The Cannabis Time Capsule - Preserving Strains for the Next Century

Can you believe it’s been almost 35 years since 1990? Time flies when you’re having fun (or not that much fun)! And it might be time for us to start contemplating about what we would put in a cannabis time capsule for the next century since it’s in less than 80 years. For those of you who don’t know, there have been many time capsules buried throughout time and the most famous ones, according to History, are The Crypt of Civilization and it’s “audacious attempt to preserve all of human knowledge for posterity” and The Detroit Century Box, which was opened in 2000 after being closed in 1901. Maybe we can do something just as ambitious with cannabis.

If we were to create a cannabis time capsule, what strain would we want the next century of stoners to see? Would it be just the classics? Or maybe, the newest, most innovative strains we’ve got? Both would be best, just to round out our edges. Keep in mind, all strains that would be preserved would have to be in seed form and even so, we have not found a definitive way to keep seeds alive for over 100 years.

The Classic’s

For the classic strains, Afghani would be #1. According to Dutchie, “Afghani began in the Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan. This Indica landrace has been around for years and is the parent strain to a lot of popular crosses.” Afgani might be one of the oldest cannabis strains we know of and it still hits every time! Another good strain to add would be Durban Poison. The strain is “from South Africa and a potent landrace Sativa that was first discovered in the 1970s.” Another strain that’s been around for a while and remains popular to this day. The last classic strain to add would be OG Kush, a true staple among growers and smokers alike. While its origins are debatable, this solid hybrid would be perfect to balance out the heavy Sativa and Indica of the other strains.

The New Hot Strain’s

As for the new strains, I think these would be the most fun to add since in 100 years, cannabis will only be bred to be stronger and more potent. One of the most potent strains of 2023 is currently testing out at 30% to 45% THC, and that strain is Jenny Kush. Jenny Kush is a balanced hybrid popularized in Michigan that is a heavy hitter without being too much at once. Another strain to add is Alien Mints, another balanced hybrid that tests consistently around 28% to 34% THC. The last new strain to add would be GMO, a more commonly known new strain. GMO can test at up to 33% THC and is popular in the cannabis scene, as it is more readily available in each legal state.

While preserving strains is a big part of our time capsule, it would be fun to add cannabis paraphernalia too, since in 100 years I’m sure they’ll use something different (or just upgraded). Not only would it be interesting to add ways to smoke cannabis, but adding cannabis information would show just how much our education has changed.

Canna-phernalia

Bongs. Pipes. Cones. Blunts. Every different way a person can partake in smoking cannabis should be added, for educational purposes. Not only that, adding in grinders, pipe cleaners, pipe bags, and hemp wicks too! While yes, the most common glass piece is a hand pipe as the design has been around for centuries, adding in a bubbler (half pipe, half bong) would show how we have innovated and created fun, functional ways to smoke. For the sake of showing off, when adding rolling papers like Raw, Blazy Susan, and OCB, it would be fun to add the ones with flavor. This goes for blunt wrappers, too: Swisher Sweets, Zig Zag Wraps, Backwoods, and even whole tobacco leaves that you have to cut to size yourself. Lastly, we should add different types of vaporizers, pens and rigs to be used with distillate and different varieties of wax.

Cannabis Education

As we are barely breaking the surface of cannabis knowledge, I think the future cannabis users would love to see our most groundbreaking discoveries. For the future users who are more focused on research than just getting stoned they will likely have many more discoveries than we have. As of 2023, we have only been researching cannabis in modern medicine for about 65 years. For example, some of the most recently published cannabis research conducted by the Early Detection and Intervention for the Prevention of Psychosis Program states, “continuous cannabis use over 2-years of follow-up was not associated with an increased psychosis transition rate, and did not worsen clinical symptoms, functioning levels, or overall neurocognition.” Another study by the University of Washington reports, “THC appears to decrease anxiety at lower doses and increase anxiety at higher doses while CBD appears to decrease anxiety at all doses that have been tested... [however] the research to date indicates a need for additional research on cannabis as a treatment for anxiety disorders.” It’s important to note that due to federal regulations, it is difficult to fully research cannabis. Even so, some colleges and universities have implemented cannabis programs available for their students. Colorado State University, City College of New York, Finger Lake Community College, and Lake Superior State University all offer some form of cannabis education. It would not be surprising if the majority of higher education offered cannabis classes in 100 years; in fact, it might be for the better as we would know more about cannabis than ever before. Overall, a cannabis time capsule would be so fun to create. Just the thought of future cannabis users giggling at our lame cannabis and our old-school bongs makes my heart feel light. Maybe when we are all grandparents, our grandkids will show us how the new cannabis scene is. The cannabis future is bright, and who knows, maybe when the capsule is opened, cannabis will be federally legal! (Crossing my fingers and toes for that!) If we are able to somehow put together a fully functional cannabis time capsule, I would hope we would put genuine thought into it for the betterment of the cannabis community without losing the fun of thinking of the future.