In the US, it seems that the word ‘Kush’ is about as meaningful as ‘Skunk’ is in the UK.

That is, the two terms are applied to most indoor weed that’s sold for profit, and both names are used to suggest that the cannabis being sold is highly potent, rather than to indicate any particular genetic heritage. Before being adopted as the strain-name buzzwords of the moment, both “Skunk” and “Kush” were fairly strictly defined strains, with clear breeding or geographical origins.

More worryingly, when the buzzwords of the youth or underground cultures seep into the mainstream, they get picked up by the hysterical MSM and turned into the latest scare story.

No doubt, all of the forum’s British members will be aware of the garbage that’s written and broadcast about “Skunk” in Blightly – as if it’s some new, child-incinerating super-weed that just dropped out of the sky, rather than a fairly common, medium-to-high potency strain that’s been around for at least 30 years.

What’s especially nauseating about this claim what it tacitly suggests. Most members of the current establishment (government and media) have personal experience of consuming cannabis, in their ‘experimental student days’ or whatever. The subtext of the “new, super-potent weed” claim is that, in hindsight, the harmless old ‘natural’ cannabis of their youth was actually fine after all (as was the hashish of the times, apparently, despite it being orders of magnitude more powerful than today, but that’s another story).

No matter that thousands were deprived of their liberty due to the draconian laws covering old-timey, harmless ‘natural’ cannabis in the 60s and 70s, it turns out that version of the demon weed was fine and harmless. Mistakes were made.
But this new “Skunk” weed … that really does live up to all the fantasies that were spread back then, about the stuff we now know to be harmless.

Anyway, it seems American prohibitionists have embraced the tactic of defining slightly more potent cannabis as a different drug deserving of even greater and more ridiculous penalties

As might be expected, US lawmakers have taken it to the next level.

Kirk and Law Enforcement: Super-Marijuana “Kush” Hits Suburbs
Monday, 15 June 2009

CHICAGO – U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group Director Larry Lindenman, Waukegan Police Chief Artis Yancey and representatives from Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran’s office today unveiled tougher penalties for a new type of “super-marijuana” hitting the northern suburbs.   “Kush,” street slang for a strain of highly-potent marijuana, has a tretrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of at least 20 percent.  According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, the THC average of seized marijuana was less than 10 percent in 2007.  In the early 1990s, THC levels were less than 4 percent.

“According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 25 million individuals age 12 and older used marijuana in 2007 – significantly more than any other drug,” Congressman Mark Kirk said.  “That’s why Kush and other high-potency marijuana strains are so worrying.  Local law enforcement reports that Kush users are ‘zombie-like’ because of the extreme THC levels.  Drug dealers know they can make as much money selling Kush as cocaine but without the heavier sentences that accompany crack and cocaine trafficking.  Higher fines and longer sentences aren’t the total solution to our nation’s drug problem.  But our laws should keep pace with advances in the strength and cash-value of high-THC marijuana.  If you can make as much money selling pot as cocaine, you should face the same penalties.”

The rise of Kush mirrors the increasing popularity of high-THC marijuana, which has become more accessible with the rise of hydroponics.  Drug growers are able to strictly control light, temperature and humidity and can cross-breed to maximize THC content.  It takes growers approximately four months from planting to harvest to produce the high-potency marijuana.  Other types of Kush are known as Bubba, Paris, Bubble Gum, Sour and Orange Kush.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Kush has been known to sell for as high as $600 per ounce – creating the same profit potential as crack cocaine. (Er.. really?)

Kirk’s legislation, the High-Potency Marijuana Sentencing Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2828), increases federal fines and sentences for the distribution of high-potency marijuana.  It defines high-potency marijuana as marijuana with a THC content of 15 percent or more.  The legislation targets drug trafficking only and not possession of marijuana.

Under current law, unlawful distribution, possession with intent to distribute, manufacture, importation and exportation of marijuana under 50 kilograms or 1 to 49 plants carries a maximum fine of $250,000 for an individual, $1 million for a group and up to five years in prison.  H.R. 2828 increases maximum fines to $1 million for an individual and $5 million for a group, with a maximum sentence of 25 years.  If death or serious bodily injury occurs, sentencing would be 20 years to life in prison.

A second offense after a drug felony conviction would result in a minimum fine of $2 million for an individual or $10 million for a group, with a maximum sentence of 35 years, or life if death or serious bodily injury resulted from the use of the marijuana.

We found this list of stoner terms online and thought we’d share them.  Some of the terms are more frequently used in America however most (if not all) have made their way into the international stoner vocabulary.  We also dug up a classic clip of Ali G listing other stoner terms:

April 20th (4/20) – International Cannabis Day, everyone blazes on this day. Everyone blazes at 4:20 every day too.

Blaze – To get high!

Blunt - Either a hollowed out cigar filled with marijuana or (more commonly) a “marijuana cigarette” rolled with a blunt wrap (tobacco paper or emptied cigar).

Bowl - Can refer either to the part of a piece that holds cannabis, or to the pipe itself.

Bogart - The act of holding on to a joint/piece/blunt for too long, or one who does such an act: “Don’t bogart that joint my friend, pass it over to me”.

Boo – A street name for marijuana, listed only in anti-drug literature. No one has ever heard or used it. If you are ever arrested for possession, you should use this term, saving the taxpayers the expense of correcting and reprinting anti-pot pamphlets.

Kick-Hole / Carb – The hole on the side of a piece used to regulate air flow. Hold it closed with your thumb while inhaling to draw smoke into the chamber, then release to let air in and force the smoke into your lungs. Also called a “rush hole”.

Cherry – The red burning coal of marijuana in a joint or bowl.

Chillum – A pipe with the bowl in line with the stem.

Ganja – Just 1 of many synonyms for cannabis, others include  Dope, Marijuana, Grass, Draw, Puff, Blow, Weed, Gear, Ganja, Herb, Wacky Baccy, Skunk, Pot, Bob Hope and Bob – see the Ali G video below for many more

Hashish / Hash - The resin secreted by a marijuana plant. Different kinds of hash are prepared with a variety of recipes.

Hash oil - A liquid extracted from marijuana. Use mostly by dipping smokeables into the hash oil.

Hit – A drag or puff cannabis.

Hot Box / White wall - Getting high in a car or small space with no ventilation so that you are constantly inhaling atmospheric smoke.

Joint / Zut / Doob / Doobie - Marijuana cigarette. Kind Bud (chronic, hydro, sticky icky, highs) – High potency Cannabis.

Mids – Descent cannabis for the money you pay for it, if you don’t have a lot of money this is the best way to go.

Moocher – Someone who will smoke your bud in a second, but never has any of their own.

Papers / Skins – Cigarette papers used for rolling joints.

Piece - Refers to a pipe of one sort or another.

Resin - Black tar like stuff that builds up in smoking apparatuses.

Schwag – Low grade cannabis or the leftovers from the bottom of a big bag. ]]> http://weedforneed.com/2009/10/cannabis-ebonics-%e2%80%93-stoner-terms/feed/ 0 http://weedforneed.com/2009/09/so-how-harmless-is-skunk/ http://weedforneed.com/2009/09/so-how-harmless-is-skunk/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:39:27 +0000 kanaman http://marijuanacannabis.wordpress.com/?p=708

With this post we want to clarify some of the misconceptions that a lot of people seem to have on skunk.

Firstly, let us point out that Skunk is nothing more then a name for (mostly indica) potent weed. It is NOT some genetically engineered super dangerous new type of weed. (special announcement for the media; did you guys notice the word NOT? )

For your information, the Dutch ska band “Doe maar” made an album called skunk back in 1981! So the term has been around for a while. However, even if it was a new kind of weed.. Will this new super potent weed be somehow more dangerous than the weed smoked 20 years ago? So what if weed is more potent? This only means that you have to smoke less of it.. Isn’t that supposed to be a good thing? And what about hash? Shouldn’t this be even more dangerous? Even in the seventies people smoked hash which is a lot more potent than any skunk you can buy nowadays.

The third argument that the anti-legalization lobby likes to use is that skunk/cannabis use somehow causes schizophrenia? Let’s pretend for a moment that this is proven to be true ( scientists still seem to disagree ) isn’t that all the more reason to have a legal and regulated market for it? What is the worst that can happen? In the Netherlands adults are allowed to buy small amounts of weed and this has worked just fine for the last 20-odd years.

Just to compare the two systems.. 9.7 percent of youngsters (15-24) use cannabis at least once a month in the Netherlands, compared to 15.8 percent in the UK.

The potency of this branch of the cannabis family tree is so notorious that ‘skunk’ is often used as a name for any powerful ganja. Breeders regard Skunk #1 as the benchmark of uniform, reliable performance and her rock-solid genotype has influenced a hundred modern hybrids. Skunk#1’s energetic performance and bountiful yields demonstrate the true meaning of hybrid vigour. Growth and flowering are mostly-Indica in appearance, with Skunk #1 gaining a little more height than a pure Indica when blooming. The extra-dark green of this strain’s leaves comes from her Afghanica ancestors and contrasts sharply with her lime-green growing tips.

Flowering is very fast and Skunk #1 produces robust stems and branches to support her superior yields. Short internode gaps explode into dense, rounded flower clusters which merge into huge, heavy terminal buds by the end of the blooming phase. Fan leaves can show many shades of colour at the end of flowering, as plants focus their energy on bud formation and resin production

Sativa heritage is most apparent in Skunk #1’s beautiful calyxes, long, profuse pistils and her habit of expanding bud-growth in all directions as harvest time approaches. Sativa also has a wonderful influence on Skunk #1’s potency and effect – a stunning combination of stone and high.

Read more about Skunk #1

Buy Skunk #1 seeds

Buy Skunk #1 seed in place #2

Throughout the Super Skunk project, Sensi breeders aimed to create a strain whose commercial potential, potency and hybrid vigour had never been seen before. Over the years, a large number of Afghani cultivars were crossed with both males and females of the true-breeding Skunk #1. Many wonderful plants were produced, though never with exactly the blend of qualities sought by the project. The achievements in cannabis hybridisation made in the late Eighties meant that the standards for professional ganja were steadily moving upwards which, naturally, raised the bar for what was expected from the Super Skunk program.

It was the expansion of the Sensi Seed Bank gene library at the end of that decade – in particular, the range of fresh Afghanica cultivars which became available to Sensi breeders – that made the current version of our Skunk-Afghani hybrid possible. In 1990, Super Skunk in its final form was released to great acclaim, picking up the mostly-Indica Cannabis Cup straight away.

Super Skunk’s performance remains unchanged to this day, always living up to her super vigorous, super potent and super fragrant reputation. With just a little encouragement, females build colossal, crystalline colas indoors or in the greenhouse. Super Skunk bears the rare distinction of being one of the only cannabis strains that may require more experience to smoke than she does to grow!

Read more about Super Skunk

Buy Super Skunk seed

Buy Super Skunk seed in place #2

Thick Afghani-Skunk nuggets are normal when growing Skunk Kush, and our favourite phenotypes have an incredible, towering flower structure composed of grape-like bunches of buds – apparently a throwback to Skunk #1’s Sativa ancestors. The bubbling calyxes make for solid, semi-open buds that offer weight, plus a large surface area for resin glands to develop. Some trichomes develop heads so bulbous that observant growers can actually watch them swell and change colour near harvest.

When grown in their natural shape, or with lower branches removed, the central bud of Skunk Kush will take up half the main stem on most plants, and up to 75% on the more open, slightly-Sativa females. Across the strain, musky Skunk and dark, resinous Afghani aromas are complemented by a citrus zest. The star phenotypes take the fruity tang to sensational heights with lusciously sharp lemon and menthol flavours that linger on the palate and open up the airways.

A booming body-stone is the most powerful effect felt from the Afghani-influenced females, while the Skunk-Sativa throwbacks add a sizzling sideways counterpunch. A dreamy, giggly, red-eyed high can always be expected from Skunk Kush!

Buy Skunk Kush seeds

When selecting parents for this hybrid, Sensi breeders had three main objectives. First, a high-potency strain whose price and ease of cultivation put it within reach of anyone and everyone who might be interested in growing. While Skunk strains offered those qualities, some had been available for many years, so the next requirement was a new and distinct Skunk hybrid – one which could match Skunk #1’s excellent quality and performance while offering a clearly different experience to the smoker

Third – and perhaps most important — the new strain had to live up to the Sensi name, since it was to be part of her official title. Sensi Skunk achieves those goals with ease and, in several respects, greatly exceeds them. The perennial favourite Skunk #1 was infused with a secret, super-sweet parent plant of outstanding potency to create Sensi Skunk – a uniform, reliable, deliciously sticky strain producing larger calyxes and shorter pistils than Skunk #1.

European Skunks are often noted for being sweeter and less pungent than their North American counterparts and Sensi Skunk takes this variation to new extremes with an attention grabbing sugary-citrus Skunk bouquet that’s uniquely different from the regular Skunk funk.

Quick to bloom, thick-budding and potent enough to surprise even a jaded pot-head, Sensi Skunk is also very forgiving when growing and flowering ? making her a strain that’s actually quite difficult to mess up. A solid performer under lights or in the greenhouse, Sensi Skunk can also flourish when grown outdoors below about 42oN

Read more about Sensi Skunk

Buy Sensi Skunk seed

Shiva Skunk was an instant hit when released as NL#5xSK#1 in 1987. That simple string of letters and numbers instantly grabbed the attention of any grower who recognised the two famous parents. A new strain combining distinct and stable genotypes is always a noteworthy event, and that working-title indicated a great deal more. NL#5xSK#1 offered growers a taste of ‘cannabis cubed’ – a super-hybrid embodying the two most powerful cannabis strains known at the time. Before being formally named, Shiva Skunk was already building a reputation as the next step in marihuana breeding.

Both parents influence the prolific bud structure and knock-down potency of this strain. Later in flowering Shiva Skunk’s buds bulk up sharply and become encrusted with a trademark layer of oversized trichomes, courtesy of the one and only Northern Lights#5. Remarkable hybrid vigour allows Shiva Skunk to out-perform even its distinguished parents for yield and resin content.

Bouquet is musky and dank with sweet-citrus undertones; smoke is thick and resinous, described as ‘creamy’ by fans, sometimes ‘oily’ or ‘heavy’ by novices. Shiva Skunk’s extra strong body-mind effects range from red-eyed and giggly to adventurous to deeply contemplative. This is not a smoke to be taken lightly. Remember that Lord Shiva’s primary title is The Destroyer!

Read more about Shiva Skunk

Buy Shiva Skunk seed

PLANT INFORMATION :
Quantity : 10 seeds
Type : Indica – Sativa mix
Climate : indoor
Yield : 500 gr / m2
Height : 50 – 80 cm
Flowering period : 8 – 9 weeks
Harvest : mid September
Stoned or High : Stoney yet high
THC level : 10 – 15%
Grow Difficulty : Easy

Read more about Super Skunk

Buy Super Skunk seed

PLANT INFORMATION :
Quantity : 10 seeds
Type : Indica – Sativa mix
Climate : indoor
Yield : 500 gr/m2
Height : 50 – 80 cm
Flowering period : 8 – 9 weeks
Harvest : mid September
Stoned or High : Stoney yet high
THC level : 12.5% – 15%
Grow Difficulty : Easy – Moderate

Buy Skunk Special seed