sinsemilla
{{Short description|Highly potent cannabis}}
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Cannabis sinsemilla ({{IPA|es|sinseˈmiʝa}}) also known as sensimilla, sinse or sensi (can be translated into English as seedless cannabis) is the female Cannabis plant that has not been pollinated and therefore does not develop seeds, increasing the concentration of cannabinoids and terpenes. This cultivation technique was developed in Sinaloa, Mexico, in the 1970s, by the drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero{{Cite web |last=García |first=Jacobo |date=2022-07-17 |title=Caro Quintero, el viejo capo que revolucionó el mundo de la marihuana |url=https://elpais.com/mexico/2022-07-17/caro-quintero-el-viejo-capo-que-revoluciono-el-mundo-de-la-marihuana.html |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=El País México |language=es}}{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Nathan P. |url= |title=Mexico's Illicit Drug Networks and the State Reaction |date=2016-04-15 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |isbn=978-1-62616-296-9 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eP8qDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT73 73] |language=en}} and consists of separating male plants as soon as they are known to be male, in order to avoid pollination of female pistils.{{Cite book|last=Cervantes|first=Jorge|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64708236|title=Marijuana horticulture: the indoor/outdoor medical grower's bible|publisher=Van Patten Pub|year=2006|isbn=978-1-878823-23-6|edition=Rev.|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fERzFsZhdxYC&pg=PA81 81]|oclc=64708236|author-link=Jorge Cervantes}} The seeds are not useful for recreational purposes and require the plant to make a great expenditure of energy that could be invested in increasing the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) of the inflorescences (buds).
The technique became popular in the United States as sinsemilla, sinsemilia, sinse, or sense.{{Cite book|last1=Halperin|first1=Shirley|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/911055958|title=Pot culture: the A-Z guide to stoner language and life|last2=Bloom|first2=Steve|publisher=Abrams|others=Steve Bloom|year=2007|isbn=978-1-61312-874-9|location=New York|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=78LNCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT451 451]|oclc=911055958}} In 1980, an American study indicated that the average THC of street marijuana was 1.8%, while sinsemilla reached 6%.{{Cite book|title=Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program|publisher=Cannabis Investigations Section, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Department of Justice|year=1992|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=s6z_TWsVVpIC&pg=PA1 1]}} Sinsemilla cannabis is a cultivation technique, so it should not be confused with skunk, which refers to strains with a high percentage of THC, of up to 34% THC content.{{cite web | url=https://jointlybetter.com/magazine/article/what-are-the-strains-with-the-highest-recorded-thc-content-in-2023/ | title=What Are the Highest THC Strains in 2023? }} The expression sinsemilla is practically obsolete since feminized seeds emerged in the 1990s, seeds genetically modified to only sprout females.
Health risks
Regular use of high potency cannabis (HPC) has been linked in several studies to an increased likelihood of psychotic disorders.{{Cite journal|last1=Di Forti|first1=Marta|last2=Morgan|first2=Craig|last3=Dazzan|first3=Paola|last4=Pariante|first4=Carmine|last5=Mondelli|first5=Valeria|last6=Marques|first6=Tiago Reis|last7=Handley|first7=Rowena|last8=Luzi|first8=Sonija|last9=Russo|first9=Manuela|last10=Paparelli|first10=Alessandra|last11=Butt|first11=Alexander|date=2009|title=High-potency cannabis and the risk of psychosis|journal=British Journal of Psychiatry|language=en|volume=195|issue=6|pages=488–491|doi=10.1192/bjp.bp.109.064220|issn=0007-1250|pmc=2801827|pmid=19949195}}{{Cite journal|last1=Potter|first1=Gary R.|last2=Chatwin|first2=Caroline|date=2012-11-30|title=The problem with "skunk"|url=https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17459261211286645/full/html|journal=Drugs and Alcohol Today|language=en|volume=12|issue=4|pages=232–240|doi=10.1108/17459261211286645|issn=1745-9265}}{{Cite journal|last=Di Forti|first=M.|display-authors=et al.|date=2015|title=Proportion of patients in south London with first-episode psychosis attributable to use of high potency cannabis: a case-control study|journal=The Lancet Psychiatry|volume=2|issue=3|pages=233–238 |doi=10.1016/S2215-0366(14)00117-5|pmid=26359901 |doi-access=free}} A 2015 study looked at multiple users of skunk, sinse or other HPC cannabis strains in South London showed a corresponding relationship with adults presenting with episodes of psychosis similar to schizophrenia. Similar studies have been carried out in Germany, New Zealand and the Netherlands.
New research, carried out since the liberalisation of the harsh laws prohibiting cannabis, suggest that rather than being a cause of psychotic conditions the non-psychoactive cannabinoid compound, cannabidiol (CBD), may in fact have an anti-psychotic effect. {{cite journal | pmc=6678854 | date=2019 | last1=Batalla | first1=A. | last2=Janssen | first2=H. | last3=Gangadin | first3=S. S. | last4=Bossong | first4=M. G. | title=The Potential of Cannabidiol as a Treatment for Psychosis and Addiction: Who Benefits Most? A Systematic Review | journal=Journal of Clinical Medicine | volume=8 | issue=7 | page=1058 | doi=10.3390/jcm8071058 | doi-access=free | pmid=31330972 }}
In popular culture
- referenced in the movie Caddyshack (1980), a hybrid variety of golf turf, composed of Kentucky Blue Grass, Featherbed Bent, and Northern California sinsemilla.
- Sinsemilla (1980), album by the Jamaican reggae band Black Uhuru;
- Sinsemilla Tips (1980–1990), magazine founded by Tom Alexander in Corvallis, Oregon;{{Cite web|last=Cizmar|first=Martin|date=2017-04-11|title=The Rise and Fall of Sinsemilla Tips, Corvallis' Legendary Marijuana Magazine|url=https://www.wweek.com/cannabis/2017/04/11/the-rise-and-fall-of-sinsemilla-tips-corvallis-legendary-marijuana-magazine/|access-date=2021-12-01|website=Willamette Week|language=en}}
- Sinsemilia, a French reggae band formed in 1990;
- Sinsemilla (1996), compilation album by the Californian punk band Sublime;
- referenced numerous times in the lyrics of Sleep (band);
- referenced in the lyrics to The Offspring's "Original Prankster," off their 2000 album Conspiracy Of One
- Shinsemia (シンセミア, 2003), book by Kazushige Abe;{{Cite book|last=Abe 阿部|first=Kazushige 和重|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1032040473|title=Shinsemia|publisher=Asahi Shinbunsha|year=2006|isbn=4-02-264377-3|oclc=1032040473}}
- Sinsemilla Dreams (2006), album by the experimental musician Danny Hyde;
- Sensimilla (2008), reggae track by Slightly Stoopid;
- Sensimilla (2020), single of the reggae band The Elovaters;
- Sensi Seeds, a major Dutch cannabis bank, one of the largest conglomerates in the cannabis market;