Nepaljam x Oaxaca
Active Member
Mexican weed makes up the majority of the marijuana south of the Mason Dixon line. The wide availability, cheap price, bang for the buck, and proximity to Mexico all contribute to preferences. But the bottom line is most folks would rather spend one hundred dollars for an ounce of schwag than 100 bucks for a quarter of Beaster, which by the time it gets this far south is often not much more potent bowl for bowl than a good bag of schwag.
Prior to the 60's Mexican was practically all anyone had. 5 finger lids from south of the border, untrimmed, sometimes even males included. The counterculture explosion had not happened yet, so for the most part exotic foreign strains were unheard of. As the culture expanded and a sudden gigantic market for marijuana developed the import came from increasingly distant locales. As hippies traveled and learned more about other cultures they became familiar with the potent flower tops sold by Mexican healers and bruha's (witch doctors) at rural markets, and a more knowledgeable smoking culture was beginning.
Mexico was on the verge of a revolution, and rural farmers were finding ways to finance their ideas now with marijuana. The Mexican goverment began an intensive crackdown along with US assistance in trying to spray fields with "paraquat", a dangerous herbicide with many health risks. Most of the herb was grown at altitudes too high to reach and very little of it was affective. In reality very little paraquat infested bud made it into the US but it nevertheless did scare many smokers away. As Mexico got more highways and roads it became easier to police, and discourage marijuana growing, and new political incentives helped bring a dramatic slow down to Mexican marijuana production. It was during this time when Mexico could no longer be the main commerical provider that Colombia began replacing it. So with the smaller corner of the market it had Mexico began to produce larger amounts of the higher quality varieties such as the legendary Highland Oaxaca Gold, and Acapulco Gold instead of commercial strains it had been exporting. Other notables of the time in Mexico were Guerreran Green, Zacatecas Purple, Tijuana Brown, Michoacan spears, and many more.
Today the situation faced by Mexican commercial smokers has changed. The name strains are gone but the commercial quality is higher. To compete with other nations export Mexico began using new genetics, trimming their harvest much better, and removing most of the males to cut down on seeds. Todays mexican has dramatically improved over what smokers remember from the earliest bags of the 60s. Beginning in the early 80's non native phenos started showing up common in imports. First colombian commercial types, and then indica/commercial bug made it to mexico as well as many other nations. By '85-'90 when Mexico took over the commercial production back from Colombia most of the regional strains were gone.
The product today is usually bricked, maybe 5 seeds per dime, usually heavily sativa leaning hybrids, However bags of touched up indica are not uncommon. Probably somewhere around 20-40% of Mexican import is no longer native genes. However this does not change the fact that at least half of Mexican import IS still pure native strains and classic varieties including large amounts of oaxacas, golds, and lower amounts of zacatecas purple, michoacan, etc. are still somewhat common. Bare in mind the genes are RARELY completely pure. Not to say it doesn't happen, but when I say native I mean its a native Mexican strain, with a very small percentage of something else mixed in with it and is usually 60-90% sativa. In the 80's they were experimenting with indicas, but most of them have been crossed and recrossed back to the sativas they came from. It shortened flower time and added a bit of yield but is still very sativa.
Contrary to popular belief most Mexican IS NOT bad genes. Many things like when it was harvested, shipping methods, what region it is from, how old it is, how long they let it sit before shipping, how well it was dried, how well it was stored including what temperature and bricking, and when it was harvested all have to do with quality of import. It's not one simple answer like "Mexican weed just sucks".
Another common myth is that the cartels grow the weed. The cartels do grow weed but it is a tiny percentage of what they can export. Most of the weed they own is not grown by them, but rather collected by them and put towards a shipment to eventually be sent in. They are the smugglers. Rural mexican farm families that have been growing the same strains for centuries are the mainstay of the import, and that is not likely to change.
Prior to the 60's Mexican was practically all anyone had. 5 finger lids from south of the border, untrimmed, sometimes even males included. The counterculture explosion had not happened yet, so for the most part exotic foreign strains were unheard of. As the culture expanded and a sudden gigantic market for marijuana developed the import came from increasingly distant locales. As hippies traveled and learned more about other cultures they became familiar with the potent flower tops sold by Mexican healers and bruha's (witch doctors) at rural markets, and a more knowledgeable smoking culture was beginning.
Mexico was on the verge of a revolution, and rural farmers were finding ways to finance their ideas now with marijuana. The Mexican goverment began an intensive crackdown along with US assistance in trying to spray fields with "paraquat", a dangerous herbicide with many health risks. Most of the herb was grown at altitudes too high to reach and very little of it was affective. In reality very little paraquat infested bud made it into the US but it nevertheless did scare many smokers away. As Mexico got more highways and roads it became easier to police, and discourage marijuana growing, and new political incentives helped bring a dramatic slow down to Mexican marijuana production. It was during this time when Mexico could no longer be the main commerical provider that Colombia began replacing it. So with the smaller corner of the market it had Mexico began to produce larger amounts of the higher quality varieties such as the legendary Highland Oaxaca Gold, and Acapulco Gold instead of commercial strains it had been exporting. Other notables of the time in Mexico were Guerreran Green, Zacatecas Purple, Tijuana Brown, Michoacan spears, and many more.
Today the situation faced by Mexican commercial smokers has changed. The name strains are gone but the commercial quality is higher. To compete with other nations export Mexico began using new genetics, trimming their harvest much better, and removing most of the males to cut down on seeds. Todays mexican has dramatically improved over what smokers remember from the earliest bags of the 60s. Beginning in the early 80's non native phenos started showing up common in imports. First colombian commercial types, and then indica/commercial bug made it to mexico as well as many other nations. By '85-'90 when Mexico took over the commercial production back from Colombia most of the regional strains were gone.
The product today is usually bricked, maybe 5 seeds per dime, usually heavily sativa leaning hybrids, However bags of touched up indica are not uncommon. Probably somewhere around 20-40% of Mexican import is no longer native genes. However this does not change the fact that at least half of Mexican import IS still pure native strains and classic varieties including large amounts of oaxacas, golds, and lower amounts of zacatecas purple, michoacan, etc. are still somewhat common. Bare in mind the genes are RARELY completely pure. Not to say it doesn't happen, but when I say native I mean its a native Mexican strain, with a very small percentage of something else mixed in with it and is usually 60-90% sativa. In the 80's they were experimenting with indicas, but most of them have been crossed and recrossed back to the sativas they came from. It shortened flower time and added a bit of yield but is still very sativa.
Contrary to popular belief most Mexican IS NOT bad genes. Many things like when it was harvested, shipping methods, what region it is from, how old it is, how long they let it sit before shipping, how well it was dried, how well it was stored including what temperature and bricking, and when it was harvested all have to do with quality of import. It's not one simple answer like "Mexican weed just sucks".
Another common myth is that the cartels grow the weed. The cartels do grow weed but it is a tiny percentage of what they can export. Most of the weed they own is not grown by them, but rather collected by them and put towards a shipment to eventually be sent in. They are the smugglers. Rural mexican farm families that have been growing the same strains for centuries are the mainstay of the import, and that is not likely to change.
