Burning Rainbow Farm: How a Stoner Utopia Went Up in Smoke

by Dean Kuipers

The gripping story of two marijuana advocates gunned down by the FBI after a five-day standoff.

On a mission to build a peaceful, pot-friendly Shangri-La, Tom Crosslin and his lover Rollie Rohm founded Rainbow Farm, a well-appointed campground and concert venue tucked away in rural Southwest Michigan. The farm quickly became the center of marijuana and environmental activism in Michigan, drawing thousands of blue-collar libertarians and hippie liberals, evangelicals and militiamen to its annual hemp festivals. People came from all over the country to support Tom and Rollie's libertarian brand of They loved America but didn't like the War on Drugs.

As Rainbow Farm launched a popular statewide ballot initiative to change marijuana laws, local authorities, who had scarcely tolerated Rainbow Farm in the past, began an all-out campaign to shut the place down. Finally, in May 2001, Tom and Rollie were arrested for growing marijuana. Rollie's 11-year-old son, who grew up on Rainbow Farm, was placed in foster care – Tom would never see him again. Faced with mandatory jail terms and the loss of the farm, Tom and Rollie never showed up for their August court date. Instead, the state's two best-known pot advocates burned Rainbow Farm to the ground in protest. County officials called the FBI, and within five days Tom and Rollie were dead. Obscured by the attacks of September 11, their stories will be told here for the first time.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published June 13, 2006

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating. The next time you see a report distilling the drug war into its tidy stereotypes, pick up this book and read the tragic story of Tom and Rollie. Blue collar, gay, hard-working, generous, idealist Midwesterners who built a farm in Michigan with which they tried to promote the benefits of hemp and marijuana. Years later, they're driven to burn the place down in a blinding rage and are soon thereafter assassinated by the FBI and state police in a five-day standoff. It all happened the week of September 3rd, 2001 and was completely obscured in the media by the events of 9/11.

I wish I could adequately distill all that happens before the week of that standoff in order to persuade you to read the book, but I'm coming up short. All I can say is I haven't read a book this engrossing since I read Blackhawk Down. It's a brilliant and sad story, framed in the light of this country's draconian drug and forfeiture laws. Highly recommended.

[Jeffrey Dinsmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shit blowing up! Now that's what I'm talking about!

Burning Rainbow Farm tells the sad tale of a incident that happened in September of 2001 in which a pot haven in Michigan was destroyed and its two owners were killed unnecessarily. I had never heard about this story, and according to the author, this is because 9-11 stole all its thunder.

This book is a solid, gripping read for anyone who suspects that, from time to time, perhaps the government's decisions are not perfectly reasonable. A tragic story filled with mysteries and several moments in which you want to shout, "stop! turn back!"

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books you know is going to be painful to read, but you feel that you need to know what really happened because the government can do this to anyone.

Ruby ridge, Waco, Montana, Donald Scott in California,
Rainbow farm, small minds who weasel their way into positions of power in government just have to hammer down any nail that stands up.

I think these weasels think it's cool that they have a license
to kill and go out of their way to use their power.

Tom and Rollie were just a couple of pot heads in rural Michigan, they were not dealers, but that doesn't matter.

FBI killers lay in wait till they could put a bullet in
the middle of Tom's head completely blowing it apart and driving pieces of bone fragments into the face of another person.
One has the feeling they felt proud of their marksmanship.

Also some interesting info about how the asset seizure laws are being abused by greedy cops.

This happened 9 sept 2001 and events 2 days later kept it off the news. With this book you can finally learn the story.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fascinating story but not the most well written. At times the book just jumps all over and you’re not sure what year you’re even in. Near the end, as the book covers the events of what happened at Rainbow Farm, the author does a better job with the timeline. It’s been a tough book to finish.

[Brian Schaible · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing piece of local, at least local where we live, history and most people probably don’t know ever happened.

[Mark Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is why I'm an anarchist. If you don't abjectly obey your masters, they'll take away your child and then assassinate you. My solution: abolish masters.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read about a local farm that held pot festivals before marijuana was legalized in Michigan. Insane to see road names and people I vaguely know.

[Jerry Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story I hadn't heard (overshadowed by 9/11) before. The story is potentially powerful (waiting for the movie); the writing, unfortunately, is not.

[Christine Whittington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most Americans know about the abuses of government power that resulted in Waco and Ruby Ridge. Most people do not get quite as excited about less drastic and dramatic abuses of power, including violations of our Bill of Rights that have become so frequent that we no longer notice them. Most Americans should know about the deaths of Rollie Rohm and Tom Crosslin at Rainbow Farm but do not because of an accident of timing; the events at Rainbow Farm unfolded just days before 9/11. Journalist Dean Kuipers examines with an insightful and critical eye the lives and motivations of hemp activist and unapologetic capitalist Tom Crosslin, his gentle lover Rollie Rohm, and their associates from many different walks of libertarian life, ranging from Tommy Chong to Merle Haggard to the Michigan Militia. Kuipers brings to life the stories of these drug reform and property rights activists who were most definitely breaking the law, but who by no stretch of the imagination were the perils to society that the law enforcement bureaucracy believed them to be.

Kuipers also applies his analytical and descriptive abilities to the Michiana Rust Belt towns and cities that Crosslin and Rohm called home, including Elkhart, Indiana, the RV Capitol of the World--the hometown of this reviewer. Kuipers' perceptions of this depressogenic area ring true in more ways than I want to count.

Personal note: this book was especially interesting to me because Rainbow Farm occupied property once owned by my great-great-great-great grandfather, who was a Quaker abolitionist, working with the underground railroad in Michigan. I went to see the remains of Rainbow Farm summer before last. It is a huge, overgrown empty space with a rut road and a bandshell.

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kuipers writes a very poorly edited, but very well-researched tale of the effect of the drug war on a group of marijuana activists in Michigan that ends with tragedy. He details the individuals' story, as well as the marijuana reform movement at large.

***

Exposure to the raw weathers of the heart makes for sloppy strategies (1524, Kindle Edition).

We'd cultivated pot for over ten thousand years exactly because THC would easily bind to our brains - all the science was supporting its historical uses: It killed pain; it worked emotional centers of the cerebral cortex to produce powerful antianxiety properties; it reduced spasticity; it fought nausea; and, as a kind of cosmic bonus, it stimulated motor areas of the brain and memory centers so you got stoned, got the munchies and forgot your troubles (3095, Kindle Edition).

They played Bob Marley, the Grateful Dead's "Box of Rain," James Taylor. Stuff everybody knew on guitar. The words that put you back together if you sang the right pieces (6353, Kindle Edition).

[Dustin Krentz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a very interesting book. Growing up in Wisconsin I'd heard of rainbow farms a few times, and I believe I was at the weedstock they speak of in Sparta, Wi. I love that there are so many influential people that had visited the farm speaking on behalf of those who are afraid. Those without the hutzpah to speak out for themselves. I remember trying to bust the blockades going to these different festivals, the ol boys in blue looking for any reason to give you a felony drug charge over personal amounts. I had a friend that was in jail 6 months and probation 4years due to a roach found in his ashtray. Great book describing the past and current state of the drug war made even more ridiculous by the individual states that have legalized pot recreationally. You really feel for the misunderstood characters of this story and their unfortunate brush with "professional" law enforcement.

[sdrd · Rating 3 out of 5]

the only reason why i am not giving it four stars is because it took me forEVER to read it. i kept picking it up, but got distracted by end-of-the-year schoolwork. (made it hard for me to get into it.) i'm glad i read it - it's a fascinating, yet troubling story. rainbow farm was such an interesting concept. i was really intrigued by tom and rollie - their relationship, the complexity of their story, how things fell apart. amazing how 9/11 put this story on the back burner - i had no idea that this had happened. for me, there were too many characters, too many names to keep track of. also, i wasn't entirely amazed by the author's writing style - i know he had to get us into the moment, but it was all secondhand information. i questioned some of the scenes. . . still, i would highly recommend this book. matt's review puts my review to shame. so read his review.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom and Rollie were hardline property rights advocates and stanch Republicans. They were also a gay couple who felt that marijuana use and cultivation could help save the world. The old political/lifestyle divisions are dead, and perhaps nowhere is this as obvious as in the war on marijuana. Pot smokers and legalization advocates are no longer college-age hippies…but rather the plant’s appeal to a huge cross-section of America is rivaled only by alcohol. Perhaps it’s no surprise that what happened to Tom and Rollie outraged just about everyone on the left, right, and in-between.

True, Tom and company were not always good people. However, they certainly didn’t deserve what they got, which was being mowed down by a SWAT team. This is a very scary book about the consequences of the Drug War and the police state.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it quickly which is a good sign for me. I read it through and enjoyed it. I am considering a small farm type place now that I have read the book, a small farm that backs up against a forest just seems idyllic. However, rather than pot I think I'd like to center my farm around growing garlic, (no garlic/music festivals and no garlic museum, as did Rainbow Farms).
Back on track, the book was about a guy who became a pot activist. The book tells the story of; on the verge of losing his farm to the forfeiture act, and after losing his son to foster homes he takes on the feds, he loses. The book starts with the ending; it is a true story and is truly tragic, sheds light on the heavy handed laws of land forfeiture and a glimpse at the activists working toward the relegalization of pot.
Stinking Rose Farms, yeah.....

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the 9/11 criminals were plainly carrying out their plans the FBI is holed up in rural Michigan (and no doubt many other venues) readying for an assault on two forlorn pot-smokers backed up against a wall of property forfeiture and child removal. Redneck gay and straight marijuana advocacy is pitted against the forces of "law an order" and we all know the ending will be bad. It still is. Read it and weep.

truth: the Anti-drugwar

Free all of the political prisoners!

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't resist.....gay stoner rural counter culture activists who take a Ruby Ridge level stand against the Man? SIGN ME UP! So far, it's really really interesting and well written. So, I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a very interesting look into the minds of rural conservative midwesterners, which I don't have a lot of first hand experience with. I was very surprised by many of their political positions. Definitely worth a read. What a sad story on al sides.

[Kendalyn Thuma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story broke my heart. I'm sorry I didn't know about it when it was happening since it is only about half an hour from me. This is an excellent example of what can happen when you push someone so far that they have nothing left to lose... and all this over a little pot. Ridiculous. Everybody involved should be ashamed.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent book and I am interested in finishing the story. Although I can't help but feel "mad" as I read it. If you are into trying this book out, I would suggest reading it quickly - I am currently reading it and am going to try to finish it ASAP.

[G.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I both enjoyed and was saddened by this book. It's non-fiction, and the series of events that took place carry the story sometimes more effectively than the writing, which is more than adequate, but does not blow the hair out of your hair holes.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

sometimes you find a gem and sometimes you get what you pay for. I bought this off Amazon's discount books for Kindle for June and it's interesting mainly for the expansion of my knowledge of euphemisms for pot.

[lynna · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good read, and a great description of how close-minded, conservative government is crushing the free will of people.
p.s. i wish i would have read this before i voted for granholm

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was interesting.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew how the book was going to end but I was still disappointed that the government couldn't have handled this situation differently.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never heard of this despite the fact that it happened right in Michigan

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important read for anyone interested in civil rights, and the U.S. government's over-reaching grasp into the lives of its citizens.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I forgot to review this when I read it? It was ok...I got bored, but it's a sad story that was worth writing about.

[Natajia · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW. This book blew my mind.
Makes you realize how screwed up this government is over petty things.
Leave us aloneee government!

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrowing... Hoosier potheads get killed by the government Waco-style.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening interesting read.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome retelling of a tragic story; killing people and ruining lives over a plant that has never killed anyone. The book paints both Tom and Rollie in an honest light, as well as the local law enforcement who felt trapped between a rock and a hard place. All in all a great read, though the story itself is infuriating at points.