FORBES TALKS POT

Once the drug of choice with hippies and burnouts, marijuana is
joining fine wine on the list of indulgences with serious snob appeal.

Although illegal, the controversial drug counts Canadian doctors,
lawyers, corporate leaders and untold members of the chattering
classes among its fans. And if the watermark for "making it" amongst
the millionaires is a picture in Forbes, then reefer has achieved that
cachet: In advance of Saturday's Global Marijuana March, which will be
held in major cities worldwide to promote the legalization of pot, the
conservative business magazine has published a photographic countdown
of the world's most exotic varietals of weed on Forbes.com, complete
with information on each brand's origin, bouquet and cost per gram.

Grass has come a long way since Woodstock, baby.

"Serious cannabis consumers often exhibit the kind of connoisseurship
typical of wine lovers," writes Forbes reporter Saabira Chaudhuri.

Vancouver-based weed expert Ian Mulgrew agrees, saying in an interview
that "as many versions as there are of red and white wine, there are
versions of the major strains of cannabis."

Adds Mulgrew, author of Bud Inc: Inside Canada's Marijuana Industry: "The
same way people who buy wines are looking for bouquet, nose and finish, (pot
smokers) are looking for epicurean qualities to their marijuana."

Varietals cataloged by Forbes.com include Sour Diesel, Strawberry
Cough, Mass Skunk, OG Kush, Chemdog, Jack Herer and Haze. Each "brand"
is said to have a street value of $25 to $35 US per gram -- equal to
about 0.04 ounces.

According to the print version of Forbes, rising popularity and price
have driven marijuana to trump wheat, cattle and timber as "Canada's
most valuable agricultural product." Mulgrew estimates the drug
generates between $6 billion and $8 billion Cdn each year, and upwards
of $2-billion in B.C. alone.

"Let's stop kidding ourselves. The yuppies aren't growing heirloom
tomatoes in their gardens," he observes dryly. "It's a really
sophisticated market."

The average Canadian isn't likely to debate whether a joint's contents
were grown on the sunny side of the slope or the shady. But among the
cannabis cognoscenti, High Times columnist Jorge Cervantes says, no
nuance is too obscure.

"People are so snobby about this stuff. They get real full of themselves,
claiming they've got the best dope in the world," says Cervantes, author of
the bestselling book Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical
Grower's Bible. "They tie it to their manhood."

In Vancouver and Amsterdam, annual harvest festivals are held in which
aficionados blind taste-test various cannabis plants to see which
grower has the best product. In some cases, a win can be worth more
than a half-million dollars in subsequent sales.

Failing an official victory, many guerrilla gardeners rely on
improvisation.

"Since it's an uncontrolled industry, lying and cheating are rampant,"
explains Cervantes.

"Growers might just think up a different name (for an old brand) and
all of a sudden it's the coolest one. People make stuff up about as
fast as they can talk."

True cannabis connoisseurs, however, operate much like sommeliers in
discriminating between varietals.

Cervantes says a product must first be eyeballed for maturity and
development. Then it's touched to judge moisture content, stickiness
or dryness -- foliage that's too supple, for instance, won't burn properly.

Because cannabis can produce up to 200 different terpenes or essential
oils, breaking open the plant to unleash its fragrance is also key.
Finally, the plant's potential high is gauged by examining the colour
and quantity of its resin glands using a small microscope.

Unlike wine tasting, in which sommeliers spit out the alcohol after
sampling, evaluating pot requires a person make as many judgments as
possible before experiencing the product.