drugs in Vineland---and drug laws

[Robin Landseadel]

On Mar 31, 2009, at 12:03 PM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:

> Not every pot-smoker is politically or counter-culturally  
> enlightened (the opposite is more likely to be true).  Neo-nazis and  
> Hell's Angels like a toke too.

Oh yeah, sure.

Thing is—for whatever reason—that doesn't apply as much to Pynchon's  
writing. In real life, sure, of course what you're saying is true. The  
TV series "Weeds" is very conscientious about this sort of thing—note  
how quickly the series turned dark. "Weeds" caught both high hilarity  
of modern-day stoners and the ugly reality of drug cartels. Pynchon's  
is a fictional realm full of commentary about this world, and stuff  
gets juggled around, it's the author's prerogative. This issue is  
broached upon in Gravity's Rainbow with Tchitcherine ripping off  
Slothrop in the midst of a dope deal and the nebulous ethics of Säure  
Bummer, but in Vineland, Mason & Dixon and Against the Day weed is  
usually an indicator of good stuff goin' on. I'm just sayin' . . .

And my take is that the author does state in Vineland that the anti- 
drug crusades are essentially [I know you all asked that this word not  
be used, but it's too late] fascist in concept and execution. That, in  
fact, looks like a major take-away from this novel.