During the last century the world itself has changed a lot and so has done the “Cannabis World”. Nowadays we have access to an an infinite amount of knowledge about this plant and its all due the people who decided to dedicate their lives to Cannabis and spreading knowledge about it throughout the world. Here you will find a list of those people: growers, writers, activists and more. In order to give you access to that same knowledge that built our community.
We, as Deltabotanics, wanted to give thanks to everyone in this list since each of you tought us something and helped us achieve a little bit of what brought us here. From our hearts, Thank you.
- Frenchy Cannoli ×
- Ed Rosenthal ×
- Ethan Russo ×
- Mr Nice ×
- Jorge Cervantes ×
- Mila Jansen ×
- Mel Frank ×
- Neville Shoenmaker ×
- Seattle Greg
- David Watson
- Todd McCormick
FRENCHY CANNOLI
Frenchy Cannoli is an absolute legend. The Cannabis Community in first place and the whole world will always remember him for being a Bright and Strong Sunray in times where Cannabis and Hashish were kept in the darkness of ignorance and misinformation. Frenchy has been one of the sparks that started a revolution in this world and inside many of us. Delta Botanics and many other collectives wouldn’t even exist if people like him wouldn’t have been there to motivate people like us. His legacy will be eternal.
On the following lines you will find a brief description of his achievements for those who don’t know him and a link to the page where you can find all the articles he wrote throughout his life. Worth every second of your time.
Thank you Frenchy, you’re in our hearts. – Delta Botanics
“Frenchy grew up in Nice, France but left home as soon as he could, inspired by the promise of exotic adventure — and by the imported hashish common in the late-60s Europe. He lived nomadically for over twenty years, staying with traditional producers and learning techniques handed down over generations. This took him from Morocco to Mexico, to Nepal, Pakistan, and India, where he spent eight growing seasons living in caves and harvesting cannabis resin with Parvati Valley cultivators. Eventually, he settled with his family in California, where early medical access laws let him go from hiding his life’s work to producing legal cannabis concentrates. During his lifetime, Frenchy taught his “Lost Art of the Hashishin” seminars to 1,000s of aspiring concentrate-makers. An advocate of open-source knowledge-sharing, Frenchy freely demonstrated his techniques on Youtube, as well as with his 194,000+ Instagram followers. He likewise pushed for broader post-legalization public education: beyond working to develop hashish grading standards, Frenchy was a prominent supporter of regional growing certifications for cannabis production, inspired by appellation d’origine contrôlée rules like those protecting the integrity of Bordeaux wines.He’s was also developing a feature-length documentary, Frenchy Dreams of Hashish with documentary filmmaker Jake Remington of collabonyc that showcases the challenges legalization has brought to small California farms. Jake and Frenchy’s wife, Kimberly are working to complete the docu-series. Frenchy’s lively personality and unique expertise made him a sought-after international speaker, on topics such as cannabis terroir, the promise of organic and regenerative cultivation approaches, and the importance of independent “craft” production. He also wrote about the science and global history of cannabis for publications including Extraction Magazine (USA), Skunk (Canada), Weed World (England), and Dolce Vita (Italy). And finished the first draft of a book on the history of cannabis concentrates that his wife is editing for publication.Frenchy Cannoli was a California-based teacher, consultant, artisan, and activist dedicated to the production and appreciation of traditional cannabis concentrates. “
Ed Rosenthal
Ed Rosenthal is every grower’s uncle. He’s been constantly fighting to ease the law for medical uses of Cannabis. Countless articles written, several versions of “the grower’s hand book” and many others, this man has tought an undefinable amount of knowledge to growers, breeders and every other kind of cannabis enthusiast throughout the world and keeps on doing it everyday!The world wouldn’t be the same without you. Thank you Ed! – Delta Botanics
Few words about him:
Edward “Ed” Rosenthal (Bronx, New York, 1944)
“The Guru Of Ganja”
Ed Rosenthal is a leading cannabis horticulture authority, author, educator, social activist and legalization pioneer.
As one of the co-founders of High Times Magazine, Ed writes the much loved and long-running cannabis column, “Ask Ed.” The column continues to be published internationally.
He has been active in promoting and developing policies of civil regulation for medicinal marijuana. With the passage of California’s pioneering proposition 215 in 1996, which authorizes medicinal use of marijuana, he worked with the state and local governments to implement the delivery of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis to patients with a doctor’s recommendation to use cannabis.
Rosenthal’s public battles in the court have focused attention on the question of whether marijuana laws have become more harmful to society than the behavior they were intended to regulate. Recent polls show that as many as 80% of Americans support legal access to medical marijuana.The Federal Government does not recognize the legitimacy of medical marijuana initiatives passed by individual states, but as of 2017 under the Cole Memorandum, will not be enforcing federal laws against states that have legalized the recreational use such as California, Colorado, Oregon, Maine, Nevada, Massachusetts and Washington and more..
Dr. Ethan Russo
Ethan Russo is a scientist whose writings are fully backed up by scientifical researches and lab studies. He’s an incredible source of information about medical properties of cannabis, cannabinoids, terpenes and everything else you might want to know. Attached you find the link to his website.
Ethan Russo, MD, is a board-certified neurologist, psychopharmacology researcher, and author. He is the Founder and CEO of credo-science.com.
Previously, he was Director of Research and Development of the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute (ICCI) based in Prague, Czech Republic. Medical Director of PHYTECS (2015-2017), a biotechnology company researching and developing innovative approaches targeting the human endocannabinoid system, and from 2003-2014, he served as Senior Medical Advisor, medical monitor and study physician to GW Pharmaceuticals, United Kingdom for numerous Phase I-III clinical trials of Sativex® for alleviation of cancer pain unresponsive to optimized opioid treatment and initial studies of Epidiolex® for intractable epilepsy.
Howard “Mr Nice” Marks
Howard Marks biography
In his early life, Marks was an academic. He studied physics at Balliol College, Oxford between 1964 and 1967. It was during this time that he was first introduced to cannabis. In 1967 he began teacher training at St Anne’s College, Oxford. He gave up teacher training and continued his education at the University of London until 1968, then continued further study at Balliol College until 1969. Between 1969 and 1970, he went to the University of Sussex to study the philosophy of science.
When Marks first started selling hash, he was only selling cannabis to close friends or acquaintances. But in 1970, he was persuaded to help Graham Plinston in bigger scale drug trafficking. During this time, Marks was introduced to Mohammed Durrani, a Pakistani hashish trafficker who offered him the chance to sell cannabis on a large scale in London. Mark’s hash trafficking empire continued to grow, and before long he was trafficking cannabis all over Europe.
In 1973, Marks’ first arrest occurred from the Dutch police. He chose to skip bail, and spent the next few years on the run from the authorities.
After returning to the UK in secret, Mark began importing hashish from Nepal, one of the world’s biggest hash-producing nations. With the help of the Yakuza, he spent the years between 1975 and 1978 shipping a total of 55,000 pounds of marijuana through John F. Kennedy airport. All matter of people were involved in this operation, including the Mafia, the Yakuza, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, the Thai army and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Marks avoided a drug-trafficking charge in the late 70s, where he pleaded “not guilty” to trafficking. However, the jury found him guilty of using fake passports, and he was sentenced to two years in prison.
Marks’ hash smuggling adventures went on after his release, and eventually, in 1990 he was charged for all kinds of drug trafficking offences. His wife at the time (with whom he had three children) was also implicated in those charges. He was sentenced to 25 years in jail and was given a $50,000 fine. In January 1995, Marks was granted parole for his good behaviour as a model prisoner. He was released in April 1995.
After his release from prison, he published his autobiography, Mr Nice in 1996. It has been translated into several languages.
On January 2015, it was announced to the world that Marks had colorectal cancer. He died of the disease on 10 April 2016 at the age of 70.
One of Sensi Seeds’ most potent, pungent and popular strains, the legendary G13 x Hash Plant, is named Mr Nice in his honour. He donated his prison ID card to the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum, where it is proudly displayed to this day. In 2014, he received a Cannabis Culture Award for his lifelong dedication to cannabis.
Mr Nice AutoBiography
Mr Nice Seedbank and Research
The Mr Nice Seed Bank is owned by Shantibaba, and incorporates the talents of another equally experienced breeder of exceptionally high quality, and operates with the collaboration of Howard Marks. These three individuals command a huge wealth of experience in producing cannabis strains. They have produced a large amount of the winning strains of cannabis since 1990.
Who is Shantibaba?
Shantibaba
Scott Blakey BSc. Aka Shatibaba is a Geneticist and CBD Consultant
Born in Melbourne Australia, Scott Blakey (BSc in Psychology and Human Movement Studies from Melbourne University 1985) created and sold the Greenhouse Seed Company in Holland between 1992 1998. In that time he won many awards for strains which are still available from Mr. Nice Seedbank (MNS) Holland today.
In 2009 he cofounded the CBD crew, a scientific based breeding company that enriches Cannabis in CBD (Cannabidiol) and simultaneously reduces the THC concentration – this research and production is for Medicinal purposes.
Strains for originating from recreational cannabis at MNS can be reviewed here:
http://www.mrnice.nl/dhtml/strains.php
Strains originating from scientific testing and trait breeding specifically for Cannabinoids, and owned by the CBD crew, are being refined and improved on a daily basis.
They are the very first CBD enriched seed company in the market their reputation and the use of their genetics are renowned within the Industry. Strains such as: CBD Critical Mass, CBD Shark Shock, CBD Skunk Haze, and the latest high CBD low THC breed called CBD Therapy are all in use by Medical companies worldwide.
Home
Jorge Cervantes
Biography:
Cervantes is a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation. He puts more than thirty years of expert cannabis growing knowledge and hands-on experience at your fingertips with his books, articles, photographs and Youtube videos. His expert advice has guided millions of growers worldwide to apply simple, effective horticultural techniques to high-yield closet, basement, backyard, and guerrilla gardens.
Jorge Cervantes is the nom de plume that George Van Patten took to conceal his identity from 1983 to 2010. Van Patten wore black dreadlocks and a beret to cloak his public identity. The disguise allowed him to enter illegal cultivation circles. Cervantes came “out of the closet” in a 2010 interview on National Public Radio (USA).
Cervantes traveled to five continents and lived in British Colombia, Canada, California, Oregon, Washington State in the USA and the Netherlands and Spain to research cannabis cultivation. He continues to research, publish, make videos, and draw a discussion about his favorite plant with an international community on his forum at http://www.marijuanagrowing.com.
Mel Frank
Biography:
With 50+ years of experience, Mel Frank is one of the world’s most prolific growers, breeders, writers, photographers, and botanists on the subject of cannabis.
He has received three lifetime achievement awards from the industry and is known as “The Godfather of Marijuana Growers.”
His 1978 Marijuana Grower’s Guide Deluxe is known to this day as the bible of growing.
Besides his three books, he edited and published HASHISH! by Rob Clarke—the definitive guide to hashish—contributed photography and writing to over 100 magazine articles, served as panelist, judge, and lecturer for over 25 years of cups and conventions. And his genetics are known world-wide.
Mel Frank, the pen name of James J. Goodwin, was born in Lynn, MA, 1944. Goodwin served as a shipboard electronics technician in the US Navy, 1963-1967. Upon completion of service, he moved to New York city, where he began growing cannabis in 1968. As early as 1982, he was overseeing harvests of hundreds of pounds of sinsemilla.
First Publications
The pen name “Mel Frank” first appeared in 1971 in the New York Flyer of Rolling Stone, when he authored a two-part series on cannabis growing under fluorescent lights. After reading this series, Ed Rosenthal contacted Frank, convincing him to collaborate on a cannabis growing book, culminating in the 1974 publication of the Marijuana Growers’ Indoor/Outdoor Guide, by Level Press.
When High Times magazine began in 1974, Frank was the first to answer readers’ questions, and he followed by contributing photographs and articles that helped establish High Times as the leading resource magazine for marijuana growers.
As the industry progressed, his writing focused on large-scale grow operations and the challenges and solutions facing the industry. He has provided writing and photography for over 100 articles for magazines including High Times, Grow, Head, Broccoli, Cannabis Business Times, and others.
Education
While writing his first publications, Frank attended college, concentrating his studies on botany and microbiology. He earned a BS in biology from City College of New York in 1975.
Consulting
Since 2014, cannabis companies and organizations looking for advice in areas pertaining to growing cannabis (genetics, lighting, water, cultivation, etc.) seek out Frank’s expertise as both a trusted source as well as a brand name among consumers and industry players.
Frank relocated to Berkeley, CA in 1976, determined to write a book for growers complete with marijuana history, botany, and chemistry woven into a guide to grow anywhere, indoors or out. His efforts resulted in the 1977 publication of the Marijuana Grower’s Guide Deluxe by Frank and Rosenthal, published by And/Or Press.
The Deluxe—translated into Dutch, Danish, and German—proved to be the seminal treatise on marijuana botany and growing, and received praiseworthy reviews in numerous news sources; the New York Times described the Deluxe as “an extremely clear and interesting essay in practical horticulture, as accessible a study of a single plant, at this high level of seriousness as one is likely to find.”
The Deluxe brought the reality of cannabis horticulture into public awareness and spurred widespread interest in growing. A generation later, growing techniques have matured, but current understanding, terminology, and general strategies for growing, such as stages of growth, photoperiod manipulation, preflowering, cloning, and regeneration were first described in the Deluxe.
The Deluxe also featured Frank’s photography with the first ever color photomicrographs of resin glands, which he used to describe the progressive development and degradation of resin glands, a primary indicator universally used to determine optimum harvest time. His photography has appeared in magazines, trading cards, calendars, posters, books, college textbooks, videos, and fine art galleries in New York and Los Angeles.
Sowing Seeds..
Mel Frank’s seeds are world famous. Frank provided thousands of marijuana seeds freely to numerous growers in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. He managed a vast collection of marijuana landraces and bred and hybridized for increased potency and earlier harvesting, so that growers in northern, colder areas could grow high-quality marijuana. In 1977, by request, he donated 9 landraces as seeds and samples to the US government marijuana research program at its facility at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi.
He also freely donated two varieties he developed, Afghani #1 and Durban Poison, which, along with Haze, Hindu Kush and Skunk #1 from another colleague, became the basis for the commercial seed industry in Amsterdam. A majority of all Dutch seed “varieties” have genetic roots from these five cultivars that came from California.
Both for their trusted quality and brand name, his current genetics are highly sought after.
Mila “The Hashish Queen” Jansen
She’s one of the most prominent female pioneer in the world of cannabis.
For more than fifty years, Mila has been at the heart of the Marijuana scene, first during the hippie movement in the sixties Amsterdam, and later as the world- renowned inventor of revolutionary hash-making technology.
Mila, also known as “The Hash Queen”, was recently honored with being named one of the 100 most influential people in the world of cannabis- and her fame continues to expand.
Below you find few lines about her and the link to her website:
My name is Mila Jansen and I was born in Liverpool in 1944.
With my parents we moved around quite a bit, Indonesia, Holland and back to the UK. But since I was 11 I moved to Holland pretty permanently.
Had my first joint late ’64 and from that moment it became my drug of choice. In those days there was no weed in Amsterdam, so it was a hash joint and that is what I have smoked now for well over 50 years.
I was twenty-one when I opened the boutique Kink 22, it was a wild time, Amsterdam in the sixties, and November ’67 we became a teahouse. It was never the first coffeeshop because we never sold anything, we just shared whatever hash might arrive from Turkey, Lebanon even from Afghanistan. One of our customers just came from the East with wonderful stories. So when the teahouse got some cop problems it did not take long to decide to travel with my young daughter to India. We ended up staying for fourteen years, a wonderful part of my life. In the summers I trekked through the Himalayas with my four children, and in winter we spent time in Goa. I started a knitting company with local women and one of the most popular places to sell these chunky hand-knit sweaters was in California. Glittery beaded and sequined dresses from Delhi I sold mainly in New York.
But finally our time in India was over and we all moved to Amsterdam.
Being a gardener it was not difficult to get a job in the green industry and I started off by making clones and a year later I started my own eighteen lamp garden. It went well and I could pay all the school bills. In the end, with friends we had thirteen gardens in Amsterdam, but these places come and go, even the wonderful greenhouse I worked in ’92 did not make it to the end. We lost 24000 plants 10 days before harvest.Time for something different.
“MILA, HOW I BECAME THE HASH QUEEN” is the name of her autobiography. An exciting personal account from Mila, one of the cannabis industry’s rare female icons! Get your signed copy. HERE
Neville Schoenmakers
Neville is literally the Original King of Cannabis. He started the first ever cannabis seedbank and led the spreading of the first varieties such as the “Northern Lights” and “Neville’s Haze” .. Strains that are still the fundaments of modern breeding and most of the modern varieties.
Where it all started:
Australian-born marijuana advocate Nevil Schoenmakers was a trailblazer in the marijuana movement. He is most famous for creating a seed bank in the 1980s in the Netherlands called “The Seed Bank of Holland” that is acknowledged as the first to offer cannabis seeds for sale directly to consumers.
Schoenmakers died in 2019. Many marijuana advocates wrote articles in his honor, including High Times. His seed bank was the first to advertise in the magazine.
“Nevil was known as the original king of cannabis,” High Times wrote in a tribute. “In his career, he set the early groundwork of modern cannabis genetics and was responsible for some of the most popular and lauded strains in history.”
Schoenmakers was born in Perth, Australia, to Dutch parents. In 1976, he decided to move to the Netherlands. Already interested in cannabis, Schoenmakers began collecting seeds on his own.
He also had a background in genetics, according to Leafly. Knowing he could operate legally in his new country, Schoenmakers collected a variety of indica and sativa seeds from around the world.
He set up a seed business in 1984 and began to advertise seeds for sale, including ads in High Times. His efforts led to customers worldwide getting access to seeds of well-known cannabis strains, many of them from the U.S. West Coast. According to Leafly, those strains include Skunk #1, Early Girl and Northern Lights.
Delta Botanics 