It had to happen sooner or later. Government reports progressively stated that marijuana was not only not addictive but possession should be downgraded from a felony to a misdemeanor and finally that it was little worse than liquor, if indeed it was worse at all.

          But when the President-elect of the United States discreetly let it be known to a major campaign contributor (who just happened to own a huge tobacco company) that he planned to legalize marijuana after his inauguration, the race was on. Could Coronet Tobacco Company take advantage of its knowledge of impending legislation to be the first on the market?

          The potential stakes made even the billion-dollar tobacco business look small by comparison. The market for a legal marijuana cigarette would include millions of consumers of liquor, tranquilizers, and cigarettes, as well as the huge illegal underground market among the young, which had already made hundreds of pushers rich.

         But the penalties were also great. Selling marijuana was against the law and anyone trying to be first on the market was taking the risk of getting caught with illegal marijuana on hand before legalization. And what would happen if under political pressure the President-elect broke his promise?

          ACAPULCO GOLD is the fast-paced story of the selling of the first marijuana cigarette. It is an inside look at the advertising agency and the creative director who handled the account, Michael Evans, who was to be torn between the exciting campaign that would make history and his fears that, reports to the contrary, he was actually selling a dangerous drug.