Afghan Kush (Cannabis flos Canopy Growth): hashish landrace with an unknown pedigree

• Who supplies it. Exclusively Canopy Growth, so there is nothing to compare versions, and a supply break means the absence of this strain, not another version of it.
• Profile. It leads with myrcene, alongside humulene, caryophyllene, and pinene. We do not provide percentage shares because sources count them against different totals.
• Origin. Pedigree unknown. This is a result, not a gap to fill: we do not add parents based on name similarity.
• What is missing. Sources agree on the set, but none provide a denominator for the shares.

What is this strain and where does it come from?

The pedigree of Afghan Kush remains unknown: no breeder has published a list of parents, and available databases only provide the name. Commercial descriptions place this strain among historical landraces from the Hindukush region, meaning populations cultivated locally for generations, rather than among modern hybrids. These two things are not contradictory.

A landrace is a population shaped by climate and local cultivation, not by breeding work with documented pair selection. No one has kept records for it that could be recreated today, so the unknown value in the pedigree graph of this cluster does not indicate a gap in our data, but rather the state of knowledge about the plant. The same is true for 25 out of 85 cultivars present in Polish pharmacies.

Caution is required with the name itself. The word afghani functions among breeders as a style label, not as one identified plant, so its presence in the description proves nothing. Precisely for this reason, we do not add parents to this strain based on intuition: entering origin based on name similarity creates false connections that then circulate further online as fact.

Little can be confirmed. Both Polish databases describing this position classify it as indica and are consistent in this. They also agree on the registration entry, which lists Canopy Growth as the producer of the raw material. Beyond that, there is nothing publicly available about the origin of Afghan Kush.

Which producers supply this strain to Polish pharmacies?

One. Afghan Kush is supplied to Polish pharmacies exclusively by Canopy Growth, under the medical brand Spectrum Therapeutics, and corresponds to one position in the inventory of this cluster. The question about differences between pharmacy versions thus has an empty answer: there is nothing to compare, as there is no second producer of this name on the market.

Spectrum Therapeutics is the medical brand of Canopy Growth, so two different names for the same raw material can appear on the packaging and in the description. A patient looking for the position under the brand name will see the producer in the register, while someone searching for the producer will see the brand in the pharmacy catalog. These are not two products. We have gathered the other positions of this supplier in a separate summary Spectrum Therapeutics portfolio.

Availability in sales is variable. Permits, allocations, and deliveries shift in a monthly cycle, so a position visible today in several pharmacies can disappear for a quarter and then return under the same registration number. Therefore, we do not include the current list here: it stands in the list of available strains, maintained separately.

One of the sources describes the availability of this position as high, but this is a catalog assessment made before publication, not the stock status of a specific pharmacy. Checking today looks the same as with any position in the Rpw category: it is asked about by the doctor issuing the prescription or the pharmacist fulfilling the order.

What does this strain smell and taste like?

• humulene humulene
• caryophyllene caryophyllene
• myrcene myrcene (leading in the pharmacy list)
• pinene pinene

Earthy and hash-like, with a spicy sharpness and a resinous pine note in the background. This is how Polish databases describe the aroma of this strain, and the musky-hashish impression is what distinguishes it from the citrus positions in the same portfolio. The taste follows the scent and is often described as heavy.

This impression is supported by four names: humulene, caryophyllene, myrcene, pinene. Both Polish sources provide exactly the same set, which is rare in this cluster: among 24 strains described by both databases, the compositions match in three, and diverge in 21. Afghan Kush is one of those three, so it is one of the few positions where it is unnecessary to write that the sources contradict each other.

The heavy, hoppy-spicy side of the scent is associated with humulene and caryophyllene, the pine accent is brought by pinene, and the earthy background is myrcene. However, the caveat is this: databases describe the aroma and the set of names, not the result of an analysis of a batch released from the pharmacy, so an open package can distribute the accents differently.

We do not provide percentage shares for these names, and this is not about excessive caution. One of the databases assigns all four positions identical weight, meaning it contains no ranking, while the other provides a weighted order. The sums also diverge: in one verified set, the shares add up to 46 percent, in another to 73, and in a third to 83. The denominator is therefore different in each of them, and numbers from both sides cannot be compared.

How long does it take for the strain to take effect and how long does the effect last?

This is determined by the route of administration, not the cultivar itself. Inhaled vapor acts almost immediately and lasts for a few hours, while the ingested raw material responds with a noticeable delay and lasts significantly longer. For Afghan Kush itself, no one has measured these intervals separately.

The route of administration determines the course more than the strain itself, and the intervals below describe it, not this cultivar, as pharmacokinetic studies for a single cultivar have not been published.

Commercial descriptions attribute sedative effects to this strain, but the word in the catalog does not shift the above intervals. They arise from how the substance enters the bloodstream, and would be the same for a position described as stimulating. The difference between strains, if it exists, concerns the character of the sensation, not the clock.

What is known and what is not known about the effects of this strain?

The effects of myrcene have been measured in rodents, but not the effects of Afghan Kush in humans. No study involving patients has been published for this strain, so every statement attributing a specific effect to it comes from the seller’s description or user reports. Below we separate these two orders, as they usually mix in descriptions.

In the literature on myrcene, there are three positions.

In humans, it has not been shown that myrcene alone alleviates insomnia at doses typical for inhalation of dried material. The direction of the effect in rodents depends on the route of administration and sex: after intraperitoneal injection in 2002, a slightly anxiogenic effect was described, while after inhalation in 2024, an anxiolytic effect was noted in females. These two results do not cancel each other out, but rather show that the conclusion depends on conditions that no popular strain database provides.

On the description side, little remains: both databases classify this position as indica, one adds relaxing effects. This is a catalog declaration, not a result of measurement on a batch released from the pharmacy, and should be read as such.

What adverse effects have been reported after this strain?

None under this name. Public safety compilations do not maintain a column for cultivars, and Afghan Kush is one position from one producer in Polish pharmacies, so even if someone counted them separately, the sample would be too small to draw any conclusions. The following applies to the entire group of raw material.

Reports of adverse effects are collected for medicinal products with a batch number, not for the strain name, so the following pertains to hemp flower as a group of raw materials. The most commonly reported effects are dry mouth, red eyes, and increased heart rate. Dizziness upon rapid standing, daytime drowsiness, and temporary worsening of short-term memory are less frequently described, as well as anxiety that increases with dosage. A separate issue is medications taken concurrently, especially sedatives and those affecting coagulation: their assessment requires knowledge of the entire list of preparations, not just the description of the plant. We do not provide numerical frequencies for these symptoms, as public compilations for hemp flower in Poland do not separate them by individual products.

This leads to another point. The strain name does not carry over a safety history between products: if the same cultivar appeared in a pharmacy from a different producer, it would be a different permit and different batches, despite identical labeling on the packaging. Compilations from different countries conducted under one name also cannot be added together.

How to vaporize this strain?

The setting is chosen according to the composition, which starts here with myrcene. Myrcene boils around 167 degrees Celsius at atmospheric pressure, pinene lower, caryophyllene much higher. However, the temperature table is not an instruction: the number on the device display is not the temperature of the dried material in the chamber.

Records collected in this project from the PubChem database give for myrcene 166-167 degrees Celsius, for pinene about 156, for caryophyllene 256-259. Humulene falls out of such a comparison, as the only available measurement was made under reduced pressure, at 99-100 degrees and 3 mmHg, and such a value cannot be placed in the same column as boiling under atmospheric pressure. Popular terpene temperature tables mix both types of measurements, and that is where the values are lower by several dozen degrees. We break this down in a separate text about the comparability of such tables.

In practice, changing the setting shifts the proportions. Lower, vapor carries more light terpenes and fewer cannabinoids, higher the opposite occurs, and the discrepancy can be felt in taste before it becomes apparent in sensation. The ranges for individual compounds are described in the text about vaporizing terpenes.

Vaporization as a route of administration also applies to dried material available without a prescription, for example from the category dried material. This is a different raw material than the pharmacy position described here and is not its equivalent or substitute, even though the device may be the same.

Which strains are related to it?

None. The pedigree graph in this cluster has an empty list for Afghan Kush, and this directly results from its unknown origin: without known parents, it is impossible to indicate siblings, and adding them based on name similarity would create connections that no one has documented. The name is the worst possible clue here.

The term kush appears in this set for ten cultivars: five with established pedigrees, five without, and among the latter are Afghan Kush, Hindu Kush, Master Kush, OG Kush, and Pink Kush. Blood Orange Kush has documented parents (lemon kush and guava kush), Afghan Kush has none, even though both names share the same word. Therefore, the common term says nothing about kinship in either direction.

Separately, it is worth noting the position that Afghan Kush is most easily confused with. Deep Breath has the same producer, the same leading terpene, and also an unknown origin, so the data imprint of both strains overlaps almost entirely. This does not imply kinship. What distinguishes them is what is visible in the description: Deep Breath carries a resinous-citrusy accent and is described by one source, while Afghan Kush maintains a hashish-earthy character and has a consistent description in two. We lead a separate portrait of the latter.

Frequently Asked Questions about Afghan Kush

Does Afghan Kush have a known pedigree?

No. No available source provides the parents of this strain, and commercial descriptions reduce it to a historical landrace from the Hindukush region. In the pedigree graph of this cluster, the origin has an unknown value and is described as such in the text.

Which producer supplies Afghan Kush to Polish pharmacies?

Spectrum Therapeutics, and this is the only version of this strain on the Polish market. In the registration entry, Canopy Growth is listed as the producer of the raw material, whose medical brand is Spectrum Therapeutics.

What terpenes do sources mention for Afghan Kush?

Humulene, caryophyllene, myrcene, pinene. Both Polish sources provide the same set. We do not provide percentage shares because the denominator is different in each compilation, and one of the sources assigns identical weight to all positions.

Is Afghan Kush related to Hindu Kush or Master Kush?

There is no evidence for that. All three strains have unknown origins in this set, and the common word in the name is not evidence of kinship, as breeders use it as a category name.

How long does the dried material take to act when inhaled, and how long when ingested?

After vaporization, the first sensations appear within a few minutes, and the total effect lasts two to four hours. After ingestion, the initial wait is from half an hour to two hours, and the episode lasts six, sometimes eight hours. The intervals pertain to the route of administration, not this strain.

Have any adverse effects been reported after Afghan Kush?

Not under the strain name. Reporting is associated with a medicinal product and batch number, so there are no statistics for a single cultivar. For hemp flower as a group, the most commonly described effects are dry mouth, red eyes, and increased heart rate.

At what temperature do the terpenes from this strain’s profile vaporize?

Myrcene boils around 166-167 degrees Celsius, pinene about 156, caryophyllene 256-259. For humulene, only a measurement under reduced pressure is available, so it cannot be compared with the others in one table.

This text is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Hemp flower is a pharmaceutical raw material dispensed by prescription in the Rpw category, and the appropriateness of its use is determined by the attending physician. Author: ubucha.