Durban Poison

Durban Poison Strain

The Durban Poison strain is one of the few true originals left in cannabis: a pure South African landrace sativa (100/0) that nobody crossed into existence. It grew up over centuries in the hills around Durban, and it still smokes like nothing else, all anise and pine with a clean, racing, clear-headed energy. At a manageable 18 to 22% THC, this is a daytime engine, not a nightcap.

We carry Durban in more than one form. Jump to where to find Durban Poison.

The Durban Poison Strain Story

Durban Poison has no hybrid lineage to untangle, because it has none. It is a landrace: a population that adapted naturally to its corner of the world, in this case the Pinetown hills west of Durban, South Africa, where small Pondoland farmers selected the best plants generation after generation. The 1987 Super Sativa Seed Club catalog already listed it as a known quantity.

Its journey west is half the legend. In the late 1970s the American grower and author Ed Rosenthal got hold of South African seed (the story runs through a coffee shop importing the real thing) and passed it to Mel Frank. From Frank it reached Skunkman Sam, the man behind Skunk No.1, who carried it to Amsterdam in the mid-80s and into the hands of Neville Schoenmakers at the Seed Bank of Holland. A few decades of careful selection later, the fast-flowering, intersex-prone original had been stabilized into the Durban Poison the whole world now grows.

The Nose

Durban does not smell like a modern hybrid, and that is exactly the appeal. It leads with a sweet, liquorice-like anise note, wrapped in fresh pine and a dry, herbal sage character, with a spicy edge and an overall sweetness that keeps it bright. Almost all of that traces back to Terpinolene, a terpene you rarely see running this dominant: it is the source of that complex sweet, piney, floral aroma, and it is the one most tied to up, energetic highs. Myrcene and Ocimene fill in underneath. The buds are classic old-school sativa, long and wispy and pale green, with more frost than people expect from a landrace.

The High

This is about as close to a pure cerebral sativa as our menu gets. The high is immediate and energetic, uplifting and focused in a way that genuinely helps you get things done, with a clear euphoric, creative streak running through it. There is no body weight and no couch, which is how it earned the nickname the espresso of cannabis. Keep it for the morning or the front half of the day. One honest warning: it is a fast, racy head high carrying a medium anxiety risk, so if you run anxious, keep the first dose small. For low mood, fatigue, or a creative block, though, few things clear the fog like Durban.

Where to Find Durban Poison at How High

The same Durban Poison genetic shows up in more than one form on our menu. Here is what we carry right now:

Durban Poison Strain Card