Hi, my name is Julia and I'm from Mendocino County, California. Yes, the place with all the weed. No, I won't give you any.

The Emerald Triangle is the number one cannabis producing region in the United States. It includes Mendocino County, Humbolt County, and Trinity County on the Northern California coast. This region has been booming with both legal and illegal marijuana cultivation since the 1960s and is still in full production.

I wasn't aware of the true extent of my county's infamy until I attended a California-wide conference the summer of my freshman year of high school. After I introduced myself and said my county each time, I received a resounding “oooh, I know.” At first I asked people what they meant by that and almost every person said, "the Emerald Triangle, right?" After that, I realized three-worded statement--"oooh, I know"--contained all the preconceptions about who I was, where I came from, and what it means to grow up in weed country.

So, what does it mean to grow up in weed country?

It's not uncommon to walk into somebody's backyard and see two or three pot plants. There are weekly marijuana busts of hundreds to thousands of plants. Trimming is a legitimate source of income for a lot of teenagers, adults, and families. 70-80% of my town's income is based on the drug market.

My county is the self-proclaimed home of the "redneck hippie." Weed unites all walks of life. Most people either smoke, grow, or can sell* you some.

*If you're paying for your weed, you're doing it wrong.

Marijuana isn't worth as much in my county because there is so much of it. It is often used as a bartering tool or is just given it out. My friends and I have been offered weed at the beach just to use a log from our bonfire to light theirs.

We are told growing up to never explore the woods by ourselves and to immediately turn around if we see the long strands of pipe illegal grows use to pump water from streams. We are taught the moral and ecological implications of illegal water diversion and pesticide use. And how marijuana is like catnip to bucks, so you will see huge collections of racks strung up around illegal grow operations.

We face tragedy as pot profit divides people from their humanity. Because to some, marijuana is more precious than wildlife. To others, even more precious than human life.

But this isn't all that living in weed country means.

Growing up where I did means the same as growing up in any other town. Because this marijuana culture doesn't define everything we are. Because the Emerald Triangle also happens to inhabit one of the most beautiful and ecologically diverse regions on the west coast. Because the communities and land in these counties are worth more than their weight in weed.