Female, Veggie, And What? Little Known Marijuana Facts

Marijuana continues to gain popularity and more mainstream companies are diving in to exploring and exposing the plants positive attributes. From Estée Lauder to Molson Coors big businesses are bringing cannabis straight to the consumer.  And from South Africa to Italy to Minnesota, recreational use is legal.

Like most things over 2,500 years old, it has a history AND it has tidbits of knowledge unknown to the masses.  Until the recently, most research was done on what harm the plant could inflict, but now there is a growing effort to see what benefits can be unlocked.

Marijuana goes by many names.  Weed, pot, mary jane are just a few. A unique name that has become the cannabis emoji of choice is broccoli, so when you seen the emoji, you know it is about more than a staple vegetable.

Other unique names include Houdini because the user “escapes” reality. Da kine is the Hawaiian surf slang which can refer to anything for which one forgets the precise name. And bag of bones means multiple marijuana cigarettes

Female marijuana plants produce the potent high THC via the buds. Guy plants only produce small amounts of THC and they do not produce buds. The bud contains high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the psychoactive compound in cannabis responsible for the effects of being “high”.

Marijuana growers want to remove male plants from the grow area before they begin to flower and release pollen. Once a marijuana plant starts to produce male flowers, it can pollinate and ruin all of the females in the grow area causing them all to start flowering prematurely. It sounds like a complicated plot from Sex in The City.

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While many countries have legalized marijuana and many promises have been made to grow businesses, what countries grow the most?  Canada, the legal trendsetter, set the stage for “new” or “big” cannabis.  They are home to companies like Tilray and more who claimed they will make everyone rich on indoor grow, but they are only 8th in global production. With their climate, they have a smaller black market and shorter growing season. The third place in production is sunny Afghanistan. The country’s largest and fastest cash crop is opium. The poppy and cannabis trade has a more significant impact on the civilians in Afghanistan than the impact of wheat farming and livestock trading.

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Second place has farmed cannabis for centuries and in 2021 made medical marijuana legal along with cosmetic and industrial purposes.  Morroco is former largest producer but has been ousted by the new champion.

The black market is thriving in the United States, which has a huge agricultural history in the American South and Midwest. They are the new reigning champion. New indoor grows and significant outdoor production is working to meet an in-country need for the 23 fully legal states and the 40 medical marijuana ones.

The more you know.