Marijuana Smoker's Guidebook. Matt Mernagh
Martin, Opus420, and The Potheads Who Don’t Smoke Schwag, Head Shop Canada, iMedikate, Toronto Compassion Centre, Cannabis As Living Medicine, Rainbow Medicinal Cannabis, Green Harvest, Pixel Dreams, The Jim Richards Show (and Britt), Cannabis Culture and of course Vapor Central.
Along with Skunk #1 and Northern Lights, Acapulco Gold was one of the first consistently popular marijuana strains. You can still find these strains, but they’re no longer imported like they were “back in the day.” Seasoned tokers who experienced Acapulco Gold in their youth may tear up or experience an emotional flashback when toking these nugs. During the ‘70s Acapulco Gold was imported from Mexico, but my sample of this zippy soaring sativa arrived from growers in Canada’s prairie province, Saskatchewan. The alert, active high is well balanced with a wonderful body relaxation experience. However, too much of a sativa strain like Acapulco Gold can make some people paranoid. The high of this strain is a slow ride upwards, which makes it a great social stone and because it’s not a fast acting sativa it won’t cause too much jitteriness after a session. After blazing a joint or doing a bong rip, you might want to get stuff done around your home or go outside and enjoy the day. You can for sure count on not sitting around or even sitting still.
Some enthusiasts avoid poorly branded strains such as Acid on pothead principal. I’m not sure why it’s labeled after an hallucinogen, but some people dislike Acid for the same reasons that they dislike Green Crack. Paradise Seeds’ Acid doesn’t have much of a trippy effect or aroma, but it does have an explosive scorching taste. A fuel-like flavor from the Diesel parentage rolls over your taste buds something fierce. It’s not as fuel-tinged as ChemDawg or NYC Diesel, but Acid does have a powerful bite. The chunky buds are light green with pinkish trichomes and produce a rich, dense vapor or smoke. You should anticipate an uplifting happy high. People suffering from depression will love its positive vibe, as Acid is truly mood enhancing marijuana that will put a perma-grin on your face for a considerable length of time. Just sit back and smile.
These gooey buds are bursting with robust earth tones. Afghani nugs will be loaded down with heavenly smooth flavors, but will cause a cough ranging somewhere from a lung tickle to a harsh hack. Afghani is an exceedingly sticky strain that creates especially messy joints. Resin dripped out of my joint and ran into the palm of my hand; a small river of orange goo. Obviously, due to this, Afghani is an ideal hash maker. Recreational and medical smokers will really love its powerful narcotic effect, as it has an incredible amount of pain relieving properties that brought my pain levels down dramatically. However, it did leave me cloudy-headed or, if you like, stoned to the bone. Afghani is best before bed or on days when the pain is off the charts and you have nothing else to do but kick back and be gunned on ganja all day. The resinous, hashish-flavored Afghani buds create a powerful full body stone that plants you deep into the earth. You’re going to put roots down in your session space. I know I did.
A west coast legend, Afghani Bullrider would be loved by enthusiasts if they could find it as easily as Kush. Dense AB buds will not release their beautiful silken hashish aroma until busted, but then they stink up a room something fierce with an exceedingly pleasant exotic, erotic smell. Afghani Bullrider produces an awesome and extravagant hardy toke. The flavor has plenty of depth to it, and its smooth, earthy tones blend perfectly with the hash-y taste. Afghani Bullrider pain relief is top notch without too much of a mental thud. I didn’t lose my mental focus after a session. It made sitting in a chair much easier to the point where I was glued to my office chair happily getting tasks done. It is an excellent couch-locker with long lasting effects, stellar taste, stone and aroma.
Alien Dawg is a heavy indica without much distinguishable odor. The Cali Connection has bred their landrace Afghani (referred to as Alien Technology) with ChemDawg, and the stone definitely takes after the Afghani, providing a very sedate, heavy, couch-locking indica effect. Its lack of smell can be easily overlooked because it has a deadly taste and buzz. If you’re lucky you will catch a whiff of a flat, earthy Afghani aroma, but don’t be surprised if you don’t smell anything at all. The smoke starts out very hash-y, then becomes an acidic bite. The wonderful Chem-style bite lingers while you’re comfortably numb; exactly what you would expect given its ganja genetics. This makes Alien Dawg a great choice for people with chronic pain problems. The sleepy quality is wonderful late at night, meaning this strain has two fantastic medicinal marijuana traits. Alien Dawg’s taste is purely from the ChemDawg lineage, and combined with the effects, it’s perfect for an after dinner, “got-nothing-to-do-but-kick-back-and-unwind-after-a-difficult-day” session. Resistance to its overpowering downward effects will be futile. It’s totally toking out of this world.
Alien Kush’s toke must be from another planet. Kush genetics have been treated with some extraterrestrial wizardry to create this stoner standout. It has a wonderful down-to-earth taste and a vibe that is somewhere between Hindu Kush and Purple Kush. Anticipate spacing out for a few hours and losing track of time, just as if you’ve been abducted. It’s Alien Kush’s best feature: suddenly you’re jolted from your spaciness wondering where the last two or three hours went. Did I just sit here staring off at the walls listening to my own voice or did aliens beam me up to their fantastical spaceship and test my cannabinoid levels? Before now, sightings have mainly been along Cali’s west coast, but now Alien Kush is starting to get spotted in the rest of North America, too. In the words of Fox Mulder, “I want to believe!”
The combination of many cannabis strains in a single joint is commonly referred to as a salad, and Ambrosia truly is a stoner salad. It’s an equal balance between God Bud, an indica and a Burmese sativa, with an aroma leaning more towards God Bud – so much so that the first toke got me thinking I’d picked up some God Bud nugs. Ambrosia is a relaxing, clear headed, thought-provoking kind of toke, and video gamers report that Ambrosia is fantastic for long online sessions. Fascinatingly, I found my second vapor bag to be much more flavorful, dense and astonishing than the first. The beyond solid Ambrosia nugs have an incredible heft to them and should make a plopping sound on the scale when weighed. Ambrosia is wonderful weed with enough couch-lock and alertness to keep potheads pleased while playing.