Marijuana and Socio-economic Development in Eastern Australia, 1975-1995

This book examines how small-scale commercial marijuana production shaped social and economic formation in marginal hinterland communities in late-twentieth-century eastern Australia. As traditional rural industries such as dairying and forestry fell into decline, new settlers arrived and revitalised these hilly, low-income regions—though not always in ways that long-established residents welcomed. With limited access to formal income, some households turned to growing and selling marijuana. Focusing on production rather than distribution, the book shows how the illegality of cannabis connected and normalised the socio-economic periphery, tying remote forest communities to urban markets and embedding informal activity within everyday life. The book reveals how illicit enterprise underpinned community viability and illuminates the broader role of informal economies in Australia’s frontier history and regional development. Based on two decades of immersive, place-based observation, this book will appeal to scholars of anthropology, history, development studies, and rural and regional research.