Evolution of Cannabis

Part I: Panel Introduction and Discussion

Prohibition of cannabis encouraged breeders to increase levels of THC to provide more bang for the buck. Now that the end is near what will geneticists come up with and what will the consumers demand?

Panelists:

Jeffrey Raber – CEO & CVO | The Werc Shop
Josh Wurzer – President | SC Laboratories
Swami Chaitanya – Co-Founder | Swami Select
Michael Backes – Communications | NaPro Research/Phytecs
Mel Frank – Consultant, Publisher, Author, Photographer

Part II: Audience Q&A

75 years of marijuana prohibition in the United States had a profound effect on cannabis genetics, both in the US and globally. Forced to grow indoors, or discreetly outdoors, growers generally selected, generation after generation, plants that were short, had fast flowering cycles, high levels of THC, produced the most grams of flower per square foot, and emitted minimal odor so as to not attract attention from neighbors or law enforcement.

A plant naturally high in genetic diversity, and with the ability to express more terpenes than any other plant species on earth, was pasteurized into a Donald Drumpf wet dream of homogeneity.

Despite the fact that cannabis can express over 100 terpenes, according to Michael Backes,  Editor of Cannabis Evolution and Ethnobotany, “Myrcene, caryophyllene, and limonene dominate most contemporary cannabis, both in the US and globally.  The exceptions are the addition of pinene in Blue Dream, the lack of myrcene in Cookies, and the addition of ocimene in the skunk varieties, and the occasional terpinolene variety such as Jack Herer or Trainwreck.

Globally, in climates and geographies where landrace varieties once roamed free, such as Afghanistan, Thailand, and Hawaii, Robert Connell Clarke alludes to the “Dutchfication” of drug cannabis, with high THC and short flowering time varieties introduced by cultivators, AKA “invasive species”, displacing landrace cultivation. In short, the amazing landrace strains that older generations remember fondly from their youth can no longer be found. An Afghani #1 that had red and white stigmas in the 1970s now has only white stigmas and less flavor.

Plants are home to millions of microbes that have a huge impact on plant health and growth. Beneficial bacteria that live in and on roots and leaves can help plants take up minerals and nutrients from the soil, fend off pathogens and withstand salt, heat and drought. Equally as important, the terpene expression of the plant is highly affected by the microbial activity. Take a landrace strain and put it indoors, and you subject the plant to conditions that change the development of its natural therapeutic compounds.

Most microbiomes, both good and bad, get into the plants through the roots and they vascularize up through the plants into the flowers and leaves. The soil and the terrior (the set of all environmental factors that affect a crop’s phenotype) of where these are grown have evolved together. But we’re now planting genetics in different terrior. The plants aren’t used to the new terrior and might be more susceptible to yeast and mold. This is particularly true with indoor grows and wet climates that don’t have good HVAC. People grow plants at sea level in humid indoor environments that historically thrived in dry, arid mountain outdoor climates.

When you take landrace or heirloom strains and try to grow them indoors, for example in Los Angeles, the plants, separated from their native terrior, no longer have the ability to grow and thrive with minimal inputs and to fend off pests as they did in the native habitat they were acclimated to over thousands or millions of years. They also are no longer capable of reaching full expression across the range of cannabinoids and terpenes and other therapeutic molecules.

Landraces

Landraces are the oldest types of crop cultivars, a plant variety that has been produced in cultivation by selective breeding. They were domesticated by traditional farmers around the world who often initially selected from wild populations. The crops adapted over time to suit the local environment of soil type, fertility and water availability, flavour, altitude, ripening times, storage, general climate and more.

The traits of Landraces are their genetic variability which give them flexibility to cope with a range of environmental pressures such as diseases, drought, and other threats so that an entire crop will not perish in one go. They also often rely on low input therefore yields can be marginal. But always the best plants would survive and seeds saved for the following sowing relies on the fact that ‘like breeds like’ and thus strengthening the strain of cultivars.

Heirloom varieties are pass-me-downs of good and useful older varieties which have stood the test of time. They are sufficiently valued to be kept going and maintained by individual gardeners and heritage seed libraries. Heirlooms are not necessarily bound to a locality whereas a landrace is.

Landrace cannabis strains that have adapted to their conditions over time, are considered to have optimal values of therapeutic compounds. These stable varieties are the forefathers of all modern cannabis strains. Environmental conditions + selective breeding over thousands of years have made landrace strains what they are.

Modern hybridization leaves us with fewer original genetics. Indoor growing subjects the plant to conditions that change the development of its natural compounds. Landrace strains have been naturally cultivated over thousands of years. their properties are nearly impossible to replicate.

According to Mel Frank, author of The Marijuana Grower’s Guide:

Landraces are important because, by definition, they have been grown continuously as isolated populations and, as such, are continuously adapting to their local climate and general growing conditions. That encourages the population to adapt, by concentrating advantageous gene combinations adaptive to their environment. In small, isolated populations any advantageous mutation also has a much better chance of establishing within the population–landraces therefore can develop unique qualities never before seen, whether that may be disease resistance, early flowering, or high cannabinoid concentrations or combinations, for examples.

Being dioecious, an annual, and wind pollinated also provides for rapid adaptation both within the local population and also because genes can occasionally be introduced from distant populations via wind pollination. Being an annual means that each year a new generation is spawned by the best adapted seed producers from the previous year. And, having sexes on separate plants maximizes genetic diversity by having separate parents. 

I’m afraid that we likely have lost many Central Asian landraces particularly those called “indica” due to war, politics, eradication programs, and hostility to cannabis use. We no longer have high quality Afghani hashish, and much of the hashish production in the Middle East has ceased or diminished drastically, and some of those hashish landraces have probably disappeared.

However, landraces still abound in Africa, Mexico, and South America and, likely, some Southeast Asian strains are still being grown as they have been for many decades; the search goes on to bring landraces back to the USA.

What are a few strains that you remember from the past that are hard to find? Describe each one? Looks? Smell? How it smoked? It’s effect?

Michael Backes, Editor, Cannabis Evolution and Ethnobotany:

Thai Stick- cocoa aroma. Tiny, black-seeded buds tied to a thin six-inch bamboo skewer with a bamboo thread. Clear strong high, slightly numbing body high.

Kona Gold, long, wispy, sticky golden seedless buds with a distinct Christmas tree aroma.  Electric, diamond-clear high. Best cannabis ever.

French Cannoli, Master Hashishin:

Thai Stick I smoked in Thailand, it was the experience that left an indelible memory, very speedy and uplifting, too much for many, sativa at its best.

Durban Poison grown in South Africa by a friend, the most amazing fruit cocktail I had experienced and again very racy and uplifting.

What you want to breed / grow or see others grow?

Kevin McKernan, Cannabis Genome Project:

More terpinolene rich strains such as Jack Herer and Dutch Treat. Dutch Treat works well on anxiety and pain, and it’s also helpful with insomnia. This strain is recommended for ADHD, PTSD, migraines, and arthritis.

Michael Backes:

For a long time, I have been seeking pinene-rich varieties, since pinene appears to offset some of the effects of THC on memory.  Propyl varieties that produce THCV and CBDV are also of interest to me.

Jeff Raber, Lab Director, The Werc Shop:

Broader terpene variability within high CBD strains and novel cannabinoid profiles we don’t see today like high CBG and the propyl variants THCV and CBDV. 

 

The modern obession with “More THC”. This one goes to 11.