Self-described skate punk and anarchist Thomas Brent Andrews is hell-bent on changing the way law enforcement agencies do business by martyring himself for the cause. The Pot Plan: Louie B. Stumblin and the War on Drugs (Chronic Discontent) is a true account of Andrews' life as a small-town journalist and his bouts with alcoholism and drugs.

The book is filled with stories of death-defying episodes, such as Andrews accidentally lighting himself on fire, scaling downtown Nashville's buildings, fighting country thugs and generally defending his punk-rock title. But his biggest scare came when police representatives harassed him for a column he'd written in a Tennessee newspaper about the War on Drugs.

After many years of abusive and destructive drinking, Andrews came up with the "Pot Plan" - putting down the booze in favor of marijuana. While the 552-page tome is filled with fascinating stories of debauchery that are sometimes humorous or shocking (and at other times just plain boring), the book can be confusing as well. Andrews' religious convictions read strongly throughout (he doesn't curse), though he's not afraid to tell some horrifying tales of abuse and neglect towards his wife and child. None of the aforementioned criticisms, however, should deter readers from checking out this book. In addition to defeating the War on Drugs, Andrews wants to come clean with the world in The Pot Plan, and he does so with absolute honesty, incredible descriptions and colorful language. Anyone who's been in a similar situation will pick this book up and sympathize and remember what it was like to live in those dark ages.

Will Jordan/High Times

DFO: Brent Andrews is a former Coeur d'Alene Press reporter and an occasional commenter on HBO. You can find out more about his riveting book, "The Pot Plan," and his battle with drug and alcohol demons via his Web site, Chronic Discontent, which has a link under "Friends of Huckleberries" to the right.

---

---