REEFER MADNESS IN BLUEGRASS COUNTY: COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND ROLES IN THE RURAL KENTUCKY MARIJUANA INDUSTRY

Abstract

Based on interviews with 55 members of a rural Kentucky community that serves as a base for the marijuana industry, this paper examines the roles of industry participants, community members and examines how community structure and culture facilitate this illegal enterprise. The goal of this paper is to show that rather than being perceived as deviant activity introduced by a minority of residents, the production of marijuana is facilitated by community structures and roles of community members. Presented as an organized criminal network, the rural marijuana industry is comprised nearly entirely of men, who fulfill one of five distinct roles. In addition to the previously identified roles of the communal grower, hustler and pragmatist this analysis offers the roles of the young punk and entrepreneur. Community members fulfill one of seven basic roles, each of which is shown to facilitate the continued presence and success of the industry. Finally, women of marijuana industry rural communities are examined, and shown to occupy three distinct roles — decent women, strumpets and women-in-between — which are evolving with changes in the industry's operations and culture.