In "Dying to Get High," renowned sociologist Wendy Chapkis and Richard J. Webb delve into the inspiring and politically charged world of medical marijuana. This captivating book provides an inside look at how terminally ill patients came together to create one of the country's first medical marijuana collectives, the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), based in Santa Cruz, California.

As the fight for the right to use physician-recommended marijuana rages on, Chapkis and Webb explore the complex history of medical marijuana in America through the lens of this groundbreaking organization. WAMM, a unique patient-caregiver cooperative, provides marijuana free of charge to its mostly terminally ill members. In 2004, it even briefly operated the only legal non-governmental medical marijuana garden in the country, protected by federal courts against the DEA.

Featuring compelling interviews with patients, public officials, law enforcement officers, and physicians, "Dying to Get High" raises thought-provoking questions about the distinction between legitimate patients and recreational users, good drugs and bad drugs, and the true medicinal effects of marijuana as opposed to merely getting high.

This powerful book transcends the abstract arguments surrounding medical marijuana, delving into the messy reality of how people live, suffer, and die. "Dying to Get High" offers a moving and insightful account of the ongoing debates over the legalization of medical marijuana and sheds light on the lives of the resilient individuals who have fought for access to this life-changing medicine.