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Mexico · Mexico

Acapulco Gold

Also called Aca, Acapulco

Acapulco Gold is the best-known name for Mexican herb in the 1960s. It is traditionally tied to the Guerrero mountains behind the port of Acapulco, though no single seed line is documented. The name is reported in the United States by about 1964, and within a few years it served as shorthand for Mexican product in general, so many batches sold under it probably never came from Guerrero. A 1969 magazine report on a smuggling seizure already used the name. University of Mississippi researchers reported that the federal research crop originated from seed obtained near Acapulco. Mexico's herbicide campaigns of the mid-1970s are said to have thinned the original supply; industry lore says it fed early breeding, including Skunk #1.

Region
Guerrero (Sierra Madre del Sur uplands behind Acapulco)
How sure we are
Mixed. The name, its 1960s trade fame and a Guerrero origin are well attested, but its genetics and the 'gold' label's exact meaning are not documented.
Keep in mind
Seeds and flower sold as Acapulco Gold today are modern cultivars or re-creations and cannot be assumed to descend from the original Guerrero material.

Timeline

  1. c. 1964-1965 The name is reported in the United States, and a dictionary definition is said to follow about a year later. Source
  2. 1969 Life magazine's marijuana issue (31 Oct) describes a smuggling seizure of 'pure Acapulco Gold'. Source
  3. 1973 (reported 1982) A University of Mississippi study of Mexican cannabis, with samples collected in 1973, states that the federal research crop originated from seed obtained near Acapulco in Guerrero. Source
  4. 1975-1978 Mexico's annual antidrug campaign (Operation Condor) runs with US backing, and US officials press for herbicides on a massive scale against marijuana and poppy fields. Source

Sources

  1. Acapulco Gold (Wikipedia)
  2. Cannabeginners: The History of Acapulco Gold (High Times, 2023)
  3. Marijuana: the law vs. 12 million people (Life, 31 Oct 1969; Erowid archive)
  4. Interview with Mike Aldrich on Amorphia (High Times, orig. July 1998)
  5. Turner et al., Cannabinoid content of Mexican variants (UN Bulletin on Narcotics, 1982)
  6. Craig, Operation Condor: Mexico's Antidrug Campaign Enters a New Era (JIAS, 1980)

From the same region

Oaxacan

All landrace strainsThe cannabis timeline

Written from the sources above. Informational only, not medical advice.