Abstract:
Part of HSU’s annual Social Justice Summit, the panel will explore the consequences of media coverage of Humboldt County’s cannabis industry.
The Netflix series “Murder Mountain” was released in late 2018, presenting what some suggest is a distorted representation of Humboldt County.
Focusing on a geographic area in a remote corner of Humboldt County, a two-hour drive from HSU and representing a fraction of Humboldt County’s population, the filmmakers describe “a wild, lawless place” where “vigilante justice and outlaw culture … resembles America’s Wild West past.”
The purpose of this panel is to critically examine representations of culture, place, and the cannabis industry in Humboldt County.
“For those watching the Netflix series, Murder Mountain is being equated with all of Humboldt County, and that has important policy implications,” says Josh Meisel, co-director of HIIMR. “For example, the new governor is now calling for sending National Guard troops to Humboldt County to fight cartel-controlled cannabis grows, despite questions about the relative influence of cartels in Humboldt County.”
Description:
Lecture delivered at Humboldt State University on February 27, 2019. The moderator is Dr. Dominic Corva, Center for the Study of Cannabis Policy. The four panelists are Rio Anderson( Co-Founder SoHum Guild), Chrystal Ortiz (International Cannabis Farmers Association), Dr. Deidre Pike (HSU Department of Journalism and Mass Communication), & Hank Sims (Lost Coast Outpost). Part of the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research speaker series sponsored by the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research, the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, the College of Professional Studies, and the College of Natural Resources and Sciences.