Scientist in Jamaica finds, cultivates lost ganja

Jamaica should take the lead in establishing a geographical indicator for its home-grown cannabis "just like Champagne in France"
Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Machel EmanuelA supreme ganja, smoked by Rastas and even Bob Marley himself in the 1970s? This pipe dream of every ganja aficionado is becoming reality thanks to the horticultural talents of scientist Dr Machel Emanuel of the Biology Department at the University of the West Indies in Kingston. His specialty: landrace cannabis, which grew naturally in Jamaica before it disappeared as a result of human intervention. The reggae legends' ganja would not have been as strong as modern, artificially created cannabis, which has higher levels of THC — the plant's main psychoactive ingredient. But in the 1980s, during the US war on drugs, landrace cannabis was easily spotted because of its height and destroyed, and cultivation of the plant was abandoned. Over time, easier-to-hide hybrids replaced the landrace cultivars.