Humboldt life on America’s marijuana frontier

Internet piracy: it's an eternal battle pitting indies versus corporations, free spirits against the money grubbing Scrooge McDucks of the world. Right? Sort of, sometimes - maybe not. Beyond that, it's a reminder of the truism that for every action there are consequences. This book deals with this topic.

In the vein of Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief, journalist Emily Brady journeys into a secretive subculture — built on marijuana.

Outside the United States, the words ‘Humboldt County’ mean little. Inside the United States — the home of the war on drugs — those words can prompt a knowing grin.

Humboldt is a narrative exploration of this insular community in northern California, which for nearly 40 years has existed primarily on the cultivation and sale of marijuana. Emily Brady spent a year living with the highly secretive residents of Humboldt County, and her cast of eccentric, intimately drawn characters take us into a fascinating alternate universe — a place where business is done with thick wads of cash, and savings are buried in the backyard.

But as legalisation looms, the community stands at a crossroads, and its inhabitants are deeply divided. Humboldt tells the story of a small town that has become dependent on a forbidden plant, and of how everything is changing as marijuana goes mainstream.