C
annabis has changed since the 60s and 70s. We have gone from strains like “Panama Red”, “Acapulco Gold” and “Thai Stick” to names like “Gorilla Glue”, “Bruce Banner” and “Granddaddy Purple”. Eagle-eyed readers will realize that we went from mostly sativa, landrace strains mostly grown outdoors to fast-flowering hybridized strains that are grown indoors. Cannabis back in the 60s and 70s was also far more likely to be imported, be full of seeds and on the most part not necessarily as potent as the cannabis found today. This happened because of the “homegrown explosion”, when short-growing indicas like Afghani became more commonplace. Sativas were also stabilized and crossed with indicas in order to take advantage of hybrid vigor and create plants that were a bit more forgiving to look after. Growing landrace strains in alien environments is a difficult task, usually left to the best growers and breeders. Hybrid strains are generally much better to grow for beginners. Yet, have we lost something in the switch from the landrace strains of yesteryear to the highly engineered strains of today? Let’s look at some of the main issues surrounding the growing of cannabis, why it’s important, and why the line between “innovation” and “preservation” is blurry (and could even be said to be a false distinction) … The “More Bang for Your Buck” Attitude
THE NEW SMOKER
In the past, people wanted high-yielding, fast-flowering, THC-packed cannabis. The point was to be able to keep hidden from authorities and be able to make as much profit as quickly as possible. For those doing personal grows, the point was to be able to produce enough within one or two grows to last the whole year, thereby lessening the chances of getting caught. Sadly, this meant that breeders were often only looking for THC, often to the detriment of the other cannabinoids and terpenoids. Companies would try and compete on creating the most THC-laden strain possible, meaning that strains and individual phenotypes considered “low value” were bred out of particular lines. This, of course, leads to a lack of genetic diversity, which leads to … Population Bottlenecking This means that many types of cannabis are, for all intents and purposes, now likely to be extinct. Even strains that are in the middle of South America or Africa have become hybridized, due to pollen flying over from other plantations. This increases the chances of inbreeding and genetic homogeneity, which can cause an increase in mutations and disease, which means extinction becomes a distinct possibility unless fresh genetic material enters the genepool and recovery occurs. Hybridization is only an advantage if it’s done properly - over-hybridization can make plants all the same as opposed to all different. This also means that strains that might have very distinct medical properties are lost in the milieu. 14
