It is amazing how awful the weed in the 70s was, relative to today. That “Mexican” commercial (mersh, as we called it) weed that cost 20 bucks an ounce was weak as hell. We used to smoke several joints among three of us just to get a buzz. It wasn’t till around 1981 in college that I tried indoor-grown domestic indica and realized how bad the old mersh weed was.
And today, with the extracts available (like diamonds…whoa!)…we truly are living in the golden age of cannibis, particularly with widespread legality. A rare thing to be thankful for in 2023.
I remember a relatively steady stream of mediocre dirt weed as far back as 1969. Sometimes it was really bad, sometimes surprisingly spicey. Although not as potent (on paper) by today's standards, it worked very well. In fact, I would argue that "stoned is stoned" no matter how you get there. I crave the wild sativa flavor and resulting high I enjoyed back then.
I think the biggest difference between then and now is the difference in availability. I felt lucky to share one or two joints of dirt weed per day, often with several people. I'm guessing I spent much less time "high" then compared to now. I think that meant that one could experience a genuine transition from straight to stoned almost daily. It comes down to willpower nowadays. Back then it was a financial and availability limitation.
It's still not legal and some folks are supposedly still in jail today. Some states are trying to force people to pay $40/g for goofy hybrids. I'm just saying, it's not all good today IMO, and it wasn't 100% bad back then. Sure, it was 90% bad.... The really good smoke started arriving in the mid 70's. I remember having hashish, Thai stick, Oaxacan Gold, Black Colombian, Colombian Gold Bud, and Acapulco Gold between roughly 1975 and 1979. The dirt weed got better (IMO) and I first tasted sensimilla in 1977.
