This was a significant milestone for cannabis because during the 1960s, the majority of cannabis that was coming into the United States was coming from tropical regions such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Colombia, Mexico, and Jamaica and were designated by names that indicated where they were grown such as Colombian Gold, Acapulco Gold, Michoacán, and Thai Stick.
Starting in the late 50s and going through the late 70s, people from the counterculture started navigating their way from London to India on what has become known as the “Hippie Trail”.
These traveling adventurers would play a significant role in the evolution of cannabis varieties because as they would travel through Afghanistan, they would pick up and bring back ancient varieties of cannabis that had long been bred for hashish and had broad leaves and short flowering times. Incorrectly identified as “Indica” because the leaf morphology was so different from the more common narrow leaf “sativa” varieties originating in the tropical/equatorial regions listed above. Afghan cannabis is so unique to the other varieties around the world that it has been argued that it should have its own classification.
Please see my article: Ditch the Old Terminology (An Indica / Sativa Response)
Original Haze / Courtesy Todd McCormick
Further east on the trail was India, where true “Indica” grows. In India, cannabis leaf morphology ranges from broad leaflet varieties in the north, to very narrow leaflet varieties down south and along the coast. I recently received seeds from Manipur India, which have been grown in the region for their drug content for thousands of years and they are the smallest seeds in my collection at 101 seeds per gram. Comparatively, “Purest Indica” and Northern Lights #2 are large and have approximately 38 seeds per g, followed by Northern Lights #5 and Skunk #1 at 50 seeds per g, and …
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Author: Todd McCormick / High Times
