Chadivation or Cultivation?

In this epic issue of High Times devoted to one of the biggest questions facing the cannabis industry today, legacy vs. legal, is legalization working? I feel like I’m in a unique position to tackle this query. Having been in the industry for almost 30 years I’ve had the chance to observe it through its many incarnations.The cannabis plant, or Miss Mary Jane, has held a special place in my heart since she first blessed my lungs back in the early ’90s. Where we really bonded was in Amsterdam almost 25 years ago. There I had the good fortune of meeting two fellow plant lovers who both forever changed my life and opened up the proverbial doors of perception leading me into the land of the counterculture. Those two people were Soma and Ed Borg. Both taught me about breeding and growing, which expanded my love and passion for this amazing plant. They showed me that the love and care one puts into the cultivation process will be translated into a finished bud that will have an intense smell and flavor and smoke smoothly down to the end.Growers initially cultivated cannabis out of their love for the plant and their desire to smoke flower that was either comprised of genetics that they preferred to consume or grown in a particular way, favoring an outcome that gave them the desired effect or taste. In the case of my two mentors, this process involved using soil as a medium and the secret sauce, which is… shit. Literally, the use of bat guano and other soil amendments gives cannabis flower a deep and rich taste that is unforgettable.This type of cultivator was largely found in the majority of grows and, of course, some profited and benefited from a robust market, making good money. In some circles, pounds of cannabis sold for almost as much as $6,000 at the height of the legacy market boom. Certainly, there was big money at stake but moreover having seen the effects of the American drug war through the eyes of cannabis refugees living in Amsterdam, there were also consequences. In the U.S., those consequences amounted to lengthy sentences in a federal penitentiary.What made these consequences so valuable was that it weeded out (pun intended) most of the Chads. I use the word “Chad” loosely to describe someone that has entered the cannabis industry with the sole goal of profiting off the backs of others, ensuring that their hands or suits never get dirty. The Chads avoid choosing a career that would involve possible jail time for cultivating an illegal crop.To Continue Reading This Story, Click Here.