Cannabis Freedom Index

Context not part of the score

Genetics and heritage

Local cannabis plants, the people who keep them, and what bans and new laws did to them.

Wherever cannabis was grown for generations, farmers kept local plants adapted to their land, known as landraces. Prohibition, eradication and the spread of imported hybrids have threatened many of them. In Morocco’s Rif the old kif plant was largely replaced by high-yielding hybrids, until the regulator authorised the local beldiya variety for the legal programme in 2024. A general account of the idea is in landrace.[1]

These sections describe each country’s local cannabis, the people who keep it, and what bans and new laws did to it. They are written only where sources say something specific about the country’s plants.

profiles with this section
3
explained as not applicable
0
not researched yet
217
of 220 places covered
1%

Where it is written, on the map

Select a country for its section.

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Country by country

The opening of each profile's section; the country's page has it in full, with sources.

CountryWhat the profile says
AfghanistanAsiaAfghan hemp has a documented wild-to-crop story: Vavilov observed that hemp farmers collected seeds from wild Afghan types to enrich their fields, and Clarke traces hashish from *Cannabis indica* forma *afghanica* in the north to…
South AfricaAfricaThe local landrace of Mpondoland is low in THC, 2.5 to 8% by one researcher's account, and is losing ground to imported high-potency strains.
UruguaySouth AmericaUruguay has no old cannabis tradition of its own; its genetics are new. Licensed growers have been breeding national varieties, and the seed institute INASE had more than 40 Uruguayan cultivars on its register in 2025, up from 11…

References

  1. Wikipedia — Landracearchived
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