I started smoking with people from Himachal Pradesh, which is a Highland region. It wasn’t until I entered college that I had a little more exposure because I met people from different regions with different cultures and experiences. So I had fun, but it didn’t entice me to really dig deeper into this plant. Leafly: When did you first become interested in cannabis?ĭeepak Chaudhary: When I first started consuming cannabis, I was smoking hashish that was not always good. To learn more, Leafly spoke with Deepak Chaudhary ( the cannabis landrace conservationist who helped found the Indian Landrace Exchange and continues to coordinate the group’s efforts. (Photo courtesy Indian Landrace Exchange) Indian Landrace Exchange steps in
Grown locally, harvested by hand Landrace seeds are harvested by hand in the local villages where the plants grow. The Indian Landrace Exchange describes itself as a “collective of Indigenous frontline farmers, seed collectors, and preservationists” with the goal of supporting these communities economically while helping spread and preserve their landrace strains. Over the past five years a grassroots, locally-led, globally crowdsourced effort has emerged to help defend and support these local cannabis-growing communities.