Strain Library

Nepal

Nepalese

Also called Nepal, Nepali, Nepalese Landrace, Nepali Landrace

Cannabis grows wild across much of Nepal's hill country and has long been woven into Hindu practice, notably the Shiva festival at Pashupatinath in Kathmandu. British Indian excise reports of 1942 already mention ganja smuggled out of Nepal. From the early 1960s the state licensed and taxed cannabis shops, and Kathmandu's Freak Street became the end of the overland Hippie Trail. Cultivation was a cash crop, especially in the western and mid-western hills. Licences were revoked in 1973, reportedly under foreign pressure, and a 1976 law banned cultivation and sale. Seed companies list Nepalese lines, at least one sourced through a contact in Nepal, but collectors and dates are rarely recorded.

Region
Western and mid-western hill districts of Nepal (for example Dang and Rolpa); cannabis also grows wild across the hills
How sure we are
Mixed. Nepal's cannabis trade and its bans are well documented, but the 'Nepalese' seed line is thinly documented and known mainly through seed-company descriptions.
Keep in mind
Seeds sold as Nepalese today are seed-company lines of varying provenance, and original pure landraces are reported to have become rare in traditional producing countries.

Timeline

  1. 1942 British Indian excise reporting noted that illicit imports of ganja from Nepal were increasing because of its low price. Source
  2. 1962 Nepal began licensing and taxing cannabis sales; one commentator says the state collected over Rs 100,000 in revenue. Source
  3. 1965-1973 Tens of thousands of young travellers a year reached Kathmandu on the overland Hippie Trail, ending at Freak Street, home to the hashish shops that were later closed. Source
  4. 1973 Licences were revoked and Kathmandu's dispensaries closed, with a cultivation ban following, reportedly under pressure from Washington. Source
  5. 1976 The Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act banned cultivation, sale and consumption, with a carve-out for hashish from wild plants that was never put into practice. Source

In the library

Sources

  1. UNODC Bulletin on Narcotics archive, 1953 (notes on charas and ganja trade in British India)
  2. Kathmandu Post: Access to medical marijuana (A. Dhakal, 1 March 2020; opinion column)
  3. Himalayan Times / AFP (2022): High time, ban on marijuana goes up in smoke
  4. Reason: How the drug war destroyed a hippie paradise in Kathmandu
  5. Record Nepal: Nepal's quest for legalising cannabis
  6. Dhaka Tribune: Nepal marijuana campaign seeks return of Himalayan hash
  7. Dove Medical Press, Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation vol. 15: cannabis legalization efforts (Nepal history)
  8. Wikipedia: Cannabis in Nepal
  9. SeedFinder: Nepalese by The Landrace Team (seed-bank description; industry lore)
  10. Joint Commerce strain guide: Nepalese by The Seed Bank (seed-bank lore, unsourced)

All landrace strainsThe cannabis timeline

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