Outlaws in Babylon: Shocking True Adventures on the Marijuana Frontier

by Steve Chapple

An inside look at the underground economy of marijuana farming in northern California documents the growers, corrupt law enforcement officials, poachers, dealers, gunslingers, and others that make up this expanding outlaw industry

252 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1984

Reviews

[Fred Krissman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a classic about the Emerald Triangle (focusing on Mendo and Humboldt counties), along with R Raphael's Cash Crop, which was also published the same year. I am conducting fieldwork here in 2015-18, and find many of the themes in the book continue to resonate today. One is the diversity of cannabis farmers, typically pitting small family "mom & pops" vs big commercial green-rushers. Another is the heavy-handed role of the state, still a major player even on the eve of "legalization" (via extreme regulations). I particularly liked the sense of place(s), including the towns of Ukiah and Garberville, and Bear Butte Mt and Myers' Flat. While the characters may be considered too-large to be true, I am meeting farmers, pols, and police that are just as outsized today!

[Corto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite my initial dislike of Chapple's Gonzo-style prose, I thought this was a pretty incredible time capsule that is front row during the evolution of the Hippie-Outlaw-type-Growers into Hatfield and McCoy-Growers in Humboldt County, California in 1982. We get a snapshot of CAMP in action, as well as GREEN HARVEST in Hawaii. Anecdotal and amusing, Chapple gives us fine sketches of the personalities that proliferated in Humboldt at that time.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outlaws in Babylon: Shocking Adventures on the Marijuana Frontier by Steve Chapple (Pocket Books 1984)(364.1). These are marijuana growing stories from Humboldt County, California (the epicenter of California marijuana cultivation) during the Reagan 1980's. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 1985.

[Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic true stories from a journalist who spent a fall in Humboldt County in the 80's during the heigth of the Reagan era drugwar. If you like outlaw potgrowers, you will love this book!