
Warren Bobrow= WB: Where are you from? Why cannabis? When did you first discover the plant? What was cannabis like when you were young? Quality level? Do you prefer Outdoor or indoor grown?
Steve Berg=SB: I grew up in the Oakland and Berkeley area of Northern California, a place with strong cannabis culture and roots. It’s a liberal and diverse place not far from the Emerald Triangle, the legendary cannabis cultivation region. Cannabis was prevalent, and I’ve had a relationship with the plant since I was a teenager. In the mid- to late-’70s, most of the cannabis around the Bay Area I encountered was smuggled in from Colombia, Mexico, elsewhere from south of the border, and occasionally Hawaii and Thailand. There was lots of crappy, brown brick weed, bales of which would occasionally wash up on California beaches from smugglers tossing it overboard when being chased by the coast guard. However, there was also some really nice stuff, including the likes of Acapulco Gold, Panama and Santa Marta Red, Thai Stick, Maui Wowie and Kona Gold. These became more rare when cross border law enforcement increased and choked off much of the supply. Soon thereafter, though, we started to see sensimilla flowers grown up north in Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties, where the hippies from San Francisco had migrated and established intentional communities. These were self-sustaining groups who produced crops for themselves, including cannabis. It also happened to be an extraordinary region for outdoor cannabis cultivation given the climate and terroir. When we first saw the beautiful green sinsemilla flowers from Humboldt County – grown outdoors, fresh, sparkling, fragment, and potent – it was mind blowing and redefined our understanding of the plant. It was love at first sight, and some of us started to learn how to grow it. To this day, I prefer nice organic cannabis grown outdoors, though I’ve certainly enjoyed plenty of great indoor cannabis too.