OG Kush: the story of a cult strain and its CBD versions

The commonly accepted story begins around 1991 in Florida, when a grower crosses a Chemdawg cut with a hybrid close to Hindu Kush, a mountain lineage from Central Asia long described by botanists (the reference article on Kush lineages traces its geography). The cut then migrates to Los Angeles in the mid-1990s, where its popularity explodes under the name OG Kush.

The exact genealogy remains disputed: no original seed was preserved, and the strain was passed on by cutting, hand to hand. This mode of spread, with no seed producer and no catalogue, explains both the legend and the authenticity debates surrounding every "true" OG.

Two readings have faced off for thirty years. The first makes OG the abbreviation of "Ocean Grown", a reference to Californian coastal cultivation, as opposed to mountain growing. The second sees "Original Gangster", a tribute to the strain's roots in the Los Angeles hip-hop culture of the 1990s.

Neither has ever been settled by a reliable primary source. That vagueness is part of the strain's identity: OG Kush is an object of oral culture before it is a catalogue product, like the Lemon Haze whose history we have retraced.

The character of OG Kush comes down to three dominant terpenes, in unusual proportions:

• Myrcene: the earthy, musky base note, the most abundant.
• Limonene: the lemony attack that cuts through as soon as the pouch is opened.
• Beta-caryophyllene: the peppery, resinous note that lingers on the palate.

This signature reappears, softened or shifted, in most of its descendants. Ethan Russo's work on the entourage effect between cannabinoids and terpenes (British Journal of Pharmacology, 2011) has, moreover, contributed greatly to terpene profiles now being documented product by product, and no longer only the cannabinoid content.

An "OG Kush CBD" is not a historic OG Kush with the THC removed. It is the result of varietal selection work: generations of crosses between OG descendants and hemp lineages naturally low in THC, until obtaining a plant that expresses the expected aromatic profile while staying under the legal threshold.

In France, that threshold is set at 0.30% Δ⁹-THC on the whole plant by the decree of 30 December 2021, and we have detailed where that figure comes from. Concretely, what remains of an OG in its hemp version: the bud structure, dense and compact, and most of the terpene bouquet. What changes: the effect, since CBD does not produce the intoxication of THC.

The indica-or-sativa classification, often invoked for OG Kush (generally described as an indica-dominant hybrid), is for its part a commercial marker more than a chemical reality: our article on the sativa, indica and hybrid distinction explains why the terpene profile is a better indicator than the label.

Four reflexes separate a documented purchase from a label purchase:

1. The certificate of analysis for the batch, not the variety: Δ⁹-THC content is measured harvest by harvest.
2. A published terpene profile: an OG without dominant myrcene and limonene is an OG in name only.
3. The harvest date: terpenes evaporate; a two-year-old flower has lost its character.
4. Price coherence: an accomplished, tested varietal selection is rarely found at the market's floor price.

These criteria hold for any flower, and this is the grid we apply to our own selection of CBD flowers, as to the cult strains we document, from Amnesia Haze to Candy Kush.

Is OG Kush CBD legal in France?

Yes, provided the flower comes from a hemp variety whose Δ⁹-THC content does not exceed 0.30%, in accordance with the decree of 30 December 2021. Legality is verified on the batch's certificate of analysis, not on the strain name.

What is the difference between OG Kush and OG Kush CBD?

The CBD version comes from a hemp selection that reproduces the historic OG's aromatic profile (myrcene, limonene, caryophyllene) without exceeding the legal THC threshold. The bud structure and the bouquet are close, minus the psychotropic effect.

Why is OG Kush so famous?

Because it is the genetic matrix of a large part of modern cannabis: dozens of cultivars descend from it directly. Its terpene profile has become a tasting standard, and its oral history, with no certified genealogy, has fed its legend since 1991.

Does OG mean Ocean Grown or Original Gangster?

The two theories have coexisted since the 1990s and no primary source allows the question to be settled. Ocean Grown refers to Californian coastal cultivation, Original Gangster to the Los Angeles hip-hop roots.