Smuggler's Blues: A True Story of the Hippie Mafia

by Richard Stratton

Goodfellas meets Savages meets Catch Me If You Can in this true tale of high-stakes smuggling from pot’s outlaw years.

Richard Stratton was the unlikeliest of kingpins. A clean-cut Wellesley boy who entered outlaw culture on a trip to Mexico, he saw his search for a joint morph into a thrill-filled dope run smuggling two kilos across the border in his car door. He became a member of the Hippie Mafia, traveling the world to keep America high, living the underground life while embracing the hippie credo, rejecting hard drugs in favor of marijuana and hashish. With cameos by Whitey Bulger and Norman Mailer, Smuggler’s Blues tells Stratton’s adventure while centering on his last years as he travels from New York to Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley to source and smuggle high-grade hash in the midst of civil war, from the Caribbean to the backwoods of Maine, and from the Chelsea Hotel to the Plaza as his fortunes rise and fall. All the while he is being pursued by his nemesis, a philosophical DEA agent who respects him for his good business practices.

A true-crime story that reads like fiction, Smuggler’s Blues is a psychedelic road trip through international drug smuggling, the hippie underground, and the war on weed. As Big Marijuana emerges, it brings to vivid life an important chapter in pot’s cultural history.

Genres: True Crime, Audiobook, Crime, Nonfiction, Memoir

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2016

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Smugglers Blues tells Rick Stratton’s embellished story about the last years of his time as a mid-level marijuana smuggler. On the plus side, Rick is a talented enough writer that this story is very readable and will keep the reader interested.
However, his talent for words also exposes him as a self-involved narcissist without a shred of regard for those around him. He makes vague hints at some sort of post-prison redemption and tries occasionally to make the case that he is, at heart, a basically good person who got caught up in the trappings of his accidental career path, or that he is operating at some higher code of ethics that separates him from any other run of the mill dealer or drug handler. Yet, everything about this book shows that he still takes pleasure in his shady exploits, whether remembering the specifics of how he burned so many of his friends, or while writing crude, adolescent tales of his sexual fantasies and exploits. The book was just well written enough to keep me from stopping.

[Gregory Zeigert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wavered between 2 and 3 stars on this. I gave it a 3 because I enjoyed the business aspect part of the story when it came to his smuggling activities. I couldn't go any higher because I really disliked the constant bragging about his sexual exploits and appetites as well as his general arrogance. I suppose that is just the type of person that ends up in this type of "work" but I could have gone with a little less of his veering off into those types of discussions as well as his general philosophizing.

[Djj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Stratton was a big time smuggler of hash in the 60s and 70s, but got busted when he tried tom import 15 tons of it to new york in the early 80s. The events of the book are real and frantically told as he runs from one messed up situation to another.

Richard Stratton tells a story well, and when he focusses on his drug smuggling exploits the book is interesting, and populated with some known figures, like Norman Mailer and Rosie Rosebowtham. But he's prone to long stream of consciousness rants about everything from the war on drugs to his views on woman which, let's say, are often a little icky. His two page rant on why he likes to have sex with them should probably have been edited out. Might be hard for some readers to get past :-(.

[Philip Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. An account straight out of the mind of a genius

Only this genius was the master of deception, who played the game starting with nothing and winning some huge pots in ironic poker terms! In the end, the bureaucrats always win, though, and confiscate the pots so carefully won with extraordinary imagination and big balls.
It’s a tribute to his talent both at smuggling and writing that you’re cheering for him to win and end up despising the bureaucrats who bring him down to earth from such lofty and glowing heights!

[Debbie Nunez · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like the anti-hero you will love this book. I found myself rooting for Richard Stratton throughout because even though he was selling huge amounts of marijuana and making millions, I found him to be honest about his life and allegiance to his own code, which I admired. I immediately read the follow up book and it was just as good as the first. I would highly recommend this book and his second one, Kingpin, Prisoner on the War on Drugs. Also an excellent read.

[Robert Mynatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, nothing super special

Nothing was all that surprising. No story arch, no stakes that made it worth reading too much into. Just another dealer getting busted and leaning into the James Dean too-fast-to-live schtick 'em up. Palatable for the most part, lack of insight entirely. I felt as if author wanted me to be impressed with how big an a$$ he was.

[Peter C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top shelf

Could not put it down. Excellent education on this whole other world out there. I don't agree with the author always, but I do see him as a bit of a philosopher. His paranoia may not be totally off .

[Julene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much for the on-page personality Richard chose for this book. Was so bored by the last third of the book I thought about putting it down but held out, thinking there might be a quality ending in sight. Negatory, btw.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

So so book about the Richard Stratton and the hippie mafia. A year in his life as a marijuana and hashish smuggler. It tells of his travels to Lebanon and throughout the US to work on his deals and avoid capture. OK read

[Stephen A Giesregen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, interesting read but I believe it is more fiction than fact. It is illegal to profit from illegal activity so writing a book about that activity makes no monetary sense.
The end of the book implies that he has not gone to court yet. So how could he admit to all this illegal activity?

[Todd Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spell binding

Very well written . Kept my interest throughout the whole book. Loved the story and could hardly put the book down.

[Becky Gouvier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy read - 2 days. Wouldn't have spent more. It's got the obligatory steamy sex recounts to break up the monotony of international pot smuggling. Enjoyed the reminders of life before smartphones.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shallow alarmism, fuel for the hysteria of soccer moms: what if her brat becomes wanted by the Federales?

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is not a simple way to sum up this book. It presents a unique narrative but it's hard to follow. The author defines his own moral code but mostly rationalizes personal and legal bad behavior. He pities those dependent on drugs, but he himself has a voracious appetite for alcohol and weed. He references books and literature as some sort of erudite scholar, yet he includes some of the crudest sexual language and carries on like a 15 year old in a whorehouse most of the book.
When I finished the story, I was reminded of the famous book, "Pimp" by Iceberg Slim. That book was also a mostly honest memoir of a life of crime, but was written from the perspective of repentance and a message (maybe insincere) that "crime doesn't pay."
This book is written without any kind of remorse, and serves mostly as an exhaustive recounting of a guy who was trying to live like James Bond as he plays a game all over the world moving goods, money, and people around. He has so little self-awareness of how many people are collateral damage, especially his family and friends. Yes the shipment goes through but leaves in its wake dead bodies and dozens in prison.
I could have done without some of the poetic language in there, and could have done with a greater understanding of his perambulations. "Then I decided to go to Boston." Wait what?
This book is not only about a narcissistic criminal, it's also written in that very style. "I could explain all my comings and goings but you probably wouldn't understand."
In the end, Stratton's hatred of losing leads to a mistake that gets him arrested. By then you'll welcome the relief of many harrowing close calls. "Keep the protagonist in trouble" they tell you when you want to write a narrative. There's enough trouble here for two books, maybe even three.
Still, this is a worthwhile project. I can't believe it was never made into a movie. You could get great visuals with the airplanes, girls, and disguises.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a story of a high stacks, high risk pot smuggler. From Mexico, Canada, the war zone in the middle east and many points in between, Stratton is constantly on the move making the deals and staying ahead of the law.

I thought I would like this book more. However, it is so unrelatable, I could not enjoy it. I simply could not sympathize with the life style nor this character. The book actually got quite tedious while he describes his long stay in the middle east trying to get his deal together. I am glad I finished it however. It certainly is an eye opener.

[Spencer Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read the inside jacket, I had a different idea of what I thought this book was going to be about. I thought it was going to be several different stories. It’s about Stratton’s last big move and how he was captured. I needed to read a book about true crime for my local book club and came across this. If you are looking for a book that details what it takes to be a drug dealer this is it. He explains the planning, setting up people across the globe to get product and how to distribute. It also shines a light on the lavish lifestyle one can have with an abundance of money.

[Kalle Wescott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read /Smuggler's Blues: A True Story of the Hippie Mafia/, by Richard Stratton:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

Surprisingly, I preferred the other Stratton book I read recently, about his time in prison, to this one, about his time as a pot and hash smuggler.

[Karren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first time I picked up Richard Stratton's Smuggler's Blues, I thought this guy is just too full of himself. Why would I want to read this? Then I decided I need some light reading and discovered that Stratton was actually a good writer and an entertaining storyteller.

[Sebastian Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I know where my weed and hash was coming from.

Excellent book. This all took place when I was young and living in the area where this was going down.
I always wondered who was behind all the great hash I was scoring. Now I know. 😂