Revised and updated! Handy and to the point, this pocket-sized book gives you ''the dope'' on pot, from possible side effects and risks to medical uses and their efficacy.

• This concise guide to cannabis delves into pot culture and history, from Herodotus to the hippies and beyond, as well as the essentials of using, cultivating, and cooking with weed; identifying pot varieties; and understanding legal and health issues.

• Portable size: 4-1/4'' wide x 5-3/4'' high; fits in your back pocket.

• Concealed wire-o binding lies flat for easy reading.

• Durable hardback cover material.

• Elastic band attached to back cover keeps your place or keeps book closed.

• 160 pages.

Author Steve Elliott is a journalist and editor of the Village Voice Media blog, ''Toke of the Town: Cannabis Culture News and Views'' (www.tokeofthetown.com). His specialties are drug policy reform, medical marijuana, and marijuana legislation. Steve is also the cannabis/dispensary critic for the Seattle Weekly print and Web column ''Toke Signals.'' He is based in the greater Seattle area.

REVIEWS:

''From cover to cover, The Little Black Book of Marijuana delivers exactly what it promises: An easy-to-read, well-researched informatively entertaining 'essential guide to the world of cannabis' . . . If a cannabis fan was forced to choose one piece of weed-themed literature to bring with him or her to a deserted island (or even just on a long plane ride), it should probably be this one.'' --Seattle Weekly blog

''Calling Steve Elliott an accomplished journalist in the fields of drug policy reform and medical cannabis would be a significant understatement . . . As far as broad-spectrum introductions go you'd be hard-pressed to find better.'' --4Evergreen Group