There’s this study where a room full of monkeys is presented with a ladder. At the top of the ladder hang some deliciously ripe bananas. Wheneven a monkey climbs this ladder they are sprayed with a firehose. The hose also sprays the rest of the monkeys.
Eventually, anytime any monkey makes a move for the ladder its peers will stop them. This behaviour continues even when the spraying ceases. The most interesting part of the study comes when the only generation of monkeys to ever be sprayed with the hose is phased out: the avoidance of the ladder and the peer pressure to not climb it continues. The new monkeys are simply repeating the behaviour of their ancestors without any knowledge of why they avoided the bananas in the first place.
There are many places this applies to the human experience but none more so than our interactions with cannabis. In a decade we’ll look back and laugh that brands weren’t allowed to advertise or that edibles were capped at 10 mg of THC per package. Full spectrum, solventless extract will be widely available at cutthroat prices because compeition will be fierce. Landlords won’t threaten eviction for growing weed and suburban homebodies will wear aprons with witticisms about their weed intake helping their wine hangovers.
Until that time, I thought it would be nice if we had something which celebrates the beauty of cannabis. Something we could use to convert some non-believers or put the haters in their place: the past. Maybe then they might think about asking their MP to drop all cannabis related charges for those currently in prison or those trying to find work with a criminal record. Maybe.
But even if not—it was fun making this lookbook. I hope you enjoy flipping through it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
First Harvest
From the Annapolis to the Fraser Valley dozens of licensed cannabis producers have sprung up across Canada since legalization. Some are trying their hand at old favourites like Ghost Train Haze, Girl Scout Cookies or Death Bubba.
Others are taking a stab at breeding their own cultivars, keeping origins and growing techniques as private as those who fund them. Many of these cultivars sell out within weeks of appearing on shelves, leaving cannaseeurs in the lurch and retailers scrambling for ever better product.
The original goal of this publication was to feature the best cultivars so folks wouldn’t waste hard-earned cash on bad product from licensed producers (LPs). However, just like food and alcohol the concept of ‘taste’ when it comes to cannabis is subjective. Factors like terpene and cannabinoid concentration, the individual makeup of the person tasting (including what and when they last ate) are just some of the many considerations in determining what strain is right for you.
Despite these individualized filters I realized we can all appreciate a beautiful bouquet of trichomes or the swoop and tangle of a tight group of pistils. The selection process for inclusion in this lookbook was thus based mostly on which models presented best during their photoshoots.
