From Pebbles Trippet, March 5, 2014 Lawrence Ringo of the Southern Humboldt Seed Collective, the first grower to “stabilize” a CBD-rich cannabis strain (“Sour Tsunami”), is seriously ill with a virulent type of fast-growing flesh-eating cancer. There was a close call from the cancer growing so rapidly around his neck, it began blocking his esophagus, preventing him from breathing. But Ringo has now stabilized with daily cannabis oil extract.
Ringo is beloved in the Emerald Triangle and beyond for his decades of perseverance in bringing together the elements that produced the 11.3% CBD-rich ‘Sour Tsunami’ breakthrough: NY City Diesel seeds from Marc Emery, crossed with Sour Diesel female clones (“double diesel”), crossed with a local sativa clone called Ferrari which he scored from Humboldt loggers turned pot growers.
Ringo’s life mission began at 13 when he suffered a back injury and endured lifelong severe pain. He began growing at 15, studied organic horticulture at college at 19 and embarked on his journey to find the “creative” strain that relieved his back pain but didn’t “clog his brain.”
As a musician, “I saved seeds when a plant gave me a creative feeling.” After years of crossing and recrossing strains, he now takes two pipeloads of his own CBD-rich strain, picks up his guitar or goes back to work in the garden, pain-free.
Ringo’s illness has hit our community pretty hard. We believe in him; he has ethics. We support his goal: “to provide superior acclimated genetics at affordable prices for all 215 patients.” And he still has meaningful work to do. Samantha Miller of Pure Analytics told him, “You have eight other strains with great CBD potential.”
He’s written about his findings in O’Shaughnessy’s, helped launch Project CBD, and shared his knowledge as a plant breeder on a panel at the 2013 Emerald Cup Competition, his favorite gathering. We hope and expect to see him at the 2014 Emerald Cup.
Keep that cannabis oil flowing, bro. Your community loves you. —pebbles trippet
