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Now here's a weed if there ever was one that surpasses it's mystique and lives up to it's legend. What I love most about this cannabis strain is that it's more often than not grown outdoor because of it's reputation as a hearty breed, fond of the long California summers. In more recent times, with the world gone mad for whole foods and paranoid of chemicals, rightfully so, this durable strain is often grown organically. When primo Afghani Bullrider buds find there way to your grinder be grateful and give thanks to the Cannabis Gods, for you have in your hands one of the most exotic weed strains on earth.

The Bullrider Legend: In the same issue of High Times Magazine as Toker Poker there was a story called "The Bull Rider's Journey" in which the author Jef Tek tells the myth of an African-American dude who was a professional Bull Rider that was passionate about growing weed. As the story goes, this Bullrider traveled allot and knew at least one serious grower from overseas who bestowed the seeds upon him, after which he arrived in California and grew the plant to full-strength and cured it, then the bull-rider and some friends smoked some of the bud, after which one of the friends remarked that he felt like he'd just been riding a bull - bam!

The Afghani Bullrider name stuck and ever since the late '80's the strain found it's way all over California in clone form. At one point someone even created Hats and T-shirts to commemorate the great strain. Growers as far away as Oregon and Vancouver managed to get their hands on either the seeds or the clones as the Afghani Bullrider strain made it's way far and wide. However, it's Southern California where the climate provides an endless budding season, all you need to do is place a clone outside and it will begin to produce buds. As with most indica-dominant strains the Afghani Bullrider will reach maturity within 8 weeks or less and deliver an impressive harvest.

The UN estimates that up to 190 million people use cannabis, representing 4% of the global adult population, compared with 1% of the population, which uses all other illegal drugs together.  Thus cannabis is by far the most used controlled drug in the world, making it the mainstay of the War on Drugs. In the United States alone there were an estimated 829,625 arrests for cannabis violations in 2006.  Despite these figures, cannabis continues to be largely ignored in international drug policy debates.  Here is a list of 10 other interesting facts about marijuana.

1. According to one national survey on drug use, each day approximately 6,000 Americans try marijuana for the first time.
2. Worldwide, it is estimated that about 162 million adults use marijuana at least once per year, and 22.5 million use the drug daily.
3. Marijuana usage is a ritual part of many religious traditions throughout the world. In Islamic nations, it is accepted alongside coffee and tobacco while alcohol is strictly prohibited.
4. According to one report, it would take 800 joints to kill a person "but the cause of death would be carbon monoxide poisoning.
5. There are over 200 slang terms for marijuana in the popular vernacular.
6. The name marijuana comes from a Mexican slang term for cannabis and is believed to have derived from the Spanish pronunciation of the names Mary and Jane. (The two names were also common Mexican military slang for a prostitute or brothel.) Marijuana came into popularity as a name for cannabis in the U.S. during the late 1800s.
7. The cannabis plant can grow in nearly any environment and averages one to two inches of growth per day and up to 18 feet total in ideal conditions.
8. The primary active ingredient in marijuana is THC (delta 9 tetrhydrocannabinol). It is this chemical that produces marijuana's mind-altering effects.
9. Depending upon the weather conditions, soil type, and time of harvest for a cannabis plant, as well as the specific mixture of dried leaves and flowers in the marijuana product, a sample of marijuana can contain anywhere from 3% to 20% THC.
10. Cannabis seeds were used as a food source in China as early as 6000 B.C.

OG Kush is a super-potent variety of medical-grade, Indica dominant Cannabis with very distinct lemony citrus, pine-sol aroma. The look of OG Kush is remarkable, it's lime green and covered in white trichomes but the main reason it's so popular in medical marijuana dispensaries is the long-lasting, heavy-hitting sativa buzz effect which is both a soaring cerebral high and physically stimulating.

Whenever I think of OG Kush I think of Los Angeles, since that's where I first tasted this legendary cannabis strain and the only place I've ever seen this great bud. Amongst the details that make this strain so interesting is that OG Kush is mostly a Cannabis Sativa hybrid, so really doesn't even deserve having Kush in it's name, although it's probably bred into it's genetic heritage. Added to that, OG Kush is a 1st generation offspring of a self-pollinated hermaphrodite and is only privately available in clone form and not in seed.

OG Kush clone-only cultivar is rumored to have been grown from a cutting of 91 Chemdog, which means that unless you live in Southern California it may be very difficult to get your hands on this strain. However, if you are lucky enough to locate some clones for your grow-op these plants are reputed to yield a great crop and for medical marijuana patients living in the greater Los Angeles area, they can score this wonderful medicine for an average of $75 USD for an 1/8 of an ounce.

Good honey oil or hash oil, which is a misnomer because all oil derives from cannabis not hash, is like smoking pure THC when it's produced correctly but remember there are many varieties and several ways to produce oil from marijuana. Naturally, like almost anything in this world, the better the ingredients the better the finished product. Some connoisseurs even suggest that pure Indica strain buds is the only way to produce the best oil but I've smoked weed oil from primo sativa buds and that was stellar, just that the color and consistency wasn't as golden as true honey oil.

Honey oil is considerably more potent than cannabis itself, due to its extreme purity and lack of other plant matter. The THC content of honey oil is variable based on the particular strain of cannabis from which it was derived, and is similar to that of hashish. The name honey refers to the color and consistency of the oil; there is no honey. One or two hits of good oil and you're as blazed as if you'd smoked an entire joint. Actually that's one of the reasons some people prefer honey oil over bud, as it lasts a long time and provides a strong buzz from a single toke.

One popular method for making honey oil is known as "Budder Hash" or commonly known as BHO (pictured) which stands for Butane Hash Oil but that doesn't sound so tasty because of the word 'butane' but if you've ever smoked this gear you'll know that the flavor is fabulous and the buzz totally rocks!

According to the definition in the encyclopedia of plant genetic resources, a landrace is an early, cultivated form of a crop species, evolved from a wild population, and generally composed of a heterogeneous mixture of genotypes. Therefore a cannabis landrace is a marijuana plant species that has been geographically isolated from the possibility of cross-breeding with any other strain of a similar plant species. If we were discussing vegetables or another type of plant we'd be using the term "heirloom".

For many years some of the leading Cannabis Seed Company owners have taken a keen interest in preserving the great original marijuana strains of the world and several even work together, creating Seed Banks. There are some important reasons that landrace cannabis has become popular, first because they're the best strains for cross-breeding to make new marijuana strains or brands, maybe the only true way to make a new strain and secondly the plants themselves are fabulous to smoke in their natural form and have recently become very popular amongst both recreational smokers and medical marijuana patients. This dispels a myth that THC content has increased in modern strains of marijuana, as any cannabis landrace will get you very high.

Some of the more famous landrace cannabis strains are from Afghanistan, Africa, Brazil, India, Mexico and Thailand but that's generalizing because according to botany a plant growing from the same strain of seed, such as Jamaica Lambs Bread, for a long enough period of time, without being crossed with another strain, can be known as a landrace. Some of the other best known strain brands are Hindu Kush (pictured), Malawi Gold, or Acapulco Gold, which I recently heard was re-produced by a Dutch grower and brought back to the Coffeeshops in Amsterdam and has become very popular.

I wanted to take this opportunity, five days from Christmas to wish everyone a very Merry Holiday Season and a safe Happy New Year. The growth of Reefer Smoke this past year has far surpassed my wildest expectations and the cool people I've met as a result of publishing this blog made every minute of the effort well worth while. I've learned allot about the Cannabis Culture around the world from joining related groups, following Stoners on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Myspace and by tracking all things 420 related via Google Alerts. This has been a tremendous intellectual journey for me and I have you, the reader, for encouraging me to continue this pursuit.

From the beginning I promised to keep the content light and relaxed, not too serious on the cannabis activism side, avoid news about people getting busted and go easy on the medical marijuana information, although those topics make up the bulk of the daily news in the niche of "marijuana or cannabis" keyword related content on the web, I am first and foremost a recreational reefer smoker and although not currently growing a crop, I'm very passionate about marijuana cultivation, love inspecting live grow-operations around the world and enjoy perving on nug porn. You can expect more of the same from Reefer Smoke in 2010.

Just in the last month Reefer Smoke has hosted 6,505 visitors from 96 countries. We thank you all for dropping by and wish you and yours a very happy and buzzed holiday and the stickiest, dankest buds, in the new year.

The 22nd Cannabis Cup concluded last week in Amsterdam and the winners were announced on the website Cannabis Cup Winners and it comes as no surprise that Greenhouse Seeds of Holland take first prize for the second year running for the Super Lemon Haze, which is the first strain to repeat since Greenhouse did it with Super Silver Haze in 1999. Barney's was runner-up with their popular Vanilla Kush and Green Place placed third with their strain Head Bang.

It was good to see that BC Bud Depot place third in the Sativa Category, since Barney's took home allot of honors but Green House Seeds either won or placed a strain in every category except the Indica category, where top honors went to another two time consecutive first place winner of the Cannabis Cup: Starbud (pictured) from Hortilab Seed Company.

To read about all this years strains visit High Times Cannabis Cup Winners.

So much has been said and written about the Pros and Cons of Medical Marijuana by people from all walks of life and strata of society, it just doesn't seem to matter, we're going to suffer the consequence of the reefer madness brain-washing for years to come. However, on the scientific side of the argument "should marijuana be legal for medical use" tomorrow a 56 year old stockbroker from Florida, named Irvin Rosenfeld (see: No Dope: Ft. Lauderdale Man to Smoke 115,000th Joint) will add his record to the case studies by being the first person on record to have smoked 115,000 reefers while in a Federal Drug Administration's Investigational New Drug Program. Not only are there no signs of negative health issues or work performance in the case of Rosenfeld but he provides yet another powerful testimonial of the benefits derived from this plant.

The medical marijuana that Rosenfeld is supplied by Uncle Sam comes from the University of Mississippi Weed Farm, the only federally approved farm in the United States. Mahmoud A. ElSohly, PhD, whom we once wrote about in this blog, is a Research Professor at the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Mississippi, stated the following in a Dec. 19, 2005 interview with the Journal of the International Hemp Association:

"Cannabis as a smoked product, in my judgment, would not be a useful product simply because of the lack of standardization, the fact that it's a smoked material: you can't determine the dose, people smoke in different ways, plus the interaction of the many different components and degradation products, and the tars associated with smoked materials. So smoking is not a good delivery system.

However, cannabis as a plant that is rich in chemical components, would have potential for producing useful drugs, for example THC. Now THC in the oral preparation, it doesn't seem to be doing the good job it should or was expected to. My personal view on the reason for this is the 'first-pass effect.' The material taken orally goes through the liver and is converted to the 11-hydroxy metabolite, which is 4-5 times more potent in terms of psychoactivity, before getting into the bloodstream, and the profile of these two drugs is quite different."

Not sure if I completely agree with the good Doctor since some people may have placebo effects from smoking their medicine but this brings up a good argument for just legalizing marijuana because obviously no-one has, can, or will, be hurt from smoking weed, so let's get cracking on the research. Also, let's separate the medical marijuana debate from recreational ganja and begin two distinctly different dialogs. Legalize both!

Note: Click to enlarge

Named for the glimmer of the trichomes and crystals covering the buds, to conjure up images of the Aurora Borealis (northern lights). Many of the top Canadian seed companies sell Northern Lights (strain) cannabis seeds and since it's one of the most commonly crossed strains of hybrid cannabis there's legions of stable strains born of these genetics. This magnificent plant has probably won or placed in the High Times Cannabis Cup more times than any other single strain.

Legend has it that the strain was created in Washington State but some say that she may have been amongst the earliest sativa strains crossed with Indica in Humboldt California way back in the mid 1970's. However, Northern Lights strain has been preserved much as it originally was through inbreeding without any marked improvements other than hybridization.

Effect: One hit wonder
Stature: Very short and squat
Phenotype: Mixed, primarily Indica
Indoor: 55 to 60 days: Mid/late September
Smell: A Sweet Classic Skunky odor Yield: 2/3 ounces per plant

Every day more scientific evidence surfaces about the medical benefits found in cannabis. Personally I always thought of Hash Brownies, which I thoroughly enjoy, as more of a recreational marijuana thing or a Cannabis dispensary novelty item but I've come to understand that some of the properties of the cannabis plant, especially the pure Hemp oil and Hemp butter are not just effective treatments for some types of cancer and other serious ailments but also very good for you. The day may come when Doctors recommend that we eat THC with every meal in which case homemade Bubble Bag Hash (as shown in the photo) may become a staple.

The good folks from WeedMaps.com have really outdone themselves this time, they've taken cannabis photography to an entirely new level. Never before has the term "sick" been so meaningful to describe something wonderful, especially if you're stuck looking at these photos and your own stash is empty and you live somewhere that you can't just whip out your iPhone and feed-in your co-ordinates to locate the nearest dispensary, so you can re-load your stash.

Here's the description from the NugPorn.com website:

NugPorn.com provides high quality, professionally shot medical cannabis photos & strain reviews. As a sister site of WeedMaps.com, we get access to the most exotic and beautiful marijuana strain pictures ever assembled on one site. We search medical marijuana dispensaries far and wide to find the most amazing weed porn for our visitors. Leave a comment if you dig 'em!

As I've admitted in another article on this blog (see: Cannabis Pornography), I'm a huge fan of weed photography and can admit it may have been one of the factors that prompted me to start Reefer Smoke. Every day I look at pictures and videos of plants and buds, or as often as I can I love to inspect real plants but I can honestly say that I've never seen marijuana photography like that on NugPorn.com. I chose "Purple Dragon" cannabis strain for this recommendation because I was amazed by the colors in the photo but truthfully, there's not a bad image on the entire site and the sheer number of exquisite cannabis strains alone should earn the site a 5 star commendation.

I give NugPorn.com 2 enthusiastic bongs-up and encourage you to check it out immediately at NugPorn.com

The evolution of cannabis is a fascinating thing and all the more-so because of the cool names that have emerged from the minds of brilliant growers, who had a couple of months to think-up groovy monikers that would do justice to the creations they bred. Have a listen to a great song by "Goose" that raps about the strains we love to love.

Continue reading to see a huge list of: Cannabis Strains of the World

White Rhino is one of those almost mythical strains of cannabis, created by Greenhouse seeds from crossing White Widow with White Shark then making a stable feminized strain, which came second in the Cannabis Cup in the Bio category and then 10 years later placed second in the Champions Cup.

White Rhino has become very popular as a medicinal plant because of it's high levels of naturally occurring chemical elements (CBD and CGB) which are known to naturally relieve, or reduce, many symptoms associated with various diseases and ailments that are treatable with medicinal marijuana.

Recreational smokers love the sweet taste of White Rhino but are most interested with the THC levels, which on this plant, whose genetics are Afghan, Brazilian and South Indian, weight-in close to the top of the scale. When you smoke White Rhino it'll creep up on you to deliver a strong almost narcotic, sedative effect. Another word to the wise, is that the smell of White Rhino when you burn a reefer is pungent and strong, so don't smoke this stuff in an enclosed area unless you don't care about being caught and then having to share or give up your delectable stash.

As for growing? White Rhino seeds are readily available online and although I've never grown this strain I'm told that the plant will flower within 2 months and at 9 weeks will produce rock-hard buds and yield up to 900 grams per plant.

If you love weed, odds are you've fantasized about moving to Amsterdam and working at a coffeeshop. Well this Spring, HIGH TIMES Senior Editor Bobby Black got to live out that fantasy when he spent a week working at two of Holland's coolest smoke spots--Amnesia and Barney's. In this unprecedented exposé, he'll take you behind the smoke and mirrors to reveal first-hand what its really like to work in a Dutch coffeeshop. You don't want to miss this one!

A few years ago, on my second trip to Amsterdam, I was hanging out with a famous Cannabis grower and Seed Company owner, and a cool Dude from California who owns head-shops in Nevada. We were sitting in the lounge of the Hotel Krasnapolsky when the topic arose about hunting down some "Stinky Cheese". As a side note I should mention two things; first, I had no idea what Stinky Cheese was and since the coffee shops offer (I thought) every Cannabis strain under the sun (or grow lights) it was a mystery to me to what they were talking about. I would have asked but the second thing to mention is that I was severely distracted because a conference that I had been attending was taking place at the famous old hotel, and I recognized many delegates, wearing suits and ties, filtering into the lounge where I was sitting with three very wild looking fellows, sporting big dreads, big beards, long hair, tee-shirts, combat fatigues and tattoos. My little group just didn't fit into the scene, anyway I was so blazed on the wicked Bubblegum that I'd been vaporizing with my friends that I found myself a little confused when invited to join in the hunt to track down some Stinky Cheese, so I missed out on the opportunity.

Awards: 1st prize Indica Cup HTCC 2006.

Genetics: Skunk-Kush cross, straight from the UK

Effect: Intense musky earthy flavor, very dominant. Strong body stoned, with bursts of mental energy.

Flowering indoor: 8-9 weeks, with rock-hard buds and tight calyx formation. Production up to 700 grams per square meter.

Flowering outdoor: Ready mid October; plants develop really bushy, so make sure to space the plants enough. Production up to 800 grams per plant.

It's time for me to "fess-up" about my absence. I was MIA in Miami, beached in South Carolina and off the grid in Canada, for the past couple of months. Mixing business with pleasure, as I made my yearly summer tour of North America, to see friends and meet business partners. The time flies during these excursion and I lose track of the days, as each one blurs into another to form a hazy, dream-like, set of memories, which last me the entire year, until it's time to travel north again.

Amongst my fondest memories from my summer 2009 tour are some amazing smoking sessions and some amazing weed. The Miami grass seemed like the same strain of Kryptonite that I scored last year and likely was, as the Florida grow-op has had such success with it that they've cloned the strain and kept it growing. Then in BC my timing was on and I scored a huge sack of freshly harvested, immaculately manicured, and perfectly cured, Purple Kush, which was as tasty and powerful as anything that I've ever smoked but by that point in my tour I'd been smoking for a few weeks and developed a tolerance, so I was able to still hold a conversation, unlike a few other people I shared the wicked bud with.

My biggest surprise happened with a new friend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, introduced to me by an old friend who's not a chronic smoker like myself. After attending a business meeting with the cool dude I just met a couple hours previously, he asked if I wanted to get high? Sure I'd love to, I replied, and he showed me some huge outdoor grown buds that looked rather common and smelled like a mid-grade herb. Not wanting to sound like a weed-snob I really didn't expect too much more of a buzz than what the regs in my own pocket was giving me. I was so mistaken. We parked at a mutual friends house, right on the beach and walked to the dunes to fire up a fat blunt that my new friend had expertly rolled. We talked and quaffed and quaffed some more, until there was about half left then put it out for later. Soon we were back in the car with a mission to go buy some cold beer and wine for the pool party we were attending, when we arrived at the store I realized that I was too stoned to go inside. I was legless! This hadn't happened to me since arriving in Amsterdam in 2007, after a 3 month smoking hiatus and going straight for the White Widow. The Myrtle Beach Blunt had wasted me, put me on my ass and made me paranoid and f_cked-up. Later at the pool party I couldn't wait to fire-up the last half of that fat blunt.

TH Seeds launched a new site and now today announced that Doug and Adam from Hempworks, Amsterdam, and founder of TH Seeds (8 time winner of the High Times Cannabis Cup) will be in Los Angeles for the THC Expo on June 13/14 with a booth at the Expo.

On the new TH Seeds website there are some phenomenal photos sent in by the growers, including a series of pictures of massive, outdoor grown S.A.G.E. plants, and in case you were curious about the name, here's the description:

The name says it all ! Sativa Afghani Genetic Equilibrium®, a well balanced Haze crossed with a robust Indica that produces a power- packed plant with over 20 % T.H.C. Fast becoming a legend, S.A.G.E.® took 2nd place in the blind test of the 2001 High Times Cannabis Cup also the hash made out of this plant won 1st place in 2000, both of these victories were based on overall strength and quality. High T.H.C. and low C.B.D. make this plant a perfect head stash variety. Spicy sandalwood flavor combined with a long lasting and uplifting high make this the plant for those who must have the best. Longer flowering time is rewarded with large buds that will seem to double in size in the last few weeks.

Make sure you check out the new site of TH Seeds

Today I voted on this month's "Cream of the Crop" contest on UK420.com and found myself stumped to pick a winner, since every bud photo entered was extraordinary. So much so, that I had to write the entrants down on a piece of paper and make notes. Today's modern cannabis strains are truly exotic and include such hybrids as; Killer Skunk (pictured), Orange County Floss, Opiumxberry, Northern Lights, Cheese, Pahari Farmhouse, Purple Wreck and one of my favorites, Toothless Grin.

Orange County Floss from Bigga Buddah was destined to win this months "Cream of the Crop" contest, having already received 41% of the votes but honestly it was hard to tell which was best.

Looking into the background of Killer Skunk, which was entered by two growers I discovered an organically produced cannabis seed company called "Underground Originals", here's their review of this cannabis strain:

Type: Sativa/Indica Hybrid.
Parentage: Blues x SmellyBerry.
Harvest Indoors: 7 - 9 weeks after starting 12/12 light-cycle.
Harvest Outdoors: End of September - beginning/mid October.
Cerebral Hit: Joyful, an uplifting mood enhancer; also gives good audio visual enhancements. "Killer Skunk" is sociable too, good for parties or more intimate occasions. Yet, for those who prefer it, the hit can be spiritual and illuminating, inviting meditation and contemplation.
Physical Hit: A feeling of bodily lightness, leaving the user comfortable with muscular relaxation and ease predominates.
Medicinal Value: "Killer Skunk" may well prove to be a possible medicinal keeper for someone with pain/spasm problems, or spasticity. The strong yet comfortable cerebral impact may help anyone with depressive illness. The mood is lifted considerably, yet without any accompanying paranoia or racey "edge".
Smell: Dense, strong and sweet. Hashy, with some pine and lemon hints but essentially the smell is of highest grade Cannabis. Very aromatic, Carbon filters essential!
Taste: Sublime, more-ish. Sweet, hashy and delicious!
Yield Indoors: Depending on grow skills and environment, a big yield is hard to avoid. A gram per watt of light is not so hard with Killer Skunk.
Yield outdoors: Dependant on climate and seasonal variations; but expect higher than average yields.

This is the perfect time of year to start a crop of Killer Skunk from UGORG.

Have you ever wondered what goes on inside a California medical marijuana dispensary, or cannabis collective as they call them? In this cool 4/20 special video Dave Warden of the Weed Report takes us on location to a newly open cannabis collective in Los Angeles, plus some drive by footage of a few other popular shops and shows us what specials they offer to celebrate 4/20. Great music on a very interesting film.

There's no doubt that Dave Warden has created some of the most popular videos on the web in the cannabis culture genre. His videos have the best production quality and most amusing, often very funny, story themes. He's even produced a feature length movie called "The Kind City" (costs $12 online) which I've yet to see but I've watched many of his videos and they're always good for a laugh and worth checking out at the Weed Report YouTube Channel.

Another of the fabled, almost lost cannabis strains is Jamaican Lamb's Bread (often confused with Jamaican Lamb's Breath). Jamaican Lamb's Bread is getting increasingly difficult to find in Jamaica or anywhere else on earth, due to the influx, popularity and profitability of the modern feminized cannabis strains which are mostly hybrid sativa/indica crosses from Dutch growers. Rumor has it that serious medicinal marijuana growers from Hawaii have kept the strain pure and very much alive but the thing is that it takes longer to grow, often produces less than the modern cannabis strains and it's not a common name in the marketplace. Except for real weed connoisseurs, Rastafarian's and some Jamaican's this magnificent strain is all but lost.

My own experience with Lamb's Bread goes way, way back to when I was in Port Antonio in Jamaica, once made famous by Errol Flynn and his Hollywood friends. I was staying at at an old hotel up on the hill overlooking the town, where at the time, even the bar staff would bring you good weed but if it weren't for a local that I befriended I may have never heard of Lamb's Bread, however to this day I can remember that the characteristics of this fabulous weed were far and away above the common grade of grass that could be bought just about anywhere at anytime. Bright green and sticky, as soon as you saw it you knew there was something special about this legendary herb. There's even a strain of similar origin called "Bob Marley's Lamb's Bread" but I suspect it's the same genealogy and just named as such for his famous quote:

De ability what de herb 'ave ya call lamb's bread. Some a dem ya call Bethlehem's bread. ~ Bob Marley

T.H.Seeds was founded in 1993, making it one of the oldest seed companies in Holland. It began as the C.I.A. (Cannabis In Amsterdam), which was: a Cannabis information center, a world renowned seed shop, the first hemp store in Europe and according to Robert C. Clarke (author: Marijuana Botany, HASHISH!), "The epicenter of the Cannabis universe." T.H.Seeds quickly gained a solid reputation among the experienced growers who purchased their product. Year after year, these growers returned to buy more, so the TH Seeds reputation was built on the consistency and quality of the award winning (7 Cannabis Cups) genetics. The collaboration with growers established the solid foundation on which T.H.Seeds grew to become one of the leading cannabis seed companies in the world.

This is a two part post, first; let me say that I think MarijuanaReviews.com is destined to be a major hub for the Marijuana community online and currently, in my opinion, the best source of honest accurate reviews (promised in their bi-line) of the multitude of strains of weed in the world.

There's a dialog amongst cannabis connoisseurs about how the field of knowledge has been repressed by the prohibition, in more ways than just the scientific/medical applications. What I'm referring to is the recreational understanding of the herb. Now that the cultivation aspect of the underground grow-op activity has matured beyond the budding stage, into a viable, and sustainable cottage industry with genetically stable plant strains much like wine (ie. Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc etc...) there's a demand for information about the look, smell, taste, and effect of the finished product (bud). Naturally a price comparison would accompany this information and eventually an entire strain-rating-guide will be needed but first the dialog has to establish a nomenclature for explaining subtleties of the distinctive looks, smell, tastes and effects. We can thank MarijuanaReviews.com for advancing the required lexicon.

The second part of this post was to thank Miami Toker for submitting this honest and accurate marijuana review.

Looks: Bright! A neon green that is almost yellow. Spots of purple and pink throughout the buds, all frosted with trichomes. The smaller nugs are actually the prettiest. The pictures hardly do it justice, it's a true feast for the eyes.

Smell: Unique smell. Sweet, fruity and tangy. I asked a few people to describe the smell in one word and the top response was "WOW!" The smell of the smoke is like incense, it fills the room with a sweet mellow aroma that lingers for hours.

I got my hands on a huge fresh sack of this gear last summer in BC and said "WOW" every time I broke open my stash, which lasted two months despite chronic use. Prior to that I'd only ever seen it in Miami, as it's not something I found to be on the menus of Cafes in Amsterdam, since the suppliers are so hip to haze (strains) these past few years but I can promise you this, if Juicy Fruit is available when I get back to BC this year, I'll be stoked to grab another QLB.

The Diesel genetics has its roots in the Big Apple from a strain of Mexican sativa crossed (60x30) with an Afghani indica originally bred by ChemDawg, it was very popular in NYC and Boston. As the legend goes, it was the renowned grower Soma who bred NYC Sour Diesel from a seed that was given to him by a Rasta in NYC, although other sources say it was from a cutting, so we'll have to ask Soma but in any case, Soma took the original strain back to Amsterdam where he applied his breeding techniques to stabilize the new strain.

As with much of my exotic smoking experiences, it was Amsterdam where I first tested NYC Sour Diesel, however not too long ago I also enjoyed a very good sampling in NYC. Wish I could attest to the ripe red grapefruit flavor but then other than Chocolope, which does taste like chocolate, I've never really identified these taste descriptions recognized by contemporary weed connoisseurs. I can say this though; the look, feel, smell and especially the effect of NYC sour diesel is the gold standard by which all other strains should be measured against. This cannabis strain is absolutely stellar.

New York City Sour Diesel (also known as NYCD) won second place for two years running (from 2 separate breeders) at the High Times Cannabis Cup (2002 and 2003).

Blueberry has to be one of the most remarkable strains of marijuana grown. I've only smoked Blueberry in Amsterdam and have never seen this exotic ganja anywhere but in Cannabis Cafes, although I'm told that it's a popular medical marijuana strain and available, for specific treatment of certain ailments, at better medical marijuana dispensaries across California (with limited availability in other states).

Blueberry is a very stable cannabis strain, having first been bred in the late 1970's by crossing the genetics of Thai plant with a strain from Oaxaca, Mexico, for a 80/20 ratio blend of Indica/Sativa. Despite having been popular with Dutch growers for over two decades, it wasn't until the year 2000 that Blueberry won first place at the High Times Cannabis Cup and rightfully earned her place in cannabis history.

Within 60 - 70 days a Blueberry plant will reach full maturity and the kolas will have an even coverage of crystals, similar to a sugar dusting, over the broad cover leaves. The buds develop very solidly and this compact, dense weed will often adopt a beautiful blue hue towards the end of it's flowering cycle. After harvest the Blueberry weed gives off a fruity skunk aroma. When smoked there's a distinct blueberry flavor in the after-taste but it's the incredible effect of Blueberry that has made it so popular, a couple of big hits and you're as high as a kite but clear as a bell and still able to function, it's a very up-lifting high.

White Widow is an extremely potent and powerful strain of marijuana with sweet, strong, acrid smoke that imparts a hammering stone. White Widow was the winner of the 8th Cannabis Cup in 1995, developed by Greenhouse Tolstraat from Amsterdam by crossing an Indian indica strain with a Brazilian sativa strain, giving it a 60% sativa 40% indica ratio.

My advice for smoking White Widow Weed, especially if it's your first experience and it happens to be in a coffee shop in Amsterdam upon your arrival to Netherlands, is to make sure you've checked-in to your hotel room first, before you ignite a reefer or bong of this wicked weed because you might not be able to converse seriously with anyone for a few hours.

Due to it's high THC levels, the White Widow may appear white or coated with a white frosting hence the term "White" Widow and this is exactly what makes it very popular with growers, also because it flowers within 50 - 65 days and has a high yield for plant that only grows to a height of 150 cm.

Greenhouse Seed Company produced it's 32nd winner of the High Times Cannabis Cup this past November, with a hybrid of a Lemon Skunk (Indica strain) with the famous Super Silver Haze (Sativa strain). Personally, I haven't actually tried this strain as of yet, however I plan on going straight to score some of it, upon my arrival in Amsterdam later this month.

Super Lemon Haze Description:
Genetics: Lemon Skunk x Super Silver Haze
THC is around 22%.
High CBD as well.
Flavor: Lemon taste with a smooth haze (type) flavor.

There have been numerous write-ups and reviews about this new weed including a review by Marijuana Reviews and a forum thread on International Cannagraphic Magazine - where I found a post and a link from Franco of Greenhouse Seeds, Aryan's sidekick and fellow "Strain Hunter", the link leads to the Cannabis Cup Myspace Blog where there's an embedded video called "The Nose Checks Out Three Contenders for the 21st Cup"

Kush is one of the world's oldest cannabis indica strains, and it has a rich, rugged history. It is believed that Hindu Kush was the first cannabis strain brought back from the 'Orient' to Europe by explorers, hundreds of years ago. The Eastern Hindu Kush range, also known as the High Hindu Kush range, is mostly located in northern Pakistan, however many strains have adopted the Afghani title since the region and growing culture is shared with Afghanistan.

This sweet smelling plant is a member of the Cannabis Indica family, which leads the plant to be short and squat in appearance. Some forms of Kush, however, are in fact a hybrid between Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Sativa...which leads to greater harvests. Varieties of the Kush plant include,(But are not limited to), Hindu Kush, OG Kush, Purple Kush, Master Kush. Many crossbreeds exist as well.

Kush is an excellent plant to grow indoors, as it stays short but produces high yields (around 400g per square meter sea of green) . The taste is earthy and spicy, and the smoke feels a bit like hash on the lungs. The high you get is a powerful body buzz that starts in the temples and moves down, making your whole body tingle. Lasts for hours. Kush is rich in THC (up to 20%) and flowers in as little as 7 weeks. It is relatively easy to grow, provided that you give it the respect it deserves. When you grow and smoke Hindu Kush you become part of a history that is much bigger than yourself, and that's something to think about when you're puffing away.