CBD – Absolute Afghani
Fifteen years ago, if you had walked into a coffeeshop in Amsterdam and asked about the CBD and THC content of cannabis, the odds are you would have been greeted with a look of confusion from the person behind the counter. If you had found your way to the Cannabis College and asked the same question, however, it’s likely that one of the volunteers would have drawn you a basic pie chart to explain the balance of the three cannabinoids that had been studied most: Tetrahydracannabinoid (THC), Cannabidiol (CBD), and Cannabinol (CBN). At the time, CBN was thought to be an entirely separate cannabinoid to the other two; we now know it’s actually a metabolite of THC, which is converted into CBN as the THC ages.
The Cannabinoid Pie-Chart
The pie-chart explanation was an over-simplified way of explaining the effects of different types of cannabis – after all, there are over 85 different types of cannabinoids that occur in cannabis, not just three – but it got the job done. If the THC slice of pie was larger than the CBD and CBN slices put together, the effect was going to be high and uplifting. If the reverse was true and the THC was the smallest slice of pie, then the effect would be more relaxed and soporific. Virtually everyone understood this immediately.
Due to the THC component being the one causing the soaring, giggling, energetic high that was pursued by a great many people, a great deal of time, energy and resources were devoted to breeding strains of marijuana with as high a THC level as possible. The success of this trend culminated – at least in the Netherlands – with proposals from concerned (and generally ill-informed) parties to make the sale of cannabis containing more than 15% THC illegal in coffeeshops. On the mainly 90s – 00s quest to find the ultimate cannabis high, we gained strains such as Silver Haze and NYC Diesel but CBD and CBN were overlooked or forgotten by many of the commercial branches of the cannabis industry as a whole – except for the scientific and medical communities.
As previously mentioned, CBN is created when THC degrades; the two cannabinoids occur in inverse proportion to each other. This explains why, when harvested marijuana is kept for a long time (and especially if exposed to light and air) the buds can produce a stoned effect even if the plant has mostly Sativa genetics. CBN is only mildly psychoactive, and so far has not produced effects beyond those that THC and CBD already cause to a stronger degree. CBD, on the other hand, has displayed a host of properties that continue to have a significant impact on the field of medicinal cannabis use.
The Entourage Effect
By 2014, CBD has become more widely known and been the subject of many more in-depth studies. These have shown that, despite being regarded as non-psychoactive, CBD does have a soporific effect and acts as a mediator for the effects of THC. Experiments on the effects of THC when administered with and without CBD have shown that, when used alone, THC is more prone to cause feelings of anxiety and even morbidity; when used in conjunction with CBD – as, let’s not forget, nature intended – the uplifting, euphoric, giggle-inducing effect that most of us identify as the sign of a good sativa is strongly experienced. Outside of the laboratory, it is virtually impossible to consume pure THC as, in all natural forms of cannabis, all the other cannabinoids come along with it, tempering its effect in ways that actually enhance the high for the user; this has been called ‘the entourage effect’. It is research such as this which strongly suggests that medications isolating THC or made from synthetic THC are both less effective and produce far more unwanted side-effects than the unprocessed, natural plant form. Since cannabis contains such a large range of cannabinoids that we currently know very little about, and produces them in a delicate and complex balance that science cannot, currently, hope to emulate, it is not very surprising that the vast majority of medicinal cannabis users opt for the un-tempered herbal form.
CBD without THC – pain relief without the high
However, when CBD is administered without THC, there are none of the aforementioned negative effects of THC alone. CBD appears not to need THC in order to be a well-received treatment, and this is one of the most exciting facets of its medicinal potential: it can be used for the relief of various afflictions and diseases without causing a noticeable psychoactive effect. CBD has even been described as having even greater medical potential than its more famous cousin THC. Despite the accusations, not always unfounded, that medicinal users “just like to get high”, there are numerous people for whom the “getting high” part is an unwanted and even unpleasant side-effect of their medication. Cannabis that has been specifically bred to have a high CBD and low THC content would be an ideal solution for patients who simply want relief from pain without any psychoactive experiences.
In Israel, which has benefited from legal medicinal marijuana for more than a decade and boasts a medicinal program with around 12,000 patients, a breeding program to create precisely this type of cannabis has now been in progress for over ten years. The Israeli company Tikun Olam has succeeded in creating a strain that has less than 1% THC and an unprecedented 15.8% CBD. This new strain showed very positive results right from the start, as it was made available to licensed patients before clinical trials had even commenced.
Just as an aside, take a moment to think about that. Cannabis is so safe that an experimental new form of it can be issued to patients before they’ve even got around to testing it on mice. That’s how safe it is as a drug.
So what exactly is so amazing about CBD?
Well, in addition to moderating the effects of THC in various ways, including a reduction in the well-known experience of short-term memory loss, CBD alone can do some pretty spectacular things. Despite the reputation of ‘stoners’ for being withdrawn and anti-social, CBD actually has anxyolitic (anti-anxiety) and anti-depressant effects which can help to reduce social anxiety, among other things. CBD also acts as a proven analgesic, relieving localized pain without numbing the area. Research is currently underway into the neuroprotective properties of CBD; neuroprotection, put simply, shields the delicate structures of the central nervous system and brain from damage caused by stress, disease or other trauma. This is the property at work in the treatment of Dravet’s syndrome, when cannabis with a high CBD percentage can dramatically reduce the number of seizures experienced by sufferers. And, perhaps most amazingly, CBD has been proven to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells.
Cannabis does not cure cancer – yet.
It is this last fact that has led to the cry of “Cannabis cures cancer!” which, though incredibly exciting in its potential, is a statement made far too early and based on far too little. What we can say at this stage is that CBD may be able to cure certain types of cancer in some cases. Dr Lester Grinspoon, one of the foremost experts on medicinal cannabis and author of the ground-breaking book ‘Marijuana Reconsidered’, has this to say on the topic:
“There is little doubt that cannabis now may play some non-curative roles in the treatment of this disease (or diseases) because it is often useful to cancer patients who suffer from nausea, anorexia depression, anxiety, pain, and insomnia. However, while there is growing evidence from animal studies that it may shrink tumor cells and cause other promising salutary effects in some cancers, there is no present evidence that it cures any of the many different types of cancer. I think the day will come when it or some cannabinoid derivatives will be demonstrated to have cancer curative powers, but in the meantime, we must be very cautious about what we promise these patients.”
Lighting up a fatty – even one rolled with the deepest, dankest, most CBD-rich indica you can find – is not going to save your life, nor is it going to guarantee you a cancer-free existence. But it can make you really effectively relaxed, and for muscular aches and pains such as menstrual cramps, it can be even better than easing into a nice warm bath.
Afghani #1 – original indica from the mountains of Afghanistan
One such indica that is ideal for this purpose is Afghani #1 from Sensi Seeds. Throughout the aforementioned “let’s make the highest, most psychedelic weed ever!” breeding frenzy of the last couple of decades, some strains were simply maintained by Sensi in the closest form to their original landrace phenotype as possible. Rather than being a recently-bred strain of high CBD cannabis, one of the best strains for pain relief may be one of the oldest on the market.
The seeds that were the starting point of the Afghani #1 story were placed in the thankful hands of Ben Dronkers, founder of Sensi Seeds, on an unspecified day in the late 1970s by an Afghani farmer. The sun was shining as Ben traversed the Khyber Pass as part of his journey through some of the finest weed and hashish country in the world. He was originally looking for hemp fabric supplies with which to create the distinctive clothing he designed and sold in the Netherlands, a mix of classic and Mediaeval-influenced styles. The search for hemp, unsurprisingly, led him to vast mountainsides full of cannabis tended by farming families who had made their living in this way for many generations. In Ben’s words, “I asked the farmers about cannabis plants and they laughed rather secretively. One of them gave me a handful of cannabis seeds as a gift and told me the seeds were very important. Naturally, this inspired me to preserve them, to learn about the qualities of seeds from different regions, and to collect more.”
Plants of this ilk, from the fast, heavy, compact side of the cannabis family tree, are named after India, where these strains are commonly grown in the mountainous north of the country and used for making charas. However, the most perfect examples of the dark, ultra-resinous Cannabis Indica genotype are actually found hundreds of kilometres to the northwest, in the mountains of Afghanistan.
Marijuana in Afghanistan: C. indica or C. sativa?
Marijuana has been farmed in Afghanistan for thousands of years, leading to the evolution of several distinct landraces. There is even a possible subspecies of cannabis, C. sativa var. afghanica, which was proposed in 1926 by the Russian botanist Nikolai Vavilov. However, 2013 saw the publication of ‘Cannabis – Evolution and Ethnobotany’ by Robert Connell Clarke and Mike D. Merlin, currently the most comprehensive and up-to-date book about cannabis in the world, which classifies afghanica with the Cannabis indica subspecies. C. afghanica does posess many of the hallmarks of classic indica varieties. The leaves are usually extremely wide, and are dark green with occasional purple tinges. The cannabinoid content is high in THC but also high in CBD and CBN, leading to a soporific, sedative effect. The mature plant rarely exceeds two metres in height – although thanks to the general tendency to breed for compact phenotypes, this is now considered tall for an indica – and there is little space between the internodes and dense, resin-rich flower formations.
Dedicated students of Indica bloodlines often refer to these varieties as ‘Afghanica’ when speaking of their favourites and as ‘hash plants’ when talking generally of the strains found across India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many Indica-lovers prefer their ganja without a trace of Sativa or Skunk, while some purists will only consume weed or hash that they know to be 100% Cannabis indica.
The quest for the ultimate Afghanica
In years past, the most determined Indica fans have journeyed all the way to Pakistan, then across the Afghan border into ‘hashish country’ — the high reaches of the Hindu Kush between Chitral, Mazar-i-Sharif, down to Kandahar in the south — in search of pure, unaltered local seeds which might be brought home to grow into the Afghanica of their dreams.
With this in mind, Ben set out to create an ultimate Afghani using the finest examples produced by the seeds he had gathered from the region. These genetics were carefully preserved in a form as close to that of the original landrace types as possible as well as being used in a number of exciting new crosses that would emerge during the 80s and 90s. The very best parents from Sensi’s unparalleled range of Afghani cultivars were distilled into a single seed variety capable of giving growers textbook examples of the Afghanica genotype every time. Eventually, the perfected result of the pure Afghani breeding project was released: Sensi Seeds Afghani #1.
Robust plants with sticky buds
Anyone looking for a fast, easy-growing indoor strain capable of copious yields and almost-frightening resin production need look no further. The pure indica composition of Afghani #1 makes it ideal for medicinal users looking for a straightforward stone, and the strength, especially in the hands of an experienced grower, is a stone to be reckoned with. Be warned: this is not a weed for everyone to smoke first thing in the morning! Even first-timers find it hard not to succeed with this strain, as its robust, survivalist nature will reward even fairly haphazard attempts at gardening with dense, heavy buds that are sticky to the touch from early on in the flowering period. Afghani #1 can sometimes produce a taller phenotype than is usually associated with Indicas, especially if given a long vegetation period, thanks to the dedication of the Sensi breeders to preserving the truest version of an ultimate Afghani possible outside of its native regions. This can be a disadvantage to those with limited ceiling height but if your grow space allows it, you can achieve larger than usual yields thanks to this trait.
Whether you’re consuming for pain relief or just for fun, Afghani #1 is definitely a variety to experiment with. Experience a taste of the Khyber Pass – just be careful not to pass out!
Originally published in Weed World Magazine 111