Maybe you’ve seen the swag generated from the California Proposition 19’s campaign to legalize marijuana for adults. One of the slogans on hats and t-shirts is: Save Humboldt County, Keep Pot Illegal.
Ha, ha?
The Emerald Triangle – Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt counties – may represent the capital of weed production in America but the soul of weed production lies in Humboldt. Second, third generation growers. Keepers of the genetics. It’s about money and economic survival, of course, but it’s also about a way of life and a history. In a way, they’ve been a guardian of the plant under prohibition, a culture on the fringe protecting old magic, hiding among the outlaws.
Outlaws. They’re different than criminals. Outlawing is one of the ways we progress as a society. Someone does something outside the law. They sit at the counter they’re not supposed to sit at. I’m not making any comparisons between the civil rights movement and ending cannabis prohibition. I’m talking about operating outside of circumscribed society. Grave-robbing doctors built the foundation for our knowledge of anatomy. Banned gods have led to world religions. When Susan B. Anthony went to vote, she was arrested and thrown in jail. She was acting as an outlaw.
They call it the edge for a reason.
Outlaws know what to do when the authorities are climbing the hills. But here comes legalization. Do you run? Do you stand your ground? How?
