Strain Study: Durban Poison
Durban Poison is one of the most famous cannabis strains ever discovered, but there is some misinformation about where it truly came from. Was it a South African landrace? Or was the story rewritten over time? Today, we're heading to South Africa to find the true history of Durban poison and how it quietly shaped modern cannabis genetics.
Biography
There seems to be a disagreement amongst the cannabis community about the origins of Durban poison or whether it is even a landrace at all.
Durban Poison is one of the OGs of the cannabis world, a pure sativa known for its uplifting, coffee like effects and its classic citrus sativa flavor.
Potentially originating from the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa and named after the city of Durban in the region.
Now, this is where the disagreement is - one version says... In the 1970s the 'guru of ganja' Ed Rosenthal discovered the strain while searching for new cannabis genetics in South Africa and smuggled them back to the US. Through my research I've found that Ed himself has dismissed these claims.
Cheryl Shuman & Ed Rosenthal Political Activist Medical Marijuana NORML Conference
From interviews Ed has had with high times the actual story goes like this, Rosenthal was in Amsterdam at "a shop called the Transvaal" that was "run by white South Africans who were importing cannabis from South Africa" and got the seeds from there.
Rosenthal was living with Mel Frank, while they were working on the Marijuana Growers Guide so gave some of the found seeds to him and in turn Frank gave some seeds to Sam the Skunkman who bred the famous Skunk #1.
At this point Ed mentions himself that there wasn't anything about the bud itself, it was nice to smoke and all but nothing special. The thing he did like was the short flowering time
Landrace strains in general can be quite unstable and prone to hermi, meaning to grow seeds as well as buds. So Sam took the seeds and stabilized them over five seasons at his home in California, in the mid 1980s Skunkman moved to the Netherlands and with him he moved his collection of genetics. This included Skunk #1, Haze and of course - within that collection was the stabilized Durban Poison.
Because of the short flowering time of the plant, it could flower well, even in the short growing season in the Netherlands which helped it gain popularity with the growers there.
1985 Super Sativa Seed Club catalog
While it was still a landrace in South Africa. According to the 1985 Super Sativa Seed Club catalog, Durban Poison was [believed to have originated](https://cannabisnow.com/strain-review-durban-poison/) in the Pinetown area, about 10 miles into the mountains west of Durban. Beyond that, little else is known about the exact origins of Durban Poison.
Legacy
Durban Poison has gone on to influence the cannabis world massively and is still on coffee shop menus to this day.
Being crossbred with F1 and then with OG Kush to create girl scout cookies means Durban Poison is in the genetics of SO MANY strains, GSC crossed with Pink Panties creates Sunset Sherbet and That crossed again with Thin Mint Cookies creates Gelato means so many of the strains popular today might not be here if it wasn't for Durban Poison.
Sources
https://hightimes.com/strains/cannabeginners-the-history-of-durban-poison/
https://cannabisnow.com/strain-review-durban-poison/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AupkTsY7aww
