Nan Koltnow Chase ‘76 (College, BA) is co-author of How I Got You Your Ounce: A Pot Dealer’s Journey Through American History with researcher David Belmont. Published by BookBaby, this memoir is an insider’s view of how American popular culture and weed culture grew side-by-side during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Jimmy X was a retail cannabis dealer in New York City for more than 50 years, operating largely “in plain sight” while selling an estimated $30 million worth—some four to five tons—of marijuana over the course of his career. In How I Got You Your Ounce, he offers a rare insider’s look at the evolution of American marijuana culture from the 1960s through 2020.
What began as a secretive and criminalized activity has transformed into an open, state-regulated industry—and Jimmy X brings a front-row perspective on how that change unfolded. He traces the intertwined growth of weed culture and American pop culture, from the countercultural sixties to the age of legalization, while also sharing his candid views on why state-sponsored cannabis sales are struggling nationwide.
Chase is an investigative reporter, the co-author of Drink the Harvest, and a longtime member of the Garden Writers Association and the American Society of Journalists and Authors. A freelance journalist for more than 35 years, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Fine Gardening, Old House Journal, American Bungalow, Southern Living, and many other publications.
