Hillbillies and Jews

[CatWoman]

Two groups that I knew little about and I could not respect more.

Thanks to The History Channel and PBS, this week I've learned so much about both groups.

I came away in awe.

Things that shocked me - like Hillbillies were (are?) the largest marijuana growers in the U.S. (in the Kentucky mountains), and Jews, upon arrival in America during colonial times, were denied the right to vote. That simply made no sense to me whatsoever.

http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=104320

http://www.projo.com/news/mcharlesbakst/Charlie_0113_01-13-08_V58IQ7A_v10.130a7d3.html

[fenriswolf]

1. dude i was stationed in kentucky

you would think california would hold the title but no. The state that produces the most pot (poundage) is kentucky.

[CatWoman]

2. that freaked me out

:rofl:

they traded in their stills for pot plantations.

:rofl:

[kentuck]

4. I knew the first two people that planted seeds...

in the mountains. One became a traveling evangelist. :-)

[zabet]

14. I knew one of the 1st people ever

arrested for 'cultivation' in NC.
Old farmer (deceased) that was caught
tending a 2 acre field with his tractor.
Old William had brass cajones!!!

[sam sarrha]

6. stills are bulky, smelly, sugar/corn is expensive..but they are all Great Farmers

[Lone_Star_Dem]

12. And the soil is sweet and fertile.

Combine that with their farming skills and you have a match made in heaven.

[sam sarrha]

58. been there.. such beautiful rich black soil..

[William769]

13. But the end product is oh so goooood!

[Hellenic_Pagan]

91. Yeh... MMMMMMM Goood!

:smoke:

Waaaaay better than the Mexican schwag you usually get.

[ZombieNixon]

54. Well, some whiskey is made using a "pot still."

:freak: :yoiks:

[piedmont]

84. Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road" is definitely worth a listen.

video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOo4rV63_6E

lyrics:
http://www.steveearle.net/lyrics/ly-coppe.php

[martymar64]

107. They learned a thing or two from Victor Charles

:smoke:

[The Magistrate]

110. That Is A Great Song, Sir!

[mitchum]

86. My aunt married into a family who had been moonshiners for decades...

but by the late 70s had converted to growing herb

[Hello_Kitty]

10. I learned it's the 2nd largest cash crop here in Arizona. Who knew? n/t

[madokie]

17. at one time it was the number one cash crop here in the big OK

if you could believe the msm that is, I doubted it then and I doubt it now because the ones who are pushing that are the ones who are profiting from that very info, or law enforcement

back then I sure was trying to make it so though;-)

[butterfly77]

59. Why hasn't the maverick done anything about it...

since he is suppose to be so law and order..

[TahitiNut]

It's not called the "Blew Grass" state fer nuthin'.

:silly: :dunce:

[sam sarrha]

3. the Plains Native Peoples only got the right to practice their religion in 1982

[William769]

5. As a hillbilly born and raised in Appalachia (S.E. Kentucky).

I salute you.

[kentuck]

8. Middlesboro?

Pineville.

[William769]

9. East end of Middlesboro.

[kentuck]

19. Greasy Creek

Down on 92.

[William769]

22. Holler up off of Avondale Avenue.

Also King Holler in Harlan .

[kentuck]

25. Remember the liquor store?

at the foot of the mountain heading over to TN? Because Middlesboro and Bell Co was dry? Not the one at Cumberland Gap but the one going east out of Middlesboro?

[William769]

29. I'm Lost the tunnel is there now.

Didn't Kentucky go to the top of the Mountain? Then there was Kudjo caverns (spelling wring I think), closest store I remeber was there where you would have turned off to go to VA.

[kentuck]

34. The other direction...

going down Cumberland Ave. and over the mountain?

[William769]

36. Are you taking the West end of Town?

[kentuck]

41. Yes.

Did I say East?

[William769]

42. I was speaking of East end so i assumed you were also, my bad.

Not to familiar with West End except for going to Middle School & High School there.

[kentuck]

43. I think the old dirt road went over to Jellico?

And just across the state line at the head of the holler was he liquor store. It was quicker just going over to the Gap. That was Cudjos Cave- which is now closed since they put the modern tunnel thru the mountain. The old road has been restored to the original Daniel Boone trail.

[William769]

44. I had a Aunt that Lived in Jellico.

But we always went to Corbin to I-75 to get there..

As a foot note to this story when I was just a little one, is when the plans for the tunnel started and it opened up just a couple of years ago (longtime coming).

Area there by the museum was my old stomping grounds Knew them hills like the back of my hand. We also had a swimming hole there it was between what was 25E and the road to the pinnacle, oh the memories.

[kentuck]

45. I think we have a couple of authorities on hillbillies...

:-) Hey, we may be related!

[William769]

49. If your part of the King, Owens Pennington, Hensley clan we just might be related.

My Great Great Grandfather Alva settelted in what was then Knox County (now Harlan County) He owned all the land in King Holler and down through sunshine going out to the Harlan Hospital. That was back in 1792. My Great Grand Father Byrd turned the land into a large farm and My Grandfather Felix went from farming to tree farming with his own mill ( I swear like you see on the Waltons). My family has been in South East Kentucky a very long time.

ON EDIT: of all the people I listed my Grandfather had the smallest family my father was the baby of 17 kids. We are everywhere so to speak. :)

[kentuck]

64. No relation that I know of...

My great, great, great Grandfather John moved to Kentucky in 1828 from NC. He was married into the Lunsford clan. But they never moved into the fertile valleys where farming was the best - they always moved back into the mountains - where it was best to make corn liquor. We have made little progress since that time. :-)

[William769]

69. During the great depression and probation.

My Daddy hauled it from Harlan County to Detroit. kept the clan well fed. Something that is still practied to this day (Harlan is still a dry County). :)

[kentuck]

74. Most people don't know the proud history of 'Bloody Harlan"...

in the union movement of America.

[William769]

76. I agree.

It got very messy and till this day their is still bad blood between some.

[bellasgrams]

63. You guys make me miss my first husband who was from Gatliff, KY

He's gone now but he use to keep the kids and I in stitches talking about Harlan, Dogpatch, Crotch's Creek, Cumberland Gap. There may still be some of his relatives there. It was probably a bunch of baloney, but it was funny. There was a cousin and his wife that would come to see us sometime (he sold 'shine' on the side) they would bring their get-tars and sing and dance all night. I had never seen anything like it then nor have since.

[William769]

66. Dogpatch, now theres some memories!

baloney? Knowing what I know if the area, I would doubt it. Just remember the good times.

One of my favorite things to do as a child and I still do as an adult is I would go down to the court house square in Harlan and listen to the old men talk. Talk about getting history lessons.

[kentuck]

67. I doubt it was baloney...

I'm not familiar with Crotch's Creek but the other places are familiar.

[CatWoman]

37. hey you two!!! what the hell is this? old home week?????

:)

:hi:

[kentuck]

39. Yeah!

Hello CatWoman!

There is a connection with the mountain people when they meet. We have always felt we were minorities in America.

[nonconformist]

75. I'm not from here (I'm from the Detroit Metro area) , but I live in Harlan now.

My husband grew up here, though.

Small world!

[William769]

78. I liveed in Hazel park suburb of Detroit.(Hazeltucky sometimes referred to) for a while

What part of Harlan do you live in?

[nonconformist]

81. I live in the city of Harlan

My husband grew up in Loyall.

I'm from Pontiac and Waterford Michigan... it's really amazing how many people I met up there that had ties to this region.

[William769]

90. I have two cousins that live on West Cumberland Ave in Down town (LOL) Harlan

And another cousin who is a very prominant Lawyer in Harlan.

Do you know where King Hollow drive is? That used to be King Holler. thats where it all started for my family.

[Snotcicles]

7. Title sounds like some sort of dessert. nt

[sabra]

11. seeing the title I thought you were leading into a joke... :-)

thanks for the post :hi:

[CatWoman]

15. LOL

:hi:

did you know that Lauren Bacall and Kirk Douglas are Jewish? :wow:

[sabra]

24. yep... I think you enjoy this site:

http://www.guesswhosjewish.com/guess/

[CatWoman]

28. OMG!!!

Sgt. Schultz is Jewish?? :rofl:

Jack Benny, too!!!

[Snotcicles]

47. Gilbert Gottfried, like no shit. nt

[CatWoman]

73. and Capt. Kirk, Spock and Checkov.

[bunkerbuster1]

16. Yeah, like "A Priest and a Rabbi walk into a bar..."

[L0oniX]

18. What do you get when you mate the two?

A jewbilly. There's your joke and a bad one a that. :sarcasm:

[CatWoman]

21. there's no need for that

honestly, there isn't.

I think people should try to find out more about one another, and I thank the airwaves for providing that outlet.

[L0oniX]

31. I wasn't serious ...note the sarcasm

:sarcasm:

[HughMoran]

20. Is that why my grandfather poked his son's girlfriend producing my "aunt"

lol - my family is from the hills of Kentucky - I didn't know about the pot - it all makes sense now :rofl:

[CatWoman]

23. you should have seen the lengths the govt. goes thru

to spot and destroy the crops.

They use special helicopters because they can only spot them from the air.

Then the agents alert the ground forces -- many have been permanently maimed from bobby traps set up to protect the crops. Some of them looked like the booby traps used by the Viet Cong.

[fenriswolf]

26. i was driving down some freeway

(been awhile since I've been back to kentucky) and I saw all these cop cars lined up on the side of the road and a bunch of people walking to and over some hills like a mile away. Turned out to be a huge pot farm just over the hills coverd from the major eye, just hidden in broad daylight, that made me chuckle.

[MedleyMisty]

27. I would imagine that a few of the farmers served in Vietnam

so that makes sense.

[kentuck]

32. You would be right.

The Vietnam War created the drug "epidemic" of the 1970's.

[Hellenic_Pagan]

95. Yeah,

Think of what this war is going to cause for the next 10-20 years.

I have friends in Iraq who are getting hooked on opium and other opiate shit to deal with the stress and sleep. the drugs are the only support they are getting. The "doctors" and "psychiatrists" dont help any. Then they are all worried what they are going to do if/when they get to come home and have to do without.

I hope that we can move past the crimnalization of drug use to a more mature view of drug use over the next decade. (I'm young and optimistic, i know.)

I just dont see what is so bad about pot, that isnt bad about alcohol beer or cigarettes. It just doesnt make sense. But then again, im the kid of a hippie.

[catmandu57]

30. Give a litsen to Steve Earle's Copperhead Road

Describes your post wonderfully.

[piedmont]

87. I posted a link upthread before I saw your post.

GMTA

[HughMoran]

35. Wow, I had no idea we had our own little "gorrilla warfare"

going on there! That's interesting!

[kentuck]

38. It's not unusual...

to see helicopters bringing out bales of marijuana from the mountaintops. FBI and state troopers outnumber local law enforcement on any given day. The economy is in shambles in most counties in the mountains. Oxycontin, Lorcets, and other drugs sell for up to $100 each. Some Lorcets sell for $10 each on the streets. Many people get prescriptions of 90 per month and sell them on the street to live. That is the economy of much of Kentucky, especially in the mountains. I could tell tales.

[ieoeja]

57. Marijuana lights up in the infrared.

Early on they kept raiding tobacco fields because it is the THC in marijuana that shows up infrared. And tobacco also contains small amounts of THC (hence, the smaller high tobacco smokers get).

And probably one of the reasons Kentucky is a big grower of marijuana. High concentration of THC in the soil.


A decade or two ago a man got elected Secretary of Agriculture in Kentucky on the platform of legalizing marijuana. The feds, of course, would not allow that happen. Not to mention the Secretary of Ag doesn't exactly carry that much weight in passing legislation. But it does show you how the people feel about the subject.

[LanternWaste]

33. There's a John Sayles movie (Matewan) that...

There's a John Sayles movie (Matewan) that (as far as I know) has one of the most historically accurate film depictions of the Hillbilly culture during the very early part of the 20th century. The film illustrates them less as boobs (much like the Beverly Hillbillies) and more as a static culture with touches of xenophobia.

Also, I'd recently read an oral history of the great depression. As the book went into detail of the WPA, it focused on sending writers out into the heartlands of the U.S. One particular writer was sent into the hills of TN and wrote of a small community of hillbillies who, due to lack of any type of contact outside of their own small village, spoke in perfect King's English-- and this was 1929-1939!

[chelaque liberal]

50. Do you remember the name of the book?

I lived in eastern TN until recently. I worked in a county hospital and heard so many amazing stories...

[LanternWaste]

65. Offhand, no-- but I will find it for you this evening and forward you the name

Offhand, no-- but I will find it for you this evening and forward you the name of the book and the author.

One of the most bizarre anecdotes from the book-- there was an actual "home" for the filthy rich who fell on hard time themselves, but felt it was beneath their dignity to rub shoulders with the already poor. A rich industrialist set up this home (out of his own pocket) for the previously rich. The home was opulent to an extreme and it's inhabitants were catered to as though renting a penthouse suite in a Manhattan hotel.

Maybe sometimes it does pay to be poor... :) (well, it was funny to me, anyway)

[redqueen]

40. Dangit... I missed Hillbillies again.

I hope they show it again. I wanted to see it the first time...

[sakabatou]

46. Yep, we were denied the right to vote

Or other stuff. We were looked as "the greedy, dirty Jew who killed Christ."

[OzarkDem]

51. Women didn't get the right to vote until 1920

Women in the US didn't have the right to be paid the same wage as men for the same job until 1963.

In most states women were not allowed to have a credit card in their name or purchase a car without their husband's signature until the late 1960's and early 1970's.

[sakabatou]

53. Progress takes time, even in a democratic society

[Book Lover]

80. One small piece of trivia for you

A woman's right to vote was recognized by New Jersey before the Revolution. Our right was sacrificed when it came time to sign the Constitution!

[ThePowerofWill]

48. The reason you don't hear of it much is.....

We hillbillies are much more closed mouthed about growing vs. California. They attract the most press in Cali, so peopl just think Cali grows the most. I myself have grown in these hills for over 25yrs. It's been that way for sometime. The Appalachians out did Cali starting in the early 80's.

[fenriswolf]

56. i agree kentucky outdoes cali by the pound

but a someone who has sampled extensivly in both states i must say cali's is consistantly higher grade (better taste, more THC) but kentucky is still very nice stuff for the most part.

[ThePowerofWill]

71. Yeah i agree on average.

Being more open in Cali allows for more clone, and seed trading. While in Kentucky you may have to use whats available. Plenty of top notch stuff here, but it's a who ya know kinda thing. The market here is just very closed.

[kwassa]

52. Marijuana? Whatever happened to good ol' moonshine???

What's happpened to this country? Gone to hell in a handbasket, that's what.

[ThePowerofWill]

55. Theres still plenty of it made.

However most areas now have liquor by the drink and are no longer dry counties. There is plenty of homemade spirits to be had. Corn whiskey is actually close to the bottom of the barrel, with sugar liquor taking the #1 trash designation. Various apple, peach, and other fruit brandy's are what really sought after.

[conscious evolution]

60. A friend got busted

passing thru Kentucky for pot,mushrooms and a quart of moonshine.

Guess which one they jumped on him hardest over?

[supernova]

62. The 'shine?

Just guessing.

[ThePowerofWill]

68. In the N.C section of the Appalachians where i live it would be the shine.

Small amounts of shrooms, and grass are just a ticket here. While having untaxed spirits is a federal offense.

[conscious evolution]

72. DingDing

Something about moving untaxed liqour across statelines.
The drug charges were dropped.

[Arugula Latte]

61. Anyone remember the song "Good Old Mountain Dew"? (NOT about the soda!)

That Good Old Mountain Dew

My brother Bill runs a still on the hill
Where he turns out a gallon or two
And the buzzards in the sky get so drunk they can not fly
Just from sniffing that good old mountain dew.

Chorus
They call it that good old mountan dew,
And them that refuse it are few.
I'll hush up my mug if you'll fill up my jug
With that good old mountain dew.

My aunt Lucille had an automobile,
It ran on a gallon or two.
It didn't need no gas and it didn't need no oil,
It just ran on that good old mountain dew.

Repeat chorus

My uncle Mort, he is sawed off and short,
He measure 'bout four foot two,
But he thinks he's a giant when you give him a pint
Of that good old mountain dew.

Repeat chorus

Old Auntie June had a brand new perfume,
It had such a wonderful "pew"
But to her surprise, when she had it analyzed,
It was nothing but that good old mountain dew

Repeat chorus

I know a guy named Pete, his hair ain't so neat,
Though he fixes it with syrup and blue,
But it stays right in place when he uses just a trace
Of that good old mountain dew.

Repeat chorus

The preacher-he walked by, with a big tear in his eye
Said that his wife had the flu
And hadn't I ought just to give him a quart
Of that good old mountain dew

Repeat chorus

My uncle Klaus had a real mean old mouse
When they asked how it happened,
He said it was a lappin'
That good old mountain dew

Repeat chorus

There's an old hollow tree, just a little way from me
Where you lay down a dollar or two
If you hush up your mug, then they'll give you a jug
Of that good old mountain dew

Repeat chorus

You take a little trash and you mix it up with ash,
And you throw in the soul of a shoe,
Then you stir it awhile with an old rusty file,
And they call it that good old mountain dew.

Repeat chorus

During the last war, we couldn't get no more,
We didn't have no sugar for the dew
With a few old potaters and a few ripe tomaters,
We turned out some stuff, I'm tellin' you

Repeat chorus

Old Deacon Crane took a trip in the rain,
Said his wife had come down with the flu,
But she'll be all right if you give her a pint
Of that good old mountain dew.

Repeat chorus

Mr. Franklin Roosevelt, he told me how he felt
The day the old dry law went through:
If your likker's too red, it will swell up your head
Better stick to that good old mountain dew

[Kurovski]

92. " The Green, Green Grass of Home".

[Radical Activist]

70. Hemp was once the top cash crop in Kentucky

Henry Clay grew it. We'd be better off with that than a product that kills so many people like tobacco.

[tekisui]

77. Hillbillies are freedom fighters.

[NNN0LHI]

79. Let me ask you something CatWoman

Just how in the hell did you get this thread title through without getting it locked?

Lady, you are good.

;)

Don

[CatWoman]

83. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

:hi:

[no name no slogan]

82. My own heritage contains both

...and both from the same side of the family, no less (thanks dad).

[mitchum]

85. Then you will really find Jewbillies fascinating...

urban educated Jewish people who are fans, and practicioners, of folk, bluegrass, and other forms of Appalachian music.
They were instrumental in the folk music revival which began in the late 50s.
Christopher Guest's "A Mighty Wind" has quite a number of sly references to this

[CatWoman]

89. I've got to get a hold of that book!!!

:hi:

[mitchum]

96. Sorry for the confusion, it's not a book, but a movie...

from the makers of "This Is Spinal Tap", "Waiting For Guffman", "Best In Show", etc...

Bob Dylan is the world's most famous Jewbilly, but there were lots and lots more :)

[CatWoman]

99. oops

thought you were referring to the book upthread :)

[rucky]

88. I knew about hillbilly weed, but not the factoid about Jews

and I'm Jewish (not a hillbilly).

[BrotherBuzz]

93. I've got a handle on Hillbillies and Jews...

It's the Gypsies the worry me.

[Hellenic_Pagan]

97. What about Laerli and Sinti is scarry?

I just know there is a lot of misconceptions about them, and that the Nazis wanted to eradicate them along with the Jews.

Or were you being sarcastic?

Im confused.

[Orangepeel]

94. The first installment of Jews in America was excellent

I highly recommend it. I learned all sorts of things and my Jewish husband did, too.

:hi: Catwoman!

[CatWoman]

100. Orangepeel!!!

:hi:

isn't that a great doc??? :)

[MindPilot]

98. I watched the Hillbillies last night...man, I learned a lot.

I never knew that there was such a history of freedom fighting and union organizing. I never knew the origin of the term "redneck."

Now my question is what went wrong? Why and how did they lose their union-supporting, populist way and turn into bushbots?

edit speelin'

[mitchum]

101. Read Joe Bageant's "Deer Hunting With Jesus" for the answers to that question

[NNN0LHI]

102. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 had a lot to do with it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, July 2, 1964) was landmark legislation in the United States that outlawed segregation in the US schools and public places. First conceived to help African Americans, the bill was amended prior to passage to protect women in courts, and explicitly included white people for the first time. It also started the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In order to circumvent limitations on the federal use of the Equal Protection Clause handed down by the Civil Rights Cases, the law was passed under the Commerce Clause. Once it was implemented, its effects were far reaching and had tremendous long-term impacts on the whole country. It prohibited discrimination in public facilities, in government, and in employment, invalidating the Jim Crow laws in the southern US. It became illegal to compel segregation of the races in schools, housing, or hiring. Powers given to enforce the bill were initially weak, but were supplemented during later years.

Origins

The bill had been introduced by President John F. Kennedy in his civil rights speech of June 11, 1963,<1> in which he asked for legislation "giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public—hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments," as well as "greater protection for the right to vote."

He then sent a bill to Congress on June 19. Emulating the Civil Rights Act of 1875, Kennedy's civil rights bill included provisions to ban discrimination in public accommodations, and to enable the U.S. Attorney General to sue state governments which operated segregated school systems, among other provisions.

Political repercussions

President Johnson speaks to a television camera at the signing of the Civil Rights Act.The bill divided and engendered a long-term change in the demographics of both political parties. President Johnson realized that supporting this bill would mean losing the South's overwhelming support of the Democratic Party. As Vice President Johnson pushed the Kennedy administration to introduce civil rights legislation, telling Kennedy aide Ted Sorensen that "I know the risks are great and we might lose the South, but those sorts of states may be lost anyway." As president, Johnson was warned by Senator Richard Russell, Jr. that his strong support for the civil rights bill "will not only cost you the South, it will cost you the election." The South indeed started to vote increasingly Republican after 1964. However, political scientists Richard Johnston and Byron Schafer have argued that this development was based more on economics than on race.

Although majorities in both parties voted for the bill, there were notable exceptions. Republican senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona voted against the bill, remarking, "You can't legislate morality." Most Democrats from the Southern states opposed the bill, including Senators Albert Gore Sr. (D-TN), J. William Fulbright (D-AR), and Robert Byrd (D-WV). Goldwater went on to secure his party's nomination for the presidency, and in the ensuing election, Goldwater won only Arizona and five of the Deep South states, two of which (Alabama and Mississippi) had not voted Republican since the disputed presidential election of 1876.

[Madam Mossfern]

103. Our HS Football team are the "Hillbillies"

A new superintendent was hired and tried to change the name, saying it was "politically incorrect". You have no idea of the backlash he got. We love that name and we also got a great education on the proud heritage of the hillbillies. The mascot did have to be altered though-got rid of the jug of moonshine and the rifle-replaced with a fishing rod and a dog. t-shirts are still available with the old logo though. I wonder if I can find it on line...

[mitchum]

105. I remember as a very little kid that the soft drink "Mountain Dew" had a...

bare-footed jug-totin' hillbilly on the bottle. I think that they changed the logo sometime in the late 60s

[SoCalDem]

104. It must not be showing out here.. I want to watch the Hillbilly series.

I am really enjoying the Jewish American series..

[Leopolds Ghost]

111. Most of them didn't -- look at the county by county voting maps in KY, VA, WV

The traditional Hillbilly areas are still bedrock Democratic counties.

As are, of course, the Eastern European mining towns.

However, there is a lot of Xenophobia in Hillbilly community resulting
in racism and the like directed against "liberal interest groups" --

although I wouldn't venture to say most Hillbillys are anywhere near
as racist as people down in Cotton country.

And the Eastern Europeans in places like PA and WV are big on gun ownership and the flag, they've been told that liberals are dirty commie hippies who want to take away our hunting weapons. Even those areas
haven't really abandoned the New Deal coalition though.

I'd say the Dems abandoned Appalachia to focus on other problems,
under the misguided notion that they were unenlightened rural white
racists who didn't belong in the Democratic party... not the other way
round. Attempts have not been made to bridge the gap without relying
on stereotypical southern conservatism, as if every Southerner is a
Reaganite. They don't try to appeal to native populist tendencies.
Of course I could be wrong.

[Bucky]

106. Try to understand the context. There were people in America 1000s of years before the Jews...

...and they weren't allowed to vote either.

[CatWoman]

108. but the problem I have is

Jews look like "them", whereas blacks were easily identified as blacks. same as native americans.

Jews immigrated here right alongside the other colonists.

[spanone]

109. It Is Kentucky's Number One Cash Crop

Domestically grown marijuana is Kentucky’s number one cash crop and much of the marijuana is grown on national forest land. Kentucky ranked fourth in the nation in CY2001 in the number of marijuana plants eradicated; only California, Hawaii and Tennessee ranked higher. The planting usually begins about April 15th and harvesting begins in September or October. Multi-hundred pound marijuana shipments from the Southwest Border Area also make their way to the Lexington area. These shipments arrive primarily from Texas, in vehicles, although express mail shipping companies are utilized for smaller loads. Marijuana is readily available and one of the most abused drugs in the area. Marijuana use is culturally accepted in Kentucky. It is sold in parking lots, bars, store fronts, homes, and other locations.
http://parentingteens.about.com/library/sp/drugs/bl-marijuana-kentucky.htm