TY - JOUR
T1 - Recreational Cannabis and Recriminalization in the “Emerald Triangle”
AU - Kavanaugh, Philip R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. Sociological Inquiry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alpha Kappa Delta: The International Sociology Honor Society.
PY - 2025/5
Y1 - 2025/5
N2 - Cannabis had been illicitly cultivated for over half a century in the isolated tri-county region of far northern California known in drugs lore as the “Emerald Triangle.” The regional industry gained legitimacy and experienced a significant boom in the 1990s when California legalized medical cannabis. In 2016, California legalized cannabis possession, use, and cultivation generally, and recreational sales for adults aged 21+ began in 2018. Drawing from 95 archived news reports published between 2018 and 2022 on California's move to legalize recreational cannabis as experienced in Humboldt County – the most populous in the region – I highlight how recreational legalization has invited opportunities for “soft” criminalization, while further legitimating the spectacle of police intervention into the illicit cannabis market. Soft criminalization has occurred via an onerous labyrinth of permitting laws that place untenable financial pressure on legacy cannabis growers. Entrenched forms of criminalization remain dependent on the trope of dangerous drug gangs, violence, and supposed ecological devastation.
AB - Cannabis had been illicitly cultivated for over half a century in the isolated tri-county region of far northern California known in drugs lore as the “Emerald Triangle.” The regional industry gained legitimacy and experienced a significant boom in the 1990s when California legalized medical cannabis. In 2016, California legalized cannabis possession, use, and cultivation generally, and recreational sales for adults aged 21+ began in 2018. Drawing from 95 archived news reports published between 2018 and 2022 on California's move to legalize recreational cannabis as experienced in Humboldt County – the most populous in the region – I highlight how recreational legalization has invited opportunities for “soft” criminalization, while further legitimating the spectacle of police intervention into the illicit cannabis market. Soft criminalization has occurred via an onerous labyrinth of permitting laws that place untenable financial pressure on legacy cannabis growers. Entrenched forms of criminalization remain dependent on the trope of dangerous drug gangs, violence, and supposed ecological devastation.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105001649745
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105001649745#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1111/soin.12609
DO - 10.1111/soin.12609
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105001649745
SN - 0038-0245
VL - 95
SP - 376
EP - 393
JO - Sociological Inquiry
JF - Sociological Inquiry
IS - 2
ER -
