Ancient And Modern History Of Marijuana

     Cannabis evolved in Asia where it was first domesticated as hemp for both seed and cloth.  Cannabis Ruderalis comes from Siberia near the Arctic circle where the summer growing season is determined by a lack of ice, not by any change in the daylight, so Ruderalis is the origin of autoflower plants that ignore the light cycle and go from seed to flower within 3 to 4 months.

     Ruderalis means rudimentary or primordial, and it is assumed to be the original cannabis plant, which humans then took and through selective breeding turned into two kinds of hemp plants, one with large seeds for food, and another with long internodes for fiber.  The ancestor of all cannabis plants was a cousin of Ruderalis from Central Asia that would have had no need for autoflower.  Since cannabis has no pollinator and its pollen drifts up to two miles with the wind, over thousands of years all of the original wild Ruderalis plants in Asia have become crossbred with the domestic hemp strains leaving only the autoflower Ruderalis that grows near the Arctic circle, far north of where anyone grows hemp. 

     Humans first began settling Afghanistan around 50,000 years ago, and at some point in the past someone brought hemp seeds with them, when it went feral the high UV rays in Afghanistan caused an allele for CBD to change to an allele for THC, which was produced by the plant as a sunblock, then just one generation later a plant with two alleles for THC was produced which was the first marijuana, known to the US Government as Wide Leaf Drug-Type or WLDT, and known on the streets as Indica.  The wild cannabis in Afghanistan has hemp, marijuana, and a mix of the two growing all together, with most plants having more than 1% of the terpene Myrcene by dry weight.

     Myrcene can be found in many plants and accounts for up to 40% of the weight of wild thyme leaves.  Myrcene causes a sedative, as well as a motor relaxant effect, and it is the sole cause of couch lock in Indica dominant strains of marijuana.  This is what the term, "Entourage Effect," is specifically referring to, that the presence of Myrcene over .5% of dry flower causes couch lock, which is an unscheduled nap on the couch during the day.

     When drug-type Indica plants were selected for domestication in Afghanistan the most potent drug types were selected, most of which had high levels of Myrcene.  But when drug-type Indica plants were taken out of Afghanistan to be grown in North India or Lebanon they chose the few strains with low Myrcene, which over time became a whole different kind of marijuana known as Narrow Leaf Drug-Type or NLDT to the US Government, and known on the streets as Sativa.  Sativa strains typically have less than .3% Myrcene, while Indica strains typically have over .8% Myrcene, sometimes up to 1.5% Myrcene per dry weight of the flower.  Myrcene, Pinene (which smells like pine), and Limonene (which smells like lemon) are the 3 main terpenes in Indica dominant strains, while Sativa dominant strains typically smell like fruit, flowers, gum, or food due to the presence of a wide variety of other terpenes.

     Technically Cannabis Sativa refers to the domesticated hemp plant where sativa simply means domesticated, but in modern times the word Sativa means Narrow Leaf Drug-Type marijuana with high levels of THC, and hemp is used to mean any low THC cannabis plant grown for seeds, for fiber, or for the CBD in the resins.  From the 1870s through the 1970s marijuana in the United State was all pure Sativa strains.  The strains from Mexico and Colombia all gave you the munchies and dry mouth, because those are side effects of THC.  The very rare Southeast Asian strains like Thai Stick may have been different, but they were not a regular enough occurrence to notice, and they too were Sativas.

     Then in the 1980s strains from Europe started to arrive that included both Indica and Ruderalis genetics.       By the mid 80s an Indica dominant strain called OG Kush started to be sold in the United States.  Developed out of SFV Kush by Kyle Kushman, OG Kush is the first popular strain to breed Indica dominance into US marijuana.  Compared to the Sativas before it, OG Kush matured quicker, yielded heavier yields, was more disease resistant, and was perceived as being stronger because of the presence of the terpene Myrcene.

     Because OG Kush was so much more productive in such a shorter time compared to Sativa strains it was bred into almost all of the strains in America so that by 1999 Myrcene became the dominant terpene in 90% of all American marijuana strains, which became known as, "Indica dominant," because of the sedative effects of Myrcene combined with THC.  Then around 2010 the first modern Marijuana was bred into existence in America starting with OG Kush and breeding it with the South African landrace Sativa strain Durban Poison, plus an unnamed strain.  Sativa strains from Southern Africa and from Southeast Asia are both known to have the presence of THCV, or TetraHydroCannabiVarin, which turned out to be the key to fixing all of the undesirable side effects of marijuana.

     Indica dominant strains that cause couch lock make them unsuitable for adults that want to have a regular life, like a job.  And with obesity rates reaching 40% - 50% of Americans, almost no one needs the munchies these days, and no one likes dry-mouth anyway, so along came Durban Poison with THCV to fix everything.  The first modern strain created is GSC, which stood for a kind of cookie sold by an organization for girls, and used to be referred to by its full name, but now is just referred to as GSC.  While Durban Poison had 1% - 1.5% THCV by dry weight of flower, GSC was created to have higher levels, and the original GSC had 2% - 2.5% THCV.

     As a landrace Sativa strain Durban Poison was already notable for not causing the munchies or dry-mouth due to THCV, so by increasing the THCV levels in GSC they allowed it to become the basis for most modern weed, because it could now be crossed with any strain to cancel undesirable side effects.  Any amount of THCV over 1% by dry weight of flower will cancel out the couch lock caused by any amount of Myrcene, and will cancel the munchies and dry-mouth, which is another example of the Entourage Effect.  That means that the original GSC flower with over 2% THCV can also be blended 50/50 with other strains of flowers that cause couch lock to eliminate all negative effects in the other flowers.

     Related to GSC are all of the strains like Cherry Pie, Gelato, Wedding Cake, and all of their variations, and other strains were also created using Durban Poison.  These days the terms Sativa dominant and Indica dominant are simply used to distinguish between strains that don't cause couch lock versus strains that do cause couch lock.  These days most strains that do not cause couch lock have statistically significant levels of THCV, even though almost no websites publish data about THCV and almost no dispensaries or provisionary centers provide any information about it.

     Most websites and dispensaries are just guessing about how to categorize marijuana strains, using strain lineage and user feedback to determine if a strain is Indica dominant or Sativa dominant, while completely ignoring lab tests for both Myrcene and THCV which is the only real way to determine Indica dominant and Sativa dominant strains.  Almost no one tests for or acknowledges the effects of THCV in marijuana, in fact, the only website on the entire internet that appears to keep a database of THCV for all strains is askgrowers (.com).

     THCV was also bred up higher than in GSC, all the way up until it got its own allele and became equal to THC, with the Doug's Varin strain testing at around 10% THC and 10% THCV, and the Willie Nelson strain also having elevated THCV levels over 5%.  Neither of those strains are available in every state, but in general GSC is, and it is powerful enough to be considered a weight loss medication.  Pretty much any strain that is called Sativa dominant these days will work as weight loss medication because it has sufficient levels of THCV to cancel out the munchies and to suppress the desire to eat in general.

     Weight loss marijuana? Yep.  And that is a problem for cancer patients that are taking chemo or radiation therapy and have lost their appetites.  They need the help of 1970s style low-THCV Sativa strains that cause the munchies along with the mood elevation associated with THC, but that doesn't exist anymore.  If they want to get the munchies they have to get an Indica dominant strain that also causes couch lock, and as I already said couch lock interferes with people attempting to just have a normal life, let alone fight cancer.

     Around 70 to 80% of all of the marijuana in the United States is still Indica dominant marijuana that causes couch lock, the munchies, and dry mouth, while 20 to 30% of the marijuana is now Sativa dominant mostly due to THCV, so it doesn't cause couch lock, the munchies, or dry mouth.  Cancer patients are literally the face of the medical marijuana movement, and they deserve any sort of medication to help them get through chemo or radiation therapy, but they don't have any marijuana strains tailored for them.  All of the marijuana is obviously just intended for recreational purposes, or we would be producing some Sativa strains with low-Myrcene and low-THCV for cancer patients who are undergoing chemo or radiation therapy, and want the appetite stimulation and mood elevation that comes from THC, but might not want to get couch lock.

     And after years of lobbying by Nutiva to be able to grow hemp seeds in the United States, the farm bill that allows hemp has sadly not been used to grow any hemp seeds or hemp fiber, it has only been used to grow reversed drug-type High CBD plants so that they can sell products infused with CBD to adults and children.  CBD is being marketed as a miracle drug for every person to use for any variety of purposes.  It is the new fad drug.  It may have some very limited uses for certain diseases that affect both children and adults, but there is no way that CBD is applicable for everyone that it is being marketed to, while hemp seeds are still one of the only plant sources of omega-3 fats and provide complete protein, while hemp fiber is still one of the strongest natural fibers on the planet, and we would do well to start producing both of them again in the United States.