I wrote a story today about RC as much as I can remember comments are welcome I am still working on facts
Cannabis World
Overgrow was a huge part of our industry and most people have heard of the infamous boards where so much genetic material as well as grow knowledge was passed around. It was formed around 1998 when members of Weedbase discuss creating a new grow site. But Have you heard about Cannabis World? It was the seed auction side of RC’s business and IMO the roots of much of the seed business that exist these days. At the time the ONLY sure way to get Cannabis seeds was to get on a plane and fly to Amsterdam. I used to collect money from ½ a dozen growers and a wish list and fly over and buy seeds then I would smuggle them back in small coffee straws sewn into the waste band of my jeans. In my early 30’s I saved up and paid to be a judge at one of the earlier High Times Cannabis Cups.
I bought some AK-47 and Northern Lights as well as White Russian on my first trip and found some pretty interesting keepers. I had been messing with seed making for about ten years and I had just created one of my first named Hybrids Dannyboy. My friends all were seed makers as well and this is about the time I met MrSoul and many other life long friends in the industry. We all traded cuttings and seeds with each other but we had no idea there was any real value in our seeds.
RC the man who hosted and ran Overgrow decided to set up a seed auction as so many members were playing around making seeds. He named the auction site Cannabis World and if you were in the industry you were a member. I had Jacks Cleaner BX Seeds and Dannyboy I had been sharing with others so when the auction opened, I threw my hat into the ring and put up a few packs for a 5 dollar bid. I was crushed when after 3 days they closed without a bid. Undeterred I relentlessly posted pics of my creations all over Overgrow and Cannabis World hoping to create some interest. I reposted 2 packs 1 each Dannyboy and Jacks Cleaner bx again at 5 Dollar bid and on the second day I got a bid and eventually that 10 pack sold for 7$. I never forget that first sale and my mindset, people want to buy my creations? I was hooked and this became my focus.
Competitive Bidding
It wasn’t long before RC implemented an instant purchase option but here is where we noticed something odd. When there were 2 similar packs for sale if two people were bidding on a pack they would bid past the instant purchase option and pay more in order to “Win” the auction. I never forgot this lesson in human nature. Within a year I had 8 strains selling at around 30$ per 10 pack and my paychecks from RC grew and so did my brand. Other Breeders did the same thing we lived on the boards and promoted our strains. This is when I started writing articles and I was lucky enough to get noticed by Danny Danko of High Times Magazine he published my first article and helped me become a better writer. Over the next two years the seed business in Canada grew and my checks would hit 10k a month at times.
Around the same time (my Memory is fuzzy) RC created Heavens Stairway, basically a retail seed site no auction and he gave breeders there own section to feature there genetics for sale. For his service RC took 50% and it was a great living for many of us.
On February 3rd 2006 Mark Emory posted that a resident of Montreal Richard Calrisian, the owner of the four websites, was contacted by his web service providers in Vancouver where his servers were situated. They told him that there may be a problem, regarding a police investigation. RC told his provider to shut down the websites immediately.
Within hours, the police (it’s unknown what kind of police) apparently entered the server site in Vancouver with a warrant and apprehended the hardware that housed the four web sites.
In the early morning of Tuesday, police in Montreal moved in and arrested RC, his wife, family members and an unknown number of employees. Overgrow.com, Cannabisworld.com, Heaven’s Stairway Seed Company, and Eurohemp.com Shut Down and Servers Seized by Canadian Police.
On January 27th I had received a check from RC for just over 9000$ and I needed the funds to keep things running. I had no choice but to cash the check but I did not sleep for months after. None of the information above was available and we didn’t know anything. Nine searches were performed during the week of Jan 30th 2006, in order to gather evidence that criminal activities had been committed. The searches were conducted in Montreal and Laval, as well as in the residences of three of the accused, a business, three post office boxes, a vehicle and a safe-deposit box. These searches led to the seizure of 200,000 cannabis seeds, more than $183,362 in US currencies and $14,000 in Canadian currencies, both in cash and postal money orders, three one-kilogram gold bricks, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a Mazda RX8 and many purchase orders. Since the searches were conducted, 272 orders have been intercepted by the police.
The amount of seeds seized during the searches could have made it possible to operate approximately 500 cannabis greenhouses of 400 plants each, which represent 42 million joints sold on the street.
The great news was even back then Canada was not looking to jail people for Cannabis especially seeds so he was sentenced to two years less a day to be served in the community. As far as I know there was no collateral damage, I was in touch with most of the members and while we all worried about a futher investigation there was not one. And after all of this I was actually busted for growing Cannabis in Canada and deported to the US to stand trail for a grow I ran in Florida. As of Today I have no warrants and even carry my passport free to travel…But not to Canada I am banned for life for Cannabis Cultivation but that is another tale.
The game of seeds has continued to be complicated many States don’t even recognize seeds in the intake and only mention clones. Seeds do not contain THC so technically there not even a controlled substance but many dispensaries don’t sell seeds. Grow shops don’t carry them so the industry RC created still thrives.
Some of the original members of Overgrow recently revived the site and many of the threads and article but people don’t really live on Grow Boards these days, instead its Instagram or Twitter and for me Youtube. That’s as long as they allow cannabis content, I hear that’s in danger as well.
We all owe RC a huge thanks he helped the industry grow in ways it hard to see. He connected growers and breeders and we shared information on breeding and business. Much of what I learned with RC I still use each day in the business which is still a grey market.
Without Overgrow I would not be where I am today in the industry.
Subcool
thanks for the interested read
