Strain Library

South Africa

Durban Poison

Also called Durban, Durbin Poison, Durban Poison Landrace, South African Durban, DP

Durban Poison is named for the port of Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where dagga (cannabis) appears in Dutch colonial records as early as the 1660s. Whether one distinct local variety stood behind the name rests largely on seed-trade tradition. The best-known account says American collectors obtained South African seed in the late 1970s. Breeder Mel Frank recalls that he and David Watson, later known as Sam the Skunkman, began trading seed around 1978 or 1979 and that he gave Watson his Durban line. Watson moved to Amsterdam in 1985 and founded the seed company Cultivator's Choice in 1986. Stories about who first collected the original seed conflict, so that link is unverified. Today's Durban Poison descends from decades of breeder selection.

Region
Durban and hinterland, KwaZulu-Natal
How sure we are
Mixed. Dagga in Natal is well documented, but the Durban Poison seed chain rests on breeder recollections and strain-site lore that disagree on the first link.
Keep in mind
Samples sold as Durban Poison today come from decades of breeder selection and are generally not the original South African landrace.

Timeline

  1. 1660s Dutch East India Company officers are reportedly asked to bring dagga back from the Natal coast, one of the earliest written mentions of the plant in the region. Source
  2. 1870 An 1870 Natal law bars Indian indentured workers (brought to the colony from 1860) from using or trading cannabis, showing it was already part of Natal life. Source
  3. c. 1978-1979 Breeder Mel Frank recalls that he and David Watson began trading seed around then, and that he gave Watson his Durban Poison line; he does not say where his own original seed came from. Source
  4. Late 1970s (recalled in 2007) Watson later wrote that he received about 100 South African seeds and grew them in California; this is one person's recollection reported by a strain website, not independently documented. Source
  5. 1985-1986 Watson moves to Amsterdam (1985) and founds Cultivator's Choice (1986), an early Amsterdam cannabis seed company. Source

In the library

Sources

  1. Paterson (2009), Prohibition & Resistance, Rhodes University MA thesis
  2. Wikipedia, Cannabis in South Africa (encyclopedia; cites Duvall 2019 and Paterson 2009)
  3. Watt (1961), Dagga in South Africa, UN Bulletin on Narcotics
  4. Paradise Burning, 'When We Were Criminals': interview with Mel Frank (2015 interview, published 2018)
  5. Cannabis Business Times (2025), obituary of David Watson, 'Sam the Skunkman'
  6. Cannigma, Durban Poison history (strain website; industry lore)
  7. Tucson Weekly (2024), Durban Poison origin story (industry lore; accounts conflict)
  8. Beard Bros, Breeding the Culture: Mel Frank, Afghani No.1 and Durban Poison (industry lore; accounts conflict)

All landrace strainsThe cannabis timeline

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