Spliff Busters: What is a Landrace? Is Durban Poison a Sativa?

Cannabis education and research is vital to the growth of the marijuana industry, but how do we know what we are learning is legit? The number of misinformed or misguided professionals is a bit ridiculous. It’s not the consumers’ fault. Sure, anyone can hop on Google and do some research, but it’s likely that many of the educational platforms for marijuana are also teaching the wrong or old-school way of thinking. From reefer madness to understanding terpenes, it can be quite the jump for consumers to understand. While the industry is slowly enhancing the available education and research to cannabis consumers, it is still common for people to come across the wrong information. Lucky for consumers today, Leafbuyer partnered up with the Trichome Institute for the Spliff Busters series is to throw some cannabis knowledge your way!

Common Misconceptions of Cannabis Education

top of marijuana plant

For decades, stoners across the nation have been spreading the black-market knowledge passed down to them by their friendly neighborhood grower. From the difference between indica and sativa to determining the origins of a particular cannabis strain, the average consumer has no idea what they are saying. Again, it’s not their fault that nearly every cannabis education site spreads the same information. The problem is our nation has censored cannabis research for decades with the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. With legalization spreading across the country, Spliff Busters has the opportunity to change the way people view cannabis knowledge. To get started, let’s breakdown the misconceptions behind landraces, strain origins, and sativa vs. indica.

What is a Landrace?

One of the more absurd misconceptions in the marijuana industry is the idea of a landrace cannabis strain. Many believe a landrace is something indigenous or grown naturally in nature without any help from humans. It’s the idea that this particular strain popped up in Africa back in the 1800s and is indigenous to the region. Cannabis consumers adore this idea of purchasing a landrace strain originating from foreign lands without any human interaction, and now they get to smoke one of the rarest doobies in the nation. It’s a complete lie and something nearly every dispensary takes advantage of daily.

A landrace is the opposite of what most think. It is a plant or strain that is, actually, purposely grown by humans for a specific reason. In other words, every strain found in a dispensary is technically a landrace strain. It was bred and cross-bred until it became the desired plant variety ideal for consumers or world markets. Think about it; all cannabis varieties, whether it be sativa, indica, or cannabis ruderalis, were originally completely different from what they are today.

The cannabinoid and terpene profiles of marijuana were vastly different from the marijuana available now. In fact, high THC content is something humans bred over time to increase its psychoactive effects. Every strain available today is a landrace. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean it’s a magic strain found in nature that someone was lucky enough to stumble upon in the jungle. Although, that would be quite the stoner experience!

Spliff Busters: Durban Poison is Not a Pure Sativa

The misconception of landraces goes hand in hand with the confusion surrounding sativa vs. indica. Durban Poison, in particular, is a quality cannabis strain that many believe is a pure sativa. To begin with, sativa and indica are merely species of the cannabis plant. Most think sativa plants are the ones with long, skinny leaves and indica plants have short, fat leaves. It’s not the case. There is no such thing as a marijuana strain that is a pure sativa; however, there are original hemp types, that have never been hybridized, which are considered to be a pure sativa. Regardless, anything that is a cannabis sativa variety is technically hemp. Any marijuana strain, high in THC, stems from the indica species, subspecies indica. To answer the question; Durban Poison is not a pure sativa.

Is Durban Poison a Landrace from South Africa?

gloved hands teaching marijuana education

If a budtender says Durban Poison is an original landrace, pure sativa strain from South Africa, they are drastically misinformed. Sure, it is a landrace because it is a hybridized strain cross-bred over time to enhance its terpene and THC content; however, there is no way of knowing its exact origin. As dope as it would be to know precisely where original cannabis strains began in the world, it is merely not possible to know it is an indigenous strain from South Africa. Although, it certainly could have been at one point and time, but not the Durban Poison we see in dispensaries today. Oh, and it can’t be a pure sativa considering all marijuana strain varieties are indica species or subspecies indica.

Spliff Busters: Go-To Cannabis Knowledge at the Consumer’s Fingertips

Any consumer who is intrigued by busting these myths surrounding marijuana in our society should continue to tune into our Spliff Busters series. Now is the time to enhance consumer education by listening to the real cannabis experts of our time.

Video featuring Trichome Institute

Video Summary by Justice Council