Influential Figure #1
Many of you might not know, who Franco Loja is. But, he was one of the biggest superstars in the Marijuana community all across the world. The Italian-born weed enthusiast joined the Green House Seeds Company (also known as GH Seeds) back in 1997. Along with the owner, Arjan Roskam, he has traced countless forests/lands and found many marijuana strains.
About 10 years ago or so, both Franco and Arjan began their web series “Strain Hunters”. Working along with Vice, they trace the unknown cannabis strains deep into the woods all across the world. This experience they called the Landrace. Working with government officials, freedom fighters, locals, and so on, the search for unknown strain after strain has crowned them the title of ‘King of Cannabis’.
Winning 32 High Times Cups and 17 Lifetime Cups in the award Cannabis Cup (the awarding of a cannabis entrepreneur in Amsterdam) was enough to prove that they are worth the title. Some of the dozens of strains they claim were Super Silver Haze, Hawaiian Snow, Arjan’s Ultra Haze, and the infamous Super Lemon Haze.
Working on almost all of the continents and many countries has put them on the map of the cannabis industry. They have worked in Colombia, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and even Congo. They search for exotic strains and cultivate them in their lab in Amsterdam. Then, they manufacture the best strains for their market in Amsterdam through the Green House Seeds Company.
Franco and Arjan were two inseparable units. Franco was more passionate about cultivating the seeds when Arjan took care of the entrepreneur, media, and business sides. Maybe this role was the key to their success in the cannabis industry.
The activity of this landrace is not only good for their business but also educates us about the condition, history, and culture of cannabis in the area of the landrace.
The most interesting part in the Strain Hunters or the one with Vice episode was when they searched for the strain in Congo. The Democratic Republic of Congo has a complicated political situation. The constant war against Rwanda, the inconsistent political stability caused by the power struggle within the government, the existence of many rebel/freedom fighter factions, and even the discrimination among the people.
‘Pygmy’ people were one of the colonization products of discrimination. In 1904, Ota Benga from Congo was kidnapped and put on display at a world’s fair and a Zoo in the Bronx beside a chimpanzee. Some Western biological anthropologists have claimed that the ‘pygmy’ people were the ‘missing link’ of Darwin’s evolution theory.
Thus this claim was proved wrong, the so-called pygmy people still live in discrimination among the Congolese people. They are treated as a second-class citizen and some of them, like the Mbuti people, can only survive by farming the cannabis plant for medicine or selling them outside the tribe.
In the Strain Hunter episode, there was a confrontation between the army officials who guided the Strain Hunter and Vice teams and the locals when they took the seeds of their Congolese strains. But it was understandable because it was their right to cultivate the strains.
They only got a little while the Green House Seed will earn millions. But to be fair, it is also understandable because it is just a business, and the Strain Hunters also pay the locals what they ask.
Franco Loja understands this deeply, he compares what the pharmaceutical companies did in the past and what he did later to the Congolese was similar. The gold-hearted Franco Loja was set on a mission to give back to African society. He helped them to understand the cannabis industry and also to the legalization of cannabis in Africa.
He began his trips in 2007 to Africa. And in 2016, despite the political situation in Africa, he made 150 flights to Africa. Unfortunately, he contracted cerebral Malaria while doing those trips. Franco Loja died at 42 on 2 January 2017.
“Cannabis is my passion, my bread, my home. I feel it is my duty to make sure this amazing plant is preserved and enjoyed. I am a smoker, a grower, a breeder, and a Strain Hunter for Life.” — Franco Loja
Today to celebrate the annual ‘420’, I dedicate this article to the one and only Franco Loja. A man who has done a lot, but got less credit than he deserves. So to end this article let’s express our admiration for the man of passion while we celebrate the 420 day!