Clippers–A Large Part of the Marijuana Culture

hands

Hands

Frequent Photo

“I’m doing it because I have frikkin’ kids and no child support,” Bee says. Bent over a tray, picking through sticky green product for long, tedious hours, the women, and it’s mostly women, who work the clipping tables usually gossip, laughing and sharing stories to pass the time much as quilters might.  The silver flash of small scissors enhances the image but these women could be arrested for their work and Bee knows it.  A wiry, dark haired worker with her hair tucked into a cap, her hands never pause as she finishes answering my question. “I need the flexible hours.  I drop my kid off at school, clip, and then I can go pick her up.”

She sounds as matter of fact as a seamstress in a factory but before she leaves this job, she’ll need to check herself for evidence.  Probably the other clipper at the table will help. Women in the business manicure each other before they leave to go pick up their kids and fix dinner.  They pluck delicate five pointed marijuana leaves off of jackets and out of hair. They pass each other olive oil to clean the sticky brown resin off their fingertips and help each other change out of work clothes so they don’t smell like pot, in order to make sure they don’t shock their neighbors and don’t get arrested.

The newest Humboldt Grow (the online page hasn’t yet been updated)  magazine is out.  I have written several articles for it including the one I’ve excerpted above. For it, I interviewed several manicurists and a grower.  We discuss everything from pay to Carpel Tunnel.

The Hemp Connection carries copies here in Garberville.

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29 Comments
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Maggie
Guest
14 years ago

Thats realy interesting and a nice photo to go along with it. Would you be willing to post the rest of the article?

Staff
Member
14 years ago
Reply to  Maggie

Maggie,
I’ve sold the article to Humboldt Grow and can’t reproduce the whole thing.Eventually, hopefully, it will be online.

Stephen
Guest
14 years ago

I made most of my income by clipping for many years. The last times I did it the wages for clippers while higher than most any job in Humboldt other than surgeons and corporate lawyers it still paled in comparison to what the crop owners were making. There is no clippers union to demand reasonable compensation but heck, that’s crime for ya. I mainly worked alone which was great but a few times worked in clipping circles and regretted it for some over-achieving growers. In the circles I worked in, mostly women, it was kinda discouraging to see young women clipping to make extra money for expensive sunglasses and other hip culture status symbols. They were matched by young men growers wanting the latest truck or another piece of property to grow more pot on. Whatever the first generation pot growers believed about the righteousness of growing the herb, their children tended to ignore anything but the cash it produced. Not surprising when a sacrament is worth more than its weight in gold.

Staff
Member
14 years ago
Reply to  Stephen

The money is apparently good. I understand it varies depending but can run $20-25 per hour or $150-250 per pound. That sounds pretty good but it is illegal and there is risk involved as well as (in some areas) a social stigma. It is also repetitive, boring and can cause carpel tunnel and back problems.

Stephen
Guest
14 years ago

I made most of my income by clipping for many years. The last times I did it the wages for clippers while higher than most any job in Humboldt other than surgeons and corporate lawyers it still paled in comparison to what the crop owners were making. There is no clippers union to demand reasonable compensation but heck, that’s crime for ya. I mainly worked alone which was great but a few times worked in clipping circles and regretted it for some over-achieving growers. In the circles I worked in, mostly women, it was kinda discouraging to see young women clipping to make extra money for expensive sunglasses and other hip culture status symbols. They were matched by young men growers wanting the latest truck or another piece of property to grow more pot on. Whatever the first generation pot growers believed about the righteousness of growing the herb, their children tended to ignore anything but the cash it produced. Not surprising when a sacrament is worth more than its weight in gold.

Staff
Member
14 years ago
Reply to  Stephen

The money is apparently good. I understand it varies depending but can run $20-25 per hour or $150-250 per pound. That sounds pretty good but it is illegal and there is risk involved as well as (in some areas) a social stigma. It is also repetitive, boring and can cause carpel tunnel and back problems.

dave
Guest
14 years ago

I didn’t know about Humboldt Grow web site…very interesting. Thanks for posting it Kym.

dave
Guest
14 years ago

I didn’t know about Humboldt Grow web site…very interesting. Thanks for posting it Kym.

highboldtage
Guest
14 years ago

Hi Kym,,

When is the Emerald Cup this year, Jimmie and I would like to come down and play some music for it.

have a peaceful day,
Bill

Staff
Member
14 years ago
Reply to  highboldtage

The best I can tell is early December. But Tim Blake of Area 101 would be the best person to contact. If you find out please let me know. I would love to cover it.

highboldtage
Guest
14 years ago

Hi Kym,,

When is the Emerald Cup this year, Jimmie and I would like to come down and play some music for it.

have a peaceful day,
Bill

Staff
Member
14 years ago
Reply to  highboldtage

The best I can tell is early December. But Tim Blake of Area 101 would be the best person to contact. If you find out please let me know. I would love to cover it.

humboldtkids
Guest
humboldtkids
14 years ago

Humboldtkids fiance’ – someone needs to tell Bee how to go get on welfare and let DCSS do the rest.

Its seems now that the greed of the children of the old school growers is taking food out of the mouths of babes………while many of the old school guys may have had idealistic views on moving there and growing, it seems to me that the greed of latter generations is detroying not only the environment but what was once a peaceful community. I know that my stepdaughter told her father that the only reasons she didn’t want to live with us was (a) we smoke (b) she is expensive to keep, insinuating that we couldn’t afford her. It was probably her that was clipping for and expensive pair of designer sunglasses, I know she showed up here with raybans………

humboldtkids
Guest
humboldtkids
14 years ago

Humboldtkids fiance’ – someone needs to tell Bee how to go get on welfare and let DCSS do the rest.

Its seems now that the greed of the children of the old school growers is taking food out of the mouths of babes………while many of the old school guys may have had idealistic views on moving there and growing, it seems to me that the greed of latter generations is detroying not only the environment but what was once a peaceful community. I know that my stepdaughter told her father that the only reasons she didn’t want to live with us was (a) we smoke (b) she is expensive to keep, insinuating that we couldn’t afford her. It was probably her that was clipping for and expensive pair of designer sunglasses, I know she showed up here with raybans………

humboldtkids
Guest
humboldtkids
14 years ago

fiance…..someday I will learn to type…..thats an expensive pair of raybans…..

humboldtkids
Guest
humboldtkids
14 years ago

fiance…..someday I will learn to type…..thats an expensive pair of raybans…..

N8
Guest
N8
14 years ago

Here’s something to remember: everybody was young once. Please, next time you think the youth are ruining the future, remember how reckless you were when you were young, and how well you actually turned out. Sometimes you need to give the youth the benefit of the doubt…most of them WILL come around and become decent citizens once wisdom and age take over and the money is long gone.

BTW, great article Kym!

N8
Guest
N8
14 years ago

Here’s something to remember: everybody was young once. Please, next time you think the youth are ruining the future, remember how reckless you were when you were young, and how well you actually turned out. Sometimes you need to give the youth the benefit of the doubt…most of them WILL come around and become decent citizens once wisdom and age take over and the money is long gone.

BTW, great article Kym!

Concerned
Guest
Concerned
14 years ago

There is a difference between reckless and total disreguard and disrespect for anyone and everyone that is not a part of your “culture.” There is also a difference between reckless and going out of your way to break laws and flaunt what your doing knowing that your pot rich mama or daddy will buy you out of what ever trouble you get into. There is a difference between “recreational” use of alcohol and various drugs and using them to dull the pain of your opressive life. When you are watching children go off the deep end from afar, knowing that they are heading down a path that leads to nowhere but serious addiction of some kind or another as well as jail or possible death and their parents are in complete denial or even condoning their behavior then its hard to sit back and watch. I know young girls that are hitchiking those hills alone to get out of their parents houses and away from abuse and when they disappear like Christine Walters, Christine McArthur and the lady found a couple of weeks ago I can’t wait to see what their parents and your community have to say. Right now no one seems to think its a problem…kids will be kids!

T
Guest
T
14 years ago
Reply to  Concerned

I agree, there is a difference between being a reckless kid and what you are describing. I however get the impression, (correct me if I’m wrong), that you believe the majority of our youth is that way. Not so. True, as with every culture, we have children/teens/adults that lead less than ideal lives. I have friends all over the world, I’ve seen commercial-driven, label-obsessed people everywhere. Are you telling me that teens in NY don’t care about materialistic things? I beg to differ. We, especially in America, live in a time where our subconscious is attacked daily by corporate propaganda. Drugs, and I mean REAL drugs, are a national epidemic. Murder does happen here, where doesn’t it? Have you looked at our per capita murder rate? Yes, teens hitchhike. Do I want my son to do it? No. I can tell you however that I’d feel more comfortable with him hh here where he knows 90% of the population than anywhere else. What I am saying is this: True, we have issues, who doesn’t. Our lifestyle is sometimes directly to blame. Our lifestyle is often times due credit. Some of us share a sense of community most will never know. Most of our children grow up with a sense of self-empowerment, that’s a good thing. I was raised here, I’ve left and I’ve come back. I now have two children and I choose to stay, not because of the pot but because of the people.

Concerned
Guest
Concerned
14 years ago

There is a difference between reckless and total disreguard and disrespect for anyone and everyone that is not a part of your “culture.” There is also a difference between reckless and going out of your way to break laws and flaunt what your doing knowing that your pot rich mama or daddy will buy you out of what ever trouble you get into. There is a difference between “recreational” use of alcohol and various drugs and using them to dull the pain of your opressive life. When you are watching children go off the deep end from afar, knowing that they are heading down a path that leads to nowhere but serious addiction of some kind or another as well as jail or possible death and their parents are in complete denial or even condoning their behavior then its hard to sit back and watch. I know young girls that are hitchiking those hills alone to get out of their parents houses and away from abuse and when they disappear like Christine Walters, Christine McArthur and the lady found a couple of weeks ago I can’t wait to see what their parents and your community have to say. Right now no one seems to think its a problem…kids will be kids!

T
Guest
T
14 years ago
Reply to  Concerned

I agree, there is a difference between being a reckless kid and what you are describing. I however get the impression, (correct me if I’m wrong), that you believe the majority of our youth is that way. Not so. True, as with every culture, we have children/teens/adults that lead less than ideal lives. I have friends all over the world, I’ve seen commercial-driven, label-obsessed people everywhere. Are you telling me that teens in NY don’t care about materialistic things? I beg to differ. We, especially in America, live in a time where our subconscious is attacked daily by corporate propaganda. Drugs, and I mean REAL drugs, are a national epidemic. Murder does happen here, where doesn’t it? Have you looked at our per capita murder rate? Yes, teens hitchhike. Do I want my son to do it? No. I can tell you however that I’d feel more comfortable with him hh here where he knows 90% of the population than anywhere else. What I am saying is this: True, we have issues, who doesn’t. Our lifestyle is sometimes directly to blame. Our lifestyle is often times due credit. Some of us share a sense of community most will never know. Most of our children grow up with a sense of self-empowerment, that’s a good thing. I was raised here, I’ve left and I’ve come back. I now have two children and I choose to stay, not because of the pot but because of the people.

Concerned
Guest
Concerned
14 years ago

No, I”m not telling you anything about any kids anywhere else. Those kids are not the issue, as usual people there start talking about everywhere else…..I am concerned over the kids I know there, I am concerned about what they are dealing with that your wonderful community full of awesome people seem to turn a blind eye to. I know there is a large contingency of them that self-mutiliate etc….and although many people know, no one is willing to step in and do anything. They all are more worried about protecting the parents that they grow with than helping the children. Although I wish I had the time and the money to take on these issues nationwide I don’t, I am trying to help save a couple of kids that I KNOW and seem to just keep banging my head on a brickwall of denial and the damned “code of silence” that most people in SoHum live by.

Concerned
Guest
Concerned
14 years ago

No, I”m not telling you anything about any kids anywhere else. Those kids are not the issue, as usual people there start talking about everywhere else…..I am concerned over the kids I know there, I am concerned about what they are dealing with that your wonderful community full of awesome people seem to turn a blind eye to. I know there is a large contingency of them that self-mutiliate etc….and although many people know, no one is willing to step in and do anything. They all are more worried about protecting the parents that they grow with than helping the children. Although I wish I had the time and the money to take on these issues nationwide I don’t, I am trying to help save a couple of kids that I KNOW and seem to just keep banging my head on a brickwall of denial and the damned “code of silence” that most people in SoHum live by.

jesse gionet
Guest
jesse gionet
14 years ago

i have had such a hard time finding work where i am theres nothign fior me where i am now accept for selling pot and i dont wanna do that clipping could be my answer if i could only fuind a connection i am in desperate need to get my life started again please somebody help

jesse gionet
Guest
jesse gionet
14 years ago

i have had such a hard time finding work where i am theres nothign fior me where i am now accept for selling pot and i dont wanna do that clipping could be my answer if i could only fuind a connection i am in desperate need to get my life started again please somebody help

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