GreenState regularly shares contributor perspectives on the industry and trends. The ideas expressed here are wholly those of Ed Rosenthal and do not necessarily reflect those of GreenState’s newsroom.
Many of us have had some sort of spiritual experience using marijuana. A feeling of oneness with the continuity of nature, that you are a part of the world, and being human, you are the eyes of the world. Growing cannabis is another story. When I say to growers, “Using marijuana may not be addictive, but growing it is,” I get a smile of recognition from many who have experienced the imperative of growing.
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We tend to think of cannabis separately from the rest of the plant kingdom, but we know that it obeys and follows the same program as other plants. There are, however, some qualities that make it unique. Even landraces may contain a mix of alleles—different versions of the same genes—resulting in differences in characteristics. Popular varieties exhibit variation because of all the hybridization in their ancestry.
Another reason for our affinity with the species is that, unlike 95 percent of seed plants and all other annuals, cannabis is dioecious, meaning it has separate male and female plants – the female of both species is considered the more beautiful form. Unlike tomatoes, which produce fruit continuously throughout their lives, cannabis progresses through distinct growth stages—germination, early growth, adolescence, sexual maturity, reproduction, and senescence—much like humans.
Beyond the joy and skill involved in growing exceptional cannabis, you might realize that the plant itself becomes less significant once you’ve tried concentrates or extracts, which distance you further from the raw vegetation. That doesn’t seem quite as spiritual.
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With tobacco, the plant is just considered a carrier for nicotine and several other ingredients. One could say the same thing for cannabis. If you could cultivate only the cannabinoids and terpenes, would the rest of the plant still matter to you? This may be a choice in the not-too-distant future. What if we brewed it, not grew it?
It’s simple. Take the genes responsible for cannabinoid production, insert them into yeast, and then make a brew. The yeast will express the cannabinoids, biosynthetically producing THC. No lights, no containers, no planting, no diseases, and only five days from start to finish. Forecasting the future, there may be a time when THC, other cannabinoids, and terpenes are produced biosynthetically to make concentrates.
Ed Rosenthal asks: What is the purpose of cannabis?
This brings us to the question that I was asked to discuss: What is the most important thing about cannabis? I’m going to answer this from the point of view of the user. To answer this question, another comes to mind—What is the purpose of cannabis?
A beautiful bud is a sight to behold. Its glistening trichomes are a promise of the contents they contain. You can see that it’s tight and packed with delicious cargo. The odors waft from the evaporating terpenes.
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Humboldt Seed Company’s Blueberry Muffin comes to mind here, showering your senses with the scent of freshly baked muffins. You can almost taste the flavor. But what if this beautiful bud with great terpenes contains barely psychoactive CBD, not THC? Do all the accolades for trichomes and tight symmetry still count? Not in my book. To quote the Fugs, “I huffed and I puffed, smoked and toked, but I couldn’t get high.”
Pre-rolls are a fair system of judging bud because you are left to test only the two important groups of factors, the smells and the tastes. Is it pleasant, or does it have a quality that tells you not to inhale? A pleasant rather than great odor is OK. That’s transient; it will quickly pass.
The most important factor is the psychoactive component. Does it make you happy, reflective, creative, or any other state that you enjoy? To me, that’s the point of it all: providing you with another perspective.
This article was first published on El Cultivador. It’s reprinted with permission.