Book Review: Humboldt: Life on America's Marijuana Frontier by Emily Brady

    Up until I watched a 2008 film titled "Humboldt County" a few weeks ago, I had no idea about the "marijuana capital" of America with it's counterculture roots deeply embedded in the "back-to-the-land-movement". The film was an eye opener for me and really got me intrigued about the whole place. This interest and fascination led me to reading this well written book by Emily Brady.

                                                                 Image courtesy: Amazon

    Whatever a person's view on cannabis and it's legalization are, this book really serves as an important piece of history highlighting the struggles, risks, and turmoils faced by the cannabis farmers and traders, and how the federally illegal business become the backbone of the county's economy. The author does a phenomenal job encompassing the entire Humboldt history, all the way from the humble beginnings of "back-to-the-land-movement" and the pioneer settlers in Southern Humboldt to the current money driven cannabis farmers who are in the game just for the money. This stark contrast in mindset and the evolution of laws regarding this plant has been well captured by the author. 

    By interviewing and dividing chapters based on certain people, the author was able to show the readers how each generation in Humboldt county had significantly different views about the crop, its purpose, and perhaps it's legality. 

    Mare, belonging to the pioneer settlers in the county, saw the plant as a divine crop. She grew just enough to support herself and never viewed the plant as a cash crop that would turn her into a millionaire. She still believed in its healing powers, growing them outdoors and tending to them like a child. While majority of the county moved towards commercialization and large scale indoor cultivation, even after all the decades in Humboldt, she still remained rooted to her core beliefs.

    This is in stark contrast to Crockett, who was in the game just for the money. He represented the new wave of cultivators who came into the county just for making money. To him, the plant served as a way to get rich quickly. By using large scale hydroponics and lights almost as bright as the sun, he was working almost 24 hours a day in his industrial size indoor "pot factory". Not only did the indoor plants yield more money, it was harvested earlier by using artificial lightning and other techniques. It is evident that unlike Mare, he had no emotional connection to the plant or it's humble beginnings whatsoever. Since he made more money in the black market, it was people like him that strictly opposed the legalization of cannabis, as it incidentally would drive down the prices and in turn lesser profit for him and others. It was people like him that proudly displayed the bumper sticker : "Save Humboldt County. Keep Pot Illegal."

    Then there are stories about law enforcement officers like Bob who are operating in a grey area. Even though at the time the book was written, cannabis was legal only for medical use in California, people were abusing this law by growing large scale cultivation instead of 2 or 3 plants with the permit. People like Bob had to sometimes turn a blind eye to this and were often frustrated by this grey area. But even with all that, he tried his best to enforce the law with priority to the safety and well being of the citizens. 

    These are just a few examples of how the book greatly explores the different facets and perspectives about cannabis and its effect on the county and its economy. With this book being released in 2013, when recreational cannabis was still illegal in the state of California to today in 2024 where almost half of the states in America has legalized recreational cannabis, a lot has changed. Many of the struggles people in Humboldt faced back then when the plant was illegal are almost nonexistent now. And soon enough one day when cannabis is federally legal, these struggles would be unheard of, much like how things fare now in the alcohol industry when compared to the probation era. 

    So this book serves as an important piece of history and a reminder of all the effects this plant had on a particular place, its people and its economy while it was still federally illegal. Not only are the lives of people in this book described in great detail, the author was able to provide the reader with different perspectives and thoughts about this plant. 

-Rithin.