A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 17

This is the 14th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up with a great story idea is to come up with a lot of ideas. And the best way to come up with a lot of ideas is to be proactive in sourcing story ideas.

Today’s story: Dying for your high: The untold exploitation and misery in America’s weed industry.

Few crops are as labor-intensive as cannabis.

From the nursing of young clones to the trimming of dried flower buds for market, every step requires human hands. On most farms, it is hard labor. Workers physically lug heavy bags of soil and fertilizer, and in some places, must carry buckets of water to plants on steep slopes.

California’s historical cannabis farms relied on local networks of friends and family for labor. Legalization brought a rush of market speculators and dramatically changed labor conditions.

The new growers built massive greenhouses, increasing demand for mobile trimming crews who travel with their own tents, sometimes under the control of middlemen who take a cut of their earnings.

The farms recruit from Chinese communities in Los Angeles and New York, from Hmong enclaves in Wisconsin and among Mexican laborers working in San Jose and the farmlands of the Central Valley. They also pull workers directly out of economically depressed countries, such as Argentina and Chile, attracting some who are teachers, biologists and physical therapists.

But the rush to capitalize on legalization flooded the market, crashing both wholesale crop prices and the pay for farmworkers.

Four years ago, trimmers received $200 a pound or more for cutting the tiny leaves off dried cannabis buds, the most labor-intensive part of cultivation. The current rate is $80 a pound, and The Times found jobs quoting rates as low as $50 — well below minimum wage for slower workers.

Wage theft allegations skyrocketed.

Let’s imagine an illegal weed operation way, way, way off the beaten path in the deep woods of Northern California. The Protagonist (Hector) is one of many workers who live in squalid conditions. The workers come from all over the world: Mexico, China, Laos, El Salvador, Haiti. They represent a cultural hodgepodge who have nothing in common except a desire to survive.

In effect, they are indentured slaves. The owners of the operation, led by our Nemesis (Ramses), are outlaws who connected with each other as part of white supremacist groups during prison stints. They rule by force and doling out just enough pay to keep the workers stranded in this remote location with no hope of making their way alone to even the nearest town which is over fifty miles away.

What’s the movie? It shifts from a drama which explores the terrible working and living conditions of the workers … to a thriller as the workers try to push back against their overlords … to horror ending in a violent bloodbath. Is there some semblance of an “up” ending, the workers victorious and use the haul of marijuana to end up with a rich reward for their efforts. Or maybe not as the weed goes up in flames and all the survivors end up with is their freedom.

There you go, my 17th story idea of the month. And it’s yours. Free! What would YOU do with it?

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Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16

Each day in April, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are valuable skills for a writer to develop.

See you in RESPONSES to hear YOUR take on this story idea. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.