Frank, who wrote the “Marijuana Grower’s Guide Deluxe” in 1978, modified the gene pool to increase resin content and decrease the flowering time. In search of a short-season varietal that could hit full maturation on the U.S. East Coast, Frank’s crossbreeding efforts resulted in two distinct phenotypes, the “A” line and “B” line. The plant from Frank’s “A” line became today’s Durban Poison, while the “B” line was handed off to Amsterdam breeder David Watson, also known as “Sam the Skunkman.”

Durban Poison has a dense, compact bud structure that’s typical of landrace Indica varieties, but the flowers’ elongated and conical shape is more characteristic of a Sativa.