Kaitlin P. Reed, "Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California" (U Washington Press, 2023)Kaitlin P. Reed, "Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California" (U Washington Press, 2023)
New Books in Drugs, Addiction and Recovery
Historian and Native American studies scholar Kaitlin P. Reed links California’s cannabis green rush to long-standing patterns of colonial extraction, land theft and environmental harm. The conversation shifts focus from individual drug use to the wider damage drug economies inflict on Indigenous lands, waters and communities.
1:23:49•27 Apr 2026
Settler Cannabis, Green Rush Myths and Indigenous Survival
Episode Overview
- Reed argues that California’s cannabis boom continues older extractive patterns seen in the gold rush, overfishing and large water projects.
- Cannabis cultivation in northern California is linked to illegal water diversions, severe river depletion and heightened risk for salmon populations.
- Trespass grow sites bring toxic chemicals, rodenticides and even human waste into Indigenous waterways, creating serious health threats.
- The so‑called back to the land and green rush movements often erase Indigenous presence while contributing to land dispossession and soaring land prices.
- Reed urges a shift from debating cannabis use toward rethinking settler ideas of property, “natural resources” and responsibility to land and more‑than‑human relatives.
“California Indians knew the end of this story already. We've seen wave after wave of resource rushing.”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction to extraction, profit and land theft rather than a substance? This conversation on *New Books in Drugs, Addiction and Recovery* takes a sharp turn from typical recovery stories into the history of California’s cannabis "green rush" and its impact on Indigenous communities. Host Stephen Hausman chats with scholar and Yurok tribal member Kaitlin P.
Reed about her award‑winning book *Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California*. Instead of focusing on individual drug use, the discussion looks at cannabis as an industry that mirrors older patterns of settler colonial extraction like gold mining, overfishing and large‑scale water projects. You'll hear Reed explain how cannabis farming in northern California has led to illegal water diversions, toxic pollution and even the practical removal of Yurok people from parts of their own land.
She shares stories of elders stumbling into armed trespass grows while gathering basket materials, wells made unsafe for a child in chemotherapy, and rivers so overdrawn that salmon — central to Yurok identity — are once again at risk. Her blunt summary cuts through any romantic image of "hippie" green culture: “California Indians knew the end of this story already.
We've seen wave after wave of resource rushing.” The style is academic yet relaxed and funny in places (Reed calls prior‑appropriation water law “a glorified finders keepers, losers weepers”), making complex ideas about water rights, environmental justice and land‑back movements feel accessible. This is especially relevant for anyone in recovery or support work who wants a wider lens on harm: not just what drugs do to bodies, but what drug economies do to lands and peoples.
If you’re curious how cannabis, colonialism and environmental damage fit together — and what Indigenous resistance and survival look like in that context — this episode is worth your time.
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