OUR AFTERNOON WITH DJ SHORT
MICAH JOHNSON NATHAN JOHNSON
I n the world of cannabis genetics, few names carry a weight quite like DJ Short. Often called the "Willy Wonka of Pot," Short didn't just breed a strain; he birthed a legend, nay, a national treasure, with the original Blueberry strain. While modern growers often chase raw potency, DJ Short has spent the last several decades advocating for the "art of the high," focusing on complex terpene profiles and the euphoric "soul" of the plant. The Michigan-born breeder kindly took the afternoon to share his philosophy and stories like a cool uncle whose wisdom never ends. We sat down to chill over talk of the original "Blue" lineage, dangers of genetic bottlenecks, and why the best cannabis should feel like art, not just a chemical knockout.
MICAH: You've got such a history, man. Where do you even begin? How did you de- cide this is absolutely what I want to do and this is for me? DJ: Well, the first time I got high, I mean, that was that did it for me, you know, no looking back at that point. And then real- izing, you know, seeds are in the bag . They didn't sprout at first. It took a little time to learn, but the experience with the herb and wanting to be more intimate with it … From the very get-go, and I've never looked back. I've never considered anything else. NATHAN: Things have changed a lot since then. People these days are definitely more impressed they've got a Cookies strain or Stizzy than they are about the land race or the growers responsible. Do you think that’s even getting worse? DJ: I'll describe where we're at. Let's just call it an interim. We're in between coming out of the dark and coming into the light.
And during this period, there's no firm foot- ing. You can't really rely on anything as far as the government goes because there are so many factors working for us and against us, and–pardon my French–it's a shitshow out there in terms of trying to navigate le- galities. I believe, given time, that things will kind of work themselves out. We just need to do whatever we can to get as much good herb into the hands of the people as possible, and the people will figure out how to do things. My personal opinion on this is–where things should go as far as herb is concerned anyhow–is land race, and getting back to the countries of origin when we can import things. And the big player–I say this all the time in all of my talks I'm giving–is Africa. Africa has the most land mass in the trop- ics. There are things hidden there. I know that it's just waiting to be discovered again. So, you know, there's hope. 31 HIGHTIMES LOCAL ▶
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