resist knocking the other balls off the table and grab-
bing the seeds from inside them too, a total of 16 seeds,
and then I left.¡±
He brought the seeds to his friend, Oklahoma Boy,
who had property near Needle Rock in Crawford, who
then grew the first crop of the Paonia Purple Paralyzer
from them. From there, he proliferated the entire North
Fork Valley with seeds from this original grow, includ-
ing communes such as The Four Directions on the west
end of Redlands Mesa.
Soon the PPP seed flourished in the fertile volcanic
soil and climate of our region (similar to Afghanistan¡¯s
climate and conditions), taking on names like ¡®P-Bud¡¯,
¡®Redlands Mesa Red¡¯ and others. By the mid 1970s,
people from all over began hearing enchanting tales of
the potent effects of this tantalizing Indica strain.
Another local source states that, ¡°The PPP gained so
much popularity that High Times magazine even pub-
lished an article about it. That¡¯s when I was living in
California, heard about it and told my friends that we
have got to go and try that!¡±
This California witness was not alone. He and his
friends along with many other Cannabis connoisseurs
poured into the valley throughout the 1970s and 80s.
Several sources agree that this influx brought a magni-
fied level of exposure from the federal drug agencies.
It is accounted by local Paonia residents that the agents
directed patrols to eradicate this notorious strain into
the late 1970s and throughout the mid 90s. This pres-
sure from the federal government is said to have led to
the extinction of the PPP, until now.
As unbelievable and amazing as it sounds, yet entirely
true, 35 years ago two different proprietary growers of
the PPP stored hundreds of these pure seeds from the
original crops. Will the legend of the PPP be resurrect-
ed to produce the same potent effects as before? Will
more holders of the sacred seed unearth?
As the story unveils decades later, it is clear to see this
legend was meant to be shared and apprised. Mean-
while, Acme Healing Center¡¯s grow facility in Ridg-
Health & Nurturing
2014 February
Pg 7 - The Sunshine Express
Treasured seeds hidden away for decades
are coming out of the dark
One of the surprising, and quite possibly the most
fantastic, consequences of the recent Cannabis legal-
ization in Colorado is the appearance of secret stashes
of highly sought after Cannabis seeds. Many of these
seeds contain old world genetics that have long been
thought to be dead and gone, thanks to (now obvious
fruitless) governmental efforts to eradicate them.
It appears to be the case that quite a few individuals
have been secretly saving these seeds for the day when
they could be free once again.
That day is here, and there are some amazing stories
being shared about these seeds and their histories. The
following account is one of them and gives us insight
into one of the western slope¡¯s most notorious breeds:
In a small agricultural community, not far from you
or me, a legend was born. Like many legends, it has
humble beginnings, powerful enchantment and op-
portune occurrences.
The Paonia Purple Paralyzer (or PPP) is said to have
been so potent, that it would put one¡¯s body in a state
of physical euphoria for hours. It is also said to have
been a deep purple color, due to the Fall evening chill
in Paonia¡¯s North Fork Valley, hence the name. The
Paonia Purple grew abundantly in the area during the
1970s and 80s, but did this crop originate there too?
The pioneer growers now reveal the true story.
A journey back to a time when America was in civil
and international unrest in the late 1960s, reveals a
cataclysmic time for many free-thinking adults. In this
divided time period, some young people opted for an
awakening within themselves and the world. Many
of our young men left to fight in the Vietnam war,
while others ventured across the seas to expand global
awareness.
During this time in the North Fork Valley, fruit farm-
ers and ranchers were cultivating this land in rural
farming areas such as Paonia, Crawford and Hotch-
kiss. Shortly after the war, a surge of like-hearted
people from all over the country came to the plentiful
valley to sow seeds of their own.
For these folks, hashish and other hallucinogens were
the major drugs of choice. So, from far across the
world, Tibetan Temple Ball hashish and Nepalese
Cherished Genetics Re-emerge
String hashish from the Afghani Indica plant were
carefully imported to our region. This hashish original-
ly came from a connection who was supplying Black
Gummy hashish to the US. Although illegal in Nepal
now, hashish was legal until the late 1970s.
Bill, a Colorado resident and consumer of the Temple
Ball hashish says, ¡°When I was in Nepal in the 1970s,
there were these balls of hashish the size of baseballs
that the Sadhu would bring around.¡± The Encyclope-
dia Brittanica defines the Sadhu as a religious ascetic,
or holy person. ¡°I tried smoking a tiny bit of one once,¡±
continued Bill, ¡°and my body was so relaxed that I
couldn¡¯t move for hours.¡±
Many of the highly spiritual Sadhus live in temples
and practice the art form of extracting hashish from the
buds of the female Afghani Indica plant. They rub the
crystalline buds in a heavy muslin sheath, sometimes
pulling seeds along with it. Then the cloth is scraped
and hand rolled into hashish balls and sticks, thus
making it possible to transport the hashish, and often
seeds of the purest Afghani Indica, to cross all the bor-
ders and grace our valley during that time.
Builders in the early 1970s who were constructing Sun-
shine Mesa (above Paonia) often offered trades for this
hashish plus cash to the young workers. Which brings
us to a testimony from one of the heroes of this story,
Papa Gangee.
According to Papa Gangee, it was around 1974 and he
was hanging out with a Boulder guy for whom he did
masonry work. ¡°He was a big time Boulder drug guy,¡±
said Papa Gangee. ¡°I did a lot of work on his house.
Every time he¡¯d go to pay me, he would get me so
stoned that he would get a better deal out of me.¡±
¡°This one time, he had 3 black balls of Black hashish
the size of softballs on his coffee table. He had passed
out on the couch, so I got up and accidently bumped
the coffee table. A ball rolls off the table, and I pick it
up and I¡¯m trying to get it back together, and I look
down on the floor and there are these seeds that had
fallen out of the ball.¡± he continued, ¡°I couldn¡¯t
way, Colorado is currently cultivating a
close comeback.
¡°Acme feels fortunate to have the con-
nections to receive these seeds. We hope
to honor the origins and nostalgia of this
influential strain and all of the original
PPP farmers of this area,¡± says General
Manager David Niccum.
To quote another North Fork Valley
farmer, ¡°After decades of slumber, the
Paonia Purple Paralyzer will finally
awaken to its rightful place in the sun,
both literally and figuratively.¡±
(by Jessica Hines, Acme Healing Center)
¡°In life, as in chess,
forethought wins.¡±
- Charles Buxton