Legalization Nation's long-running Author Night series will continue the evening of September 17 at the Rock Steady cocktail bar in Oakland with Cannabis Author Showcase IV!

Our first featured author will be Michael Backes, author of Cannabis Pharmacy, one of the best new books to describe how exactly patients are using the botanical for a variety of conditions. It's billed as "the practical guide to medical marijuana" with "evidence-based information on using cannabis for ailments and conditions, plus a comprehensive guide to the most popular varieties." (Cannabis Pharmacy is out now on Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers).

Cheri Sicard, author of 2015's Mary Jane: The Complete Marijuana Handbook for Women, will also be joining us. Serving a radically underserved segment essential to reforms — women — Mary Jane focuses on aspects of cannabis that are often overlooked, including chapters on pot and parenting, beauty products, cannabis party hosting, edible recipes, and gardening.

We have a couple more exciting, dynamic, thought-leading authors we're almost ready to announce, so stay tuned.

We do it talk-show style, with authors engaging in a one on one Q&A with your Legalization Nation columnist, David Downs (contributing author of Beyond Buds, 2014). After we've empaneled our authors, we do some roundtable discussion, take questions from the audience, then break for food, drink, and book sales and signings.

Cannabis Author Showcase IV is brought to the Bay Area by Legalization Nation and our podcast The Hash. Our media sponsors are East Bay Express and Smell the Truth. Our community sponsors are Oaksterdam University and ReformCA.

Hope to see you there!