Vanished in the Haze: The Story of Haze Strains

Their main stock in trade was LSD — barrels of orange sunshine,
specifically — but, like many good pyschonauts, they were also cannabis
connoisseurs. The Brotherhood’s quest for an endless summer took them to
Thailand, Hawaii and Africa, where they found epic waves and mind-blowing
cannabis. The enterprising lads began to ship cannabis back in hollowed-out
surfboards, right under the noses of clueless customs agents.

The 1970s were truly a different time. Along with the weed came seeds. At
the time, only a few far-thinking folks put any real value on seeds. Just
imagine how many epic genetics wound up on the floors of dorm rooms and
crash pads around the world. Fortunately for future smokers everywhere,
some did realize the potential and began to save and breed seeds. The Haze
was one phenomenal example of these early breeders’ work.

Cannabis connoisseurship really began in the late 1970s. Publications from
that era list prices for Hawaiian and Thai sticks that are far above the
prices of regular herb. Hawaiian was going for $175 an ounce, whereas an
ounce of Colombian was $40. This was also the beginning of the California
commercial sinsimilla market, which was listed at $125 an ounce.

Folks began really breeding at this time, since many of their equatorial
sativas didn’t grow as well in California. The Haze brothers emerged around
this period in Santa Cruz with their eponymous strain, as well as a purple
one. As best as this reporter has been able to ascertain, the strain was
originally a cross of Colombian and Mexican genetics. Over subsequent
seasons, Thai and North Indian strains were added to the mix.

The Haze rapidly achieved mythical status in the rarefied world of
top-flight cannabis. The average smoker would have never before experienced
cannabis of this level with Haze being reserved for rock stars, their
dealers and a small group of growers who were in the scene enough to get
their hands on it.

Enter Dave Watson, also known as Sam the Skunkman.

Skunkman was part of the Sacred Seeds collective, which is often credited
with being the first seed bank in California. He traveled the world
collecting seeds and was hard at work in Santa Cruz in the late 1970s,
where he was able to obtain the legendary Haze. To escape the burgeoning
drug war madness of the early Reagan years, the Skunkman decamped for
Amsterdam in the early 1980s. Fortunately for all cannabis lovers nowadays,
he took his precious stash of seeds with him. Skunk # 1, California Orange
and several versions of Haze all resulted from his partnerships with Dutch
breeders during the dark years of Reagan and Bush.

[image: Amnesia Haze Plant]

The most prominent (some might say even most notorious) of these breeders
was Nevil Schoenmakers. By the late 1980s, he had ensconced himself in a
mansion on the outskirts of Amsterdam dubbed the “Cannabis Castle.”
Schoenmakers, like Skunkman, had traveled the world collecting cannabis
genetics and breeding them to adapt to more northerly climates. Both men
were larger-than-life characters — exactly the kind that the smuggling
business attracted in those wild and wooly days — and they hit it off well
and began to share their work. Thus, the Haze passed to Schoenmakers who
immediately began marketing it worldwide. His version soon became the
benchmark for Haze.

The largest challenge with growing Haze is its insanely long flowering
time, which can take up to 16 weeks indoors. Originally developed to grow
in Santa Cruz’s Mediterranean climate, indoor cultivation was a serious
challenge for even the experienced Dutch, to say nothing of home
cultivators, whose results with Haze are frequently disappointing. When
grown correctly, the resulting flowers are unique. They feature long,
stretchy sativa buds without the calyx structure most people associate with
modern flowers. The color tends towards limey green with copious amounts of
red hairs. In the early days of dispensaries in California, many
inexperienced buyers turned down Haze flowers due to their lack of
traditional cosmetic appeal.

The aromas of Haze tend towards the grassy and herbaceous end of the
spectrum, similar to Sauvignon Blanc in the wine world. Smoking Haze is an
intense cannabis experience. The rush is immediate and quite strong,
especially for novice smokers, who often find it too strong. The high is a
classic, uplifting sativa with no ceiling. The more you smoke, the higher
you get. Haze will even overtake other highs, lifting you out of an indica
couchlock, for instance.

During the 1990s Haze was all the rage at Cannabis Cups with many of the
Dutch seed companies releasing their own versions of Haze with shortened
flowering cycles. Crosses of Haze began to appear with Arjan’s Green House
seeds being the most prolific. Green House has won many cups with these
crosses, like Super Lemon Haze.

Nevil got busted by the DEA and his version of Haze was lost, although some
claim to still have it. Even with the grand buzz during the 1990s, as the
new millennium dawned, Haze began to be supplanted by Trainwreck, Purps and
then the king, OG Kush. The long flowering times and often poor versions
began to take their toll and the younger generations preferred their
cannabis thick, calyx-laden and packing a serious punch. The couchlock
replaced the rocket ride of almost psychedelic intensity.

We’ve almost come around full circle today with a whole new appreciation of
sativas, especially Thais and Congolese becoming more common. Maybe we will
also see a return of the dynamic Haze sometime soon.

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