Over the last couple weeks, I’ve discussed starting an international growers collective with a few of the people here. Something small that takes advantage of forums like OG and platforms like Discord, that provide translation services and allow us to interact without the barrier of a foreign language. I want to touch on a couple subjects and apologize, in advance, for the length of this post (s).
A hundred years ago people across the planet grew and used Cannabis in peace. It’s flower, seed, and fiber had been crucial in the development of civilization.
Until the richest country, the U.S., arbitrarily declared it a harmful drug and it’s users criminals, and then pressured or outright coerced other nations into adopting it’s policies - waging war on the plant and it’s proponents.
But through the campaign of lies; the truth and the plant prevailed. Fast forward a century of injustice -today, 1 in 25 people on this planet has tried Cannabis and there are a million users spanning every corner of the globe.
Over the last few decades the U.S. has been slowly reversing it’s policies state-by-state.
But the damage has been done. There are no reparations for the people who had their lives destroyed. The plant is not going back to the small farmers and third-world countries it was stolen from.
Perhaps the greatest injustice of all is the fact that the places where this multi-billion dollar crop grow the best are also some of the most impoverished: India and the middle-east, Africa, SE Asia, Mexico and S. America, the Caribbean -all places where people are struggling to survive.
And, despite the fact I live in a “legal” American state, in a region synonymous with weed, it’s far from legal -even for me.
The limit here is 6 mature plants per household, pending the property owners approval. An employer can fire you over it -doctors deny an organ transplant, the list goes on. And, of course, interstate shipping and commerce is banned entirely.
So, while it is technically ‘legal’ licensing costs and requirements have effectively regulated craft growers out of existence. The few of us left generally operate in the quasi-legal ‘medical’ grey areas.
The hope of mirroring the wine industry -Humboldt and Mendocino becoming the new Napa and Sonoma of Cannabis -never had a chance of fruition. Instead these areas, the “Emerald Triangle” is undergoing a historic depression not seen since the end of the logging and fishing industries.
The ‘legal’ market is a racket controlled by capital investment groups and corporate finance; product quality has declined and we are losing valuable genetics. Consumers are completely undereducated and have no idea any of this is happening.
I am new to forums and joined OG Spring of this year. There is tons of great information and people and projects but…
I do think it might be useful for some of us like-minded individuals who have been impacted in the same way to start a collective that offers support, resources, and information; that functions like a small town with neighbors helping neighbors, but… you know… virtually, across the World.
The OG forum is great and, in itself, already provides a lot of these things, but I’m skeptical if it does enough for all the other countries and places decimated by the “War on Drugs”.
How is it possible (for example) for so many of us to have “Overgrown” our own governments, and yet we still have large groups of members from countries like Brazil, with little to no option other than growing seeds from commercial brick cartel weed? Or, maybe waiting for a random person to drop a random strain on a “Dibs” thread dedicated to memes.
As a smaller group, we can help address these inequities.
Clearly, time, space, access to strains-not to mention local laws and regulations are a challenge for all home growers, but especially those of us struggling financially.
And, while the overwhelming majority of people here are casual growers, I think there are also a couple of others, like me, who are pretty serious about their “hobby” and would like to provide more by doing it, or, at the very least , become more self-sustainable.
Personally, I plan on moving over the next 18 months or so, to a more rural property where I can breed indoor, add a greenhouse, and set up a tissue culture lab.
And it definitely makes sense to me, that by cooperating with others in a similar situation, we could take on bigger more long-term projects.
By building on some of what OG already does: by experimenting with various strains, in different places, using different styles -comparing notes and sharing information along with resources like seeds, clones, pollen or equipment we can be more successful individually.
For me it is an opportunity to do “Jah Work” to preserve and protect the future of Cannabis by helping assemble a comprehensive “strain library” for not just this, but the next generation.
I think most groups function best as a “democracy”, so early participants would have to help define the exact “mission” and decide on a name buy yeah…let me know what you think.
@Virga @GnomoGrower @jardineiroKodama @Gu4i20
Any kind of input or feedback or criticisms welcome, you guys. I’ll draw up a rough mission statement as an example and post it next.
Thanks
