In August, 1951, Bryon Campbell, a photographer for the Boston Herald, photographed an unusual annual harvest on Willow Court, a short, narrow street behind what is now the South Bay mall:
Marihuana Harvest-Police began their annual chore-cutting down a mysterious growth of the dope weed in a field off Willow court, Dorchester. The growth has several times been mowed, uprooted and burned over, but it still thrives. Patrolmen John Abraham, William Doyle and Thomas Mullen help in eradication.
Photo from the BPL's Boston Herald-Traveler Morgue collection. Posted under this Creative Commons license.
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Comments
The guy behind the fence
By what what now?
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 11:23am
tells a story in itself. That's his crop. He's not too happy.
Also, the first cop in the photo, Patrolmen John Abraham, looks like he's used some of that wacky tabacky, judging by that grin.
No buds here...
By PerryD
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 1:02pm
I don't see a single flower.
burned over indeed
By suomynona
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 11:39am
burned over indeed
Looks like
By berkleealum
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 12:07pm
Patrolman Abraham has just completed a rigorous inspection of the contraband lol
Also...
By anon
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 12:37pm
Judging from Patrolman Mullen, the old urban legend that pot makes men grow breasts is clearly true.
Men with an ample bosom..
By Friartuck
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 1:44pm
Must also wear high waisted trousers
Above and beyond
By Lee
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 12:43pm
Above and beyond the call of duty.
is that... wacky tobaccy?
By anon
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 12:46pm
is that... wacky tobaccy?
Tha wackiest!
is that the old Baker Farm site?
By anon
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 3:29pm
money doesn't grow on trees, but ganja comes close
"Ditch weed"
By tachometer
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 4:06pm
You could smoke that stuff all day and it wouldn't give you anything but a headache.
I'm pretty sure they
By Don't Panic
Mon, 08/07/2023 - 11:53pm
I'm pretty sure they continued this through the late 1960s. I remember playing in a stretch of vacant lots in lower Roxbury when a bunch of grown men came in and started pulling up the weeds me and my friend were playing army in. We had no idea what that was about.