The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) estimates that Americans in the early 1970's were smoking upwards of 35,000 pounds of marijuana per day. Time magazine reported that ganja had become "the most widely accepted illegal indulgence since drinking during Prohibition." Jimmy Divine had a huge role in America's appetite for cannabis.

Jimmy Divine grew up poor in the Bahamas. As a boy he became an expert fisherman and boater. One morning, as Jimmy went for his daily run on the beach, his life was forever altered when multiple bales of high quality Columbian grass washed ashore. Divine removed the bales, with a law enforcement buddy, and was able to offer them to an established smuggler named Chief. Jimmy Divine was paid over $300,000 for his effort. Thus began his involvement in the lucrative marijuana smuggling business. Jimmy Divine went on to make millions, but, like a modern day Robin Hood, gave much of it back to friends and relatives in The Bahamas.

Divine also was a child actor appearing in the television show 'Flipper' and as a speed boat operator in a James Bond film that was shot in The Bahamas. Somehow he even managed to score a ticket to Princess Diana's wedding in England!!

For approximately the next ten years, Jimmy and a cast of characters were responsible for bringing in the highest quality smoke to mainland Florida. His knowledge of boats and the Atlantic Ocean were vital in allowing him to always stay one step ahead of the DEA or the US Coast Guard. There were many close calls but Jimmy Divine seemed to enjoy a constant cat and mouse came with the Feds. Hilarious tales are told along the way, including one of a Bahamian Preacher who stored bales of cannabis under his church. After observing bales being dropped from the sky from his pulpit window, as the church service went on one day, the parishioners' eyes were getting redder and redder! Divine escapes a near bust when he hides in an empty Bahamas hotel room and then is smuggled out by a friendly cleaning woman in a laundry hamper. The suspense is often at a fever pitch and I found myself finishing Weed Man in two days time.

When Ronald Reagan became President, he decided to crack down on the illegal Columbian drug trade. Divine and his partners simply shifted their efforts to Jamaica which also produced potent strains of marijuana. Eventually, Jimmy Divine grew tired of the smuggler's life, and decided to retire and live in tranquility in The Bahamas. However, he was called out of retirement to do one more job. This is where the story becomes mind blowing. The author alleges that Jimmy Divine helped the US Government smuggle a huge load of hashish from Afghanistan and deliver it to a warehouse in Massachusetts. The CIA was said to be involved with the money from the hashish sale going towards arming the Afghani rebels who were fighting the Soviet Union at the time. Also, proceeds could have benefited Nicaragua which was also involved in fighting the spread of Communism.

Weed Man is one of the most explosive books you will ever read. John McCaslin is a long time, highly respected Washington journalist who leaves the reader hanging on with each suspenseful page. Nationally syndicated radio host and Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy said, "McCaslin brings his exceptional reportorial talent to bear in a fascinating expose of the drug trade." And Mark Bowden, author of 'Black Hawk Down' said, "Told in a breezy, witty style, McCaslin's book captures moments in relatively recent Caribbean history when it was again possible to make a fortune by the ability to steer a boat stealthily through dangerous seas."

Weed Man: The Remarkable Journey of Jimmy Divine
By John McCaslin (Published by Thomas Nelson)

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Weed Man: The Remarkable Journey of Jimmy Divine

Article by Scott Acton:
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