Books on the Canadian cannabis industry have been coming out since the sudden realisation back in the late 1980s that hydroponics, harsh American laws and lax enforcement had combined to provide the perfect conditions for a new and highly profitable national cash-based industry.

These books have generally tended towards the histrionic. They treat North American law enforcement officials two-dimensionally, as either power-tripping hacks or frustrated crusaders who’d desperately rather look into ‘real’ crime. They paint participants in the recreational cannabis industry as innocent entrepreneurs who can’t wait to make an honest buck once their wares are legalized. They are also plainly written by potheads.

Ian Mulgrew’s Bud Inc., which has been recently re-issued in paperback, is different from most of these books. Generally speaking, it’s much better. Its focus on the Canadian marijuana industry-as-industry is very refreshing. Every passing day makes the idea of recreational marijuana consumption more matter-of-fact Canadians, so it’s about time we got a book that was more informative about the industry than pulpit-bashing over how great it is.

There are some similarities to other books in the genre, and they represent the least interesting parts of the book. Mulgrew, for example, describes his personal consumption habits and history in the industry without shame. Frankly, he also discusses them without context. Readers are interested in the industry, not about the author’s personal role as a consumer within it.

His attitude to law enforcement is also jarring. He refers to American prisons as ‘dungeons’ where busted traffickers languish, while law enforcement agencies get short shrift in terms of their competence or compassion. He gives sad accounts of the harsh prison sentences meted out to his acquaintances in the industry. They’re hard to take in a context where he seems to completely dismiss, for example, the role of the cannabis industry in the death of four Mounties in Alberta in March 2005.

However, in the grand scheme of this book and of its superiority to other books in the genre, these amount to quibbles. Many things make it remarkable in its field. One is the sheer quality of the writing. The overall construction is good and the progression of thoughts much clearer and more logical than most books on cannabis written by cannabis smokers.

Two other factors are especially refreshing: the clear-sighted way in which the book and the subjects therein anticipate legalization, and the harsh but honest light in which industry players are shown.