Robert Connell Clarke

Last updated
Robert C. Clarke
Born
Robert Connell Clarke

1953
California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Botanist
  • horticulturist
  • agronomist
  • writer
Years active1977–present

Robert Connell Clarke (born 1953) is an American agronomist and ethnobotanist, specialized in the study of the cannabis plant. [1]

Contents

He has often been credited for having taken part in many developments of the licit hemp and cannabis sectors in the United States [2] [3] and the Netherlands [4] [5] since the 1980s. [6]

Biography

Clarke graduated in 1977 from the University of California Santa Cruz. [7]

In the 1980s, he took part as a breeder in the creation of the cannabis seed bank Cultivators Choice together with David P. Watson [8] with whom he later co-funded Hortapharm B.V., [9] a Dutch cannabis research and development business licensed from 1994-1997 to research medicinal cannabis. [10]

He was once project manager of the International Hemp Association, a now-defunct organization based in Amsterdam. [1] He has written for High Times under the pseudonym R. Connoisseur. [11]

Academic research

In 1977, shortly after graduating, Clarke self-published his undergraduate research dissertation [7] under the title "The botany and ecology of Cannabis." [12] He would spend the following years continuing to research and publish on the topics of evolutionary and botanical history of the plant genus.

Books

Some of Clarke's key publications include:

  • Marijuana Botany. An Advanced Study: The Propagation and Breeding of Distinctive Cannabis (And/Or Press, 1981) [13] ISBN   978-0914171782
  • Hashish! (Red Eye Press, 1998) [14] ISBN   9780929349053 , 0929349059
  • Hemp Diseases and Pests: Management and Biological Control – an Advanced Treatise (CABI Pub, 2000), with John M. McPartland and David P. Watson. ISBN   978-0-85199-454-3 , 978-1-84593-313-5
  • Cannabis: Evolution and Ethnobotany (University of California Press, 2013), [15] with Mark D. Merlin. ISBN   978-0-520-29248-2

Some of his publications received an important echo. According to Clarke, "Marijuana Botany played an unforeseen role in spreading plant science to the public." [7] Clarke also published numerous peer-review articles that received less public attention. [16]

Ethnobotanical research

Clarke is known for having studied a number of local varieties, cultures, and agricultural practices linked to cannabis in remote regions of the world in Southeast Asia, such as Nepal, China, Vietnam, but also in other areas of Africa, [17] Europe, the Americas, [5] and Oceania. [18] In 2018, a promotional documentary was released by a Canadian hemp company documented Robert Clarke's journey through Turkey exploring local traditional hemp cultures. [19]

In relation to this field work, Clarke has participated in the development of methodological tools for cannabis research. [20] He has also been associated with the discovery and identification of archaeological remains of cannabis in the Israeli Tel Arad site. [21] [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hashish</span> Compressed form of powdered cannabis

Hashish, usually abbreviated as hash, is a compressed form of powdered marijuana. As a psychoactive substance, it is consumed plain or mixed with tobacco. It has a long history of use in countries such as Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco and Egypt.

<i>Cannabis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: Cannabis sativa, C. indica, and C. ruderalis. Alternatively, C. ruderalis may be included within C. sativa, or all three may be treated as subspecies of C. sativa, or C. sativa may be accepted as a single undivided species. The genus is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from Asia.

<i>Cannabis sativa</i> Plant species

Cannabis sativa is an annual herbaceous flowering plant. The species was first classified by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The specific epithet sativa means 'cultivated'. Indigenous to Eastern Asia, the plant is now of cosmopolitan distribution due to widespread cultivation. It has been cultivated throughout recorded history and used as a source of industrial fiber, seed oil, food, and medicine. It is also used as a recreational drug and for religious and spiritual purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis cultivation</span> Process of planting, growing and harvesting cannabis

Cultivation of cannabis is the production of cannabis infructescences. Cultivation techniques for other purposes differ.

<i>Cannabis indica</i> Species of plant

Cannabis indica is an annual plant species in the family Cannabaceae indigenous to the Hindu Kush mountains of Southern Asia. The plant produces large amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), with total cannabinoid levels being as high as 53.7%. It is now widely grown in China, India, Nepal, Thailand, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as well as southern and western Africa, and is cultivated for purposes including hashish in India. The high concentrations of THC or THCV provide euphoric effects making it popular for use for several purposes such as recreational drugs, clinical research drugs and the potential of Cannabis or selected constituents for new drug research or being used in alternative medicine, among many others.

<i>Cannabis ruderalis</i> Species of plant

Cannabis ruderalis is a variety, subspecies, or species of Cannabis native to Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. It contains a relatively low quantity of psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and does not require photoperiod to blossom. Some scholars accept C. ruderalis as its own species due to its unique traits and phenotypes which distinguish it from C. indica and C. sativa; others debate whether ruderalis is a subspecies under C. sativa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis flower essential oil</span> Essential oil obtained from the hemp plant

Cannabis flower essential oil, also known as hemp essential oil, is an essential oil obtained by steam distillation from the flowers, panicles, stem, and upper leaves of the hemp plant. Hemp essential oil is distinct from hemp seed oil and hash oil: the former is a vegetable oil that is cold-pressed from the seeds of low-THC varieties of hemp, the latter is a THC-rich extract of dried female hemp flowers (marijuana) or resin (hashish).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hash oil</span> Oleoresin obtained by the extraction of hashish

Hash oil or cannabis oil is an oleoresin obtained by the extraction of cannabis or hashish. It is a cannabis concentrate containing many of its resins and terpenes – in particular, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and other cannabinoids. Hash oil is usually consumed by smoking, vaporizing or eating. Preparations of hash oil may be solid or semi-liquid colloids depending on both production method and temperature and are usually identified by their appearance or characteristics. Color most commonly ranges from transparent golden or light brown, to tan or black. There are various extraction methods, most involving a solvent, such as butane or ethanol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in Portugal</span>

Cannabis in Portugal is decriminalized, as a result of the decriminalization of all drugs in Portugal in 2001. Medical use of cannabis was legalized in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in Egypt</span>

Although Cannabis use is illegal in Egypt, it is often used privately by many. Law enforcements are often particularly lax when it comes to cannabis smokers, and its use is a part of the common culture for many people in Egypt. However, Large-scale smuggling of cannabis is punishable by death, while penalties for possessing even small amounts can also be severe. Despite this, these laws are not enforced in many parts of Egypt, where cannabis is often consumed openly in local cafes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemp in Kentucky</span> Production and legality of hemp in the US state

Kentucky was the greatest producer of hemp in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries, when it was the source of three fourths of U.S. hemp fiber. Production started to decline after World War I due to the rise of tobacco as the cash crop in Kentucky and the foreign competition of hemp fibers and finished products. In 1970, federal policies virtually banned the production of industrial hemp during the war on drugs saying all Cannabis sativa is a Schedule I controlled substance. Federal law under the Agricultural Act of 2014 allowed research back into hemp. Kentucky began production again with 33 acres in 2014. As of the 2016 harvest season, only two U.S. states other than Kentucky had over 100 acres (40 ha) in hemp production: Colorado and Tennessee. The first 500-acre commercial crop was planted in Harrison County in 2017, and research permits were issued for over 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) that year. The 2016 documentary Harvesting Liberty concerns the 21st century Kentucky hemp industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in Romania</span>

Cannabis in Romania is illegal for recreational and for medical use. Although it was technically legalized for medical use in 2013, it has not been eliminated from the Table I of High Risk Drugs, and as such its use is prohibited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in Japan</span>

Cannabis has been cultivated in Japan since the Jōmon period of Japanese prehistory approximately six to ten thousand years ago. As one of the earliest cultivated plants in Japan, cannabis hemp was an important source of plant fiber used to produce clothing, cordage, and items for Shinto rituals, among numerous other uses. Hemp remained ubiquitous for its fabric and as a foodstuff for much of Japanese history, before cotton emerged as the country's primary fiber crop amid industrialization during the Meiji period. Following the conclusion of the Second World War and subsequent occupation of Japan, a prohibition on cannabis possession and production was enacted with the passing of the Cannabis Control Law.

The list includes and details significant events that occurred in the global history of national-level implementations of, or changes made to, laws surrounding the use, sale, or production of the psychoactive drug cannabis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in China</span>

Cannabis is illegal in China except for industrial purposes (hemp) and some forms of medicine. Historically, cannabis has been used in China for fiber, seeds, as a traditional medicine, as well as for some ritual purposes within Taoism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entheogenic use of cannabis</span> Marijuana used for spiritual or religious purposes

Cannabis has served as an entheogen—a chemical substance used in religious or spiritual contexts—in the Indian subcontinent since the Vedic period dating back to approximately 1500 BCE, but perhaps as far back as 2000 BCE. It was introduced to the New World by the Spaniards in 1530-1545.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of cannabis</span>

The history of cannabis and its usage by humans dates back to at least the third millennium BC in written history, and possibly as far back as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B based on archaeological evidence. For millennia, the plant has been valued for its use for fiber and rope, as food and medicine, and for its psychoactive properties for religious and recreational use.

Tochigishiro is a cultivar of hemp grown in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. It meets international standards of non-narcotic agricultural hemp at about 0.2% THC, reckoned "remarkably low" by Sensi Seeds. It was grown in the early 20th century at Arlington Experimental Farm near the United States capital. The modern variety was developed beginning in 1973 by Kyushu University professor of pharmacy Itsuo Nishioka from seeds "found in southern Japan", and completed c. 1982 by the Tochigi prefectural government at Tochigi Agricultural Experiment Station in Tochigi-shi. According to a National Institute of Mental Health-affiliated researcher, the strain is missing the enzyme tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase that makes most Cannabis capable of producing THC. It is the most widely grown cultivar in Japan in the 21st century, being exempt from prohibition under the Cannabis Control Law, due to its low levels of psychoactive chemicals. Approximately 90% of the hemp grown in Japan is the Tochigishiro variety.

David Paul Watson, better known as Sam the Skunkman is an American breeder, who is credited with the development of some of the most popular modern cannabis varieties such as Skunk#1, Haze, and Amnesia, and the apparition of high-cannabidiol varieties.

References

  1. 1 2 Clarke, Robert; Merlin, Mark (2016). Cannabis: Evolution and Ethnobotany. University of California Press - website. ISBN   9780520292482.
  2. Lewis, Amanda Chicago (2020-05-23). "A Hidden Origin Story of the CBD Craze". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  3. Lee, Martin A. (2014). "Smell the Mystery: What Are Terpenes? Learn about the aromatic compounds that give cannabis its distinct smell and make each strain unique". www.projectcbd.org. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  4. Kiel, Tom (7 December 2021). "Nederlandse bedrijven mogen hasj maken, maar kunnen ze dat wel?". Vice News (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  5. 1 2 Bergman, Derrick (2014). "Het grote Robert C. Clarke interview (deel 2)". Soft Secrets NL, 2014, No. 03 (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  6. "The Hot War Follies: In Humboldt County, California the Law Is Outwitted by Marijuana Growers". Life magazine . Dec.: 40–50. 1982.
  7. 1 2 3 Lupoi, Jason S. (2020). "The Ethnobotanical Journey of Robert C. Clarke". Terpenes and Testing Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  8. SeedFinder (s.d.). Cannabis-Strains from Cultivators Choice [online]
  9. Cowan, Richard (2020-09-07). "The Curious Case of GW Pharmaceuticals". LA Weekly . Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  10. Breen, Bill (2004). "The Cannabis Conundrum". Fast Company .
  11. "Dope". High Times.
  12. Clarke, Robert C. (2017). "Picture of the self-edited book "The Botany and Ecology of Cannabis"". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  13. Emboden, William A. (1981). "Marijuana Botany. An Advanced Study: The Propagation and Breeding of Distinctive Cannabis". Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 13 (4): 395. doi:10.1080/02791072.1981.10471901. ISSN   2159-9777. PMID   28557700.
  14. Russo, Ethan B. (2001). "Hashish!, by Robert Connell Clarke" (PDF). Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics . 1 (1): 112–113.
  15. "Entrevista a Robert C. Clarke". Soft Secrets (in European Spanish). 2014. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  16. WorldCat (2022). "WorldCat identities: Clarke, Robert Connell 1953-".
  17. Chouvy, Pierre-Arnaud (2008). "Production de cannabis et de haschich au Maroc : contexte et enjeux" [Cannabis and hashish production in Morocco: context and challenges]. L'Espace Politique. Revue en ligne de géographie politique et de géopolitique (in French). 4 (4). doi: 10.4000/espacepolitique.59 . ISSN   1958-5500.
  18. Clarke, Robert C., "Field trials of fiber and seed hemp cultivars in Tasmania", CDays BarcelonaTech , vol. 2022, retrieved 2023-02-06
  19. Kesik, Koray (2018), Quest for the Golden Fiber, Kendir Bouquet handwoven textiles and ropes LTD., retrieved 2023-01-14
  20. Clarke, Robert C. (2002-01-01). "Field Interview Schedule and Questionnaire for Investigating Cannabis Use". Journal of Industrial Hemp. 7 (1): 83–88. doi:10.1300/J237v07n01_07. ISSN   1537-7881. S2CID   84429647.
  21. Mayans, Carme (2020). "Los antiguos hebreos usaban cannabis en rituales religiosos" [The ancient Hebrews used cannabis in religious rituals]. National Geographic Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  22. "Study: Cannabis was used at biblical site in Israel". The Mercury News. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2023-01-15.