Higher Etiquette: A Guide to the World of Cannabis, from Dispensaries to Dinner Parties

by Lizzie Post

Overview

Emily Post has gone to pot.

As we enter the dawn of a new "post-prohibition" era, the stigma surrounding cannabis use is fading, and the conversation about what it means to get high is changing. When it comes to being a respectful, thoughtful, and responsible consumer of pot, there is a lot you need to know. In Higher Etiquette, Lizzie Post—great-great granddaughter of Emily Post and co-president of America's most respected etiquette brand—explores and celebrates the wide world of legalized weed. Combining cannabis culture's long-established norms with the Emily Post Institute's tried-and-true principles, this book covers the social issues surrounding pot today, such as:

How to bring it to a dinner party or give it as a gift

Why eating it is different from inhaling it

How to respectfully use it as a guest

Why different strains affect you in different ways

How to be behave at a dispensary

How to tackle pot faux pas such as "canoed" joints and "lawn-mowed" bowls

This handy guide also provides a primer on the diverse array of cannabis products and methods of use, illuminating the many convenient and accessible options available to everyone from experienced users to newbies and the canna-curious. Informative, charming, and stylishly illustrated, this buzzworthy book will make the ultimate lit addition to your stash.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399582394
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	03/26/2019
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Lizzie Post is the great-great-granddaughter of Emily Post, author of Higher Etiquette and How Do I Work This Life Thing?, and co-author of past editions of Emily Post’s Etiquette, The Etiquette Advantage in Business, Emily Post’s Wedding Etiquette, and Emily Post's Great Get-Togethers. She is co-president of the Emily Post Institute (EPI), co-host of EPI's Awesome Etiquette podcast, and shares etiquette advice across the country.

Read an Excerpt

When I began this project and started telling friends and family the subject matter, I received emphatic encouragement from many. For those who consume cannabis, weed etiquette is real, and it was high time someone wrote a book about it. Others had a harder time understanding the connection between pot and etiquette. To better bridge the gap, I’d like to introduce you to Emily Post etiquette and show you how it connects with the world of cannabis culture. Emily Post said, “Whenever two people come together and their behavior affects one another, you have etiquette. It is not some rigid code of manners.”

It was this attitude that has made Emily Post North America’s go-to source for etiquette advice for the past ninety-five years. With a hit 1930s radio program The Right Thing to Do, a best-selling book Etiquette (now in its nineteenth edition), and an ability to be both relatable and aspirational, Emily Post helped define American manners. Though Emily died in 1960, her practical and kind approach toward social graces has been carried on by her family through the Emily Post Institute. There, my cousin Daniel Post Senning and I are the fifth generation to run the company. Given Emily’s definition, it’s safe to say that cannabis culture is baked in etiquette, has been for a long time, and goes far beyond puff-puff-pass.

So what is etiquette? At the Emily Post Institute, we say that etiquette is made up of two things: manners and principles. Manners are fascinating. They are the actions, words, and expectations that we create as a society for interacting with one another. Manners help us to know what is expected from us and what we can expect from others in a given situation. Manners can be good or bad. They are specific to periods of time, and they vary by country, by culture, and even by social group or family. When changes occur in a culture (like the legalization of cannabis), new manners emerge, and others become traditions of the past or obsolete. Principles are reassuring. They are the concepts that can help guide us toward good interactions when there are no specific manners.

The principles that we believe influence etiquette are consideration, respect, and honesty. When our intentions are based on these principles, even when things go badly, others can understand our good intent. These three principles can be applied to any situation in which you may find yourself. If you think about how the people in a given situation are affected (consideration), acknowledge the potential effects of possible solutions on those involved (respect), and choose to act in a way that genuinely benefits the most people in the situation (honesty), you’re likely going to find a solution that will solve the problem at hand as well as honor and build the relationships involved. In short: etiquette is about being aware of all the factors contributing to a situation and how the possible outcomes could impact each of the players. Good etiquette looks for the outcome that positively benefits the most people.

Editorial Reviews

…helpful and inquisitive…This is a friendly book, the one to give to your cousin who is about to visit her first dispensary on a "weedcation" (one of the many portmanteaus that fill this book, like Hindu Kush inside a hollowed-out cigar), or your aunt who wants to learn about CBD oil, made from a chemical compound in cannabis, to palliate the burden of her arthritis pain.

The New York Times - Dwight Garner

Helpful and inquisitive . . . This is a friendly book, the one to give to your cousin who is about to visit her first dispensary . . . or your aunt who wants to learn about CBD oil. . . . If this book’s prose had a tail, it would always be wagging.”—The New York Times

"This pot primer is at once authoritative and approachable, filled with answers to the sorts of questions that might make a newbie feel like a nerd. For those whose stoner schooling stopped at puff, puff, pass, there is now a literal guidebook. And it’s good."—Quartzy

"Those new to the cannabis scene, or those curious about it, would do well to check out Post’s work, directed as it is to a more enjoyable and stress-free experience for all involved."—Publishers Weekly

“This is the coolest book on cannabis culture to date. Lizzie Post nailed it with Higher Etiquette!”—Tom Marshall, Phish songwriter

“You might not think you need a book on the etiquette of weed, but trust me: you do. With her signature charm, wit, and insight, Lizzie Post illuminates the newest frontier of etiquette and grace. Whether you partake or not, this book is nothing short of delightful.”—Kelly Williams Brown, author of Adulting and Gracious

“Higher Etiquette is incredibly detailed and well thought-out in its description of cannabis social mores and practices, lending the proper credence to a subject that has for too long been hidden or simply thought of as a joke. Cannabis is every bit as important to society as wine or beer and even more complex in terms of its interaction with society and etiquette.”—Ry Prichard, cannabis specialist and co-host of Bong Appétit

“With its wonderful advice on entertaining with cannabis, Higher Etiquette is a gift. Bravo to Ms. Post for bringing such class and style, as always, to this issue.”—Cat Cora, award-winning chef, author, restaurateur, and first female inductee into the Culinary Hall of Fame

“This book is the definitive guide to understanding the etiquette and traditions of cannabis. Lizzie Post provides a fun perspective while respecting the plant and the community that surrounds it.”—Will Hyde, cannabis expert at Leafly

From the Publisher