Pot evangelist: Purdue growers are the best

By Joseph Paul
Source: jconline.com

Although the First Church of Cannabis in Indiana abstained from marijuana use during its first service Wednesday, founder and Grand Poobah Bill Levin knows where to find some.

"The best s--- I ever smoked was not in Amsterdam, not in Denver," Levin told the Indianapolis Star last week. "Hell no. It's here. We have some of the best growers in the world. God bless Purdue."

Levin founded the First Church of Cannabis after Indiana passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which he said protected his right to use the "holy plant," he told the Indy Star in May. The church's first service occurred Wednesday — the same day RFRA took effect — although Levin told participants to not smoke pot during the service after law enforcement officials warned of arrests.

That warning probably snuffed out any use of "bubble gum," a popular strain of cannabis Levin said was created by a Purdue University graduate decades ago. In the 1990s, the Indiana herb was a multiple award winner during the High Times Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, according to leafly.com, a website that reviews medical marijuana.

"Indiana genetics helped start to create the whole fruit-flavored cannabis thing," Levin said.

Graduates from Purdue's nationally recognized College of Agriculture are in high demand in the marijuana industry, Levin said. And he might be right. The "Five Tips for Success in the Marijuana Industry", published online by High Times magazine, encourages high school graduates to attend Purdue or other universities with strong agriculture and life sciences programs, such as Texas A&M or Iowa State.

Purdue's agriculture program recenlty was ranked fifth worldwide by QS Top University, a website specializing in global university rankings.

"You have a very good reputation. It's like saying, 'Hi, went go Harvard,'" Levin said. "You go to a growing business, you say, 'Hi, I went to Purdue,' you get a lot of respect."

Ron Turco, a professor agronomy at Purdue, said he planted this summer the first industrial hemp in Indiana in 80 years after receiving government permission.

While marijuana and hemp come from the same plant family, the latter contains a fraction of the THC — the plant's psychoactive ingredient — found in more potent, medicinal strains of marijuana, according to the North American Industrial Hemp Council. Hemp can be used to make rope, canvas, fabric, paper and even food.

Turco declined to indicate where the hemp is being grown but confirmed the plants were somewhere near Purdue. Graduates, however, could be growing the strong stuff just around the corner, Levin said.

"They're everywhere," he said. "It's illegal to grow in Indiana, but we have hundreds of grow shops that support a lot of tomato growth, if you know what I mean."