“Champagne” is a protected quality differentiator for sparkling wine. Only sparkling wine from grapes grown and processed in the Champagne region of France can be labeled as such. A front-page article in the East Bay Times of the San Francisco Bay Area adds location to the critical label attributes for cannabis.1 For decades, urban myths have attributed psychoactive responses to growth locations of recreational cannabis in California. After all, for years illicit recreational cannabis was even more important economically than our licit wine.
The protected appellations for cannabis include eight areas in the South Bay of San Francisco. I expect that San Francisco's North Bay, which includes Marin County, will join the program, since Mendocino and Humboldt counties have an even more fabled appellations.
The horticulture areas are:
- Santa Cruz and North along CA Highway 1, along the coast
- San Lorenzo Valley along CA-9
- The Summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains North of CA-17
- Santa Cruz, including the University of California, Santa Cruz
- Aptos
- Corralitos/Mount Madonna
- Watsonville
- Aromas
However, how should one discriminate between cannabis grown in Watsonville from the San Lorenzo Valley in Santa Cruz County? Yes, the growing season might be slightly different, but the cultivars can be even more so.
The topography in areas 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 is a North-South valley or ridge, so the sun pattern in the morning illuminates the Western side of the valley, while the afternoon sun falls on the Eastern slopes. However, the marine layers are much less predicable.
So, can we learn something about plant biology by studying the effect of location on cannabis product quality? California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control requires written traceability from seed to smoke. Grow location is included as an important, potentially traceable variable. Hopefully, documentation will be available to serious researchers.
It will take time, but bringing cannabis cultivation out of the fog associated with illicit grows will help improve agriculture and contribute to human knowledge.
Reference
- Krieger, L.M. Cannabis industry location, location, location. East Bay Times, 10-14-18, p. A1.
Robert L. Stevenson, Ph.D., is Editor Emeritus, American Laboratory/Labcompare; e-mail: [email protected]