Well, thus far 2017 is proving to be as much of an asshole as 2016 was. In just 14 days, an orange fascist with cotton candy hair is going to be sworn in as the leader of the free world, and on January 2nd, cannabis pioneer Franco Loja passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Initial reports seems to suggest that he likely died from malaria contracted while traveling overseas. According to a message on Green House Seed Company’s Facebook page, Loja was providing much needed aid to individuals infected with the mosquito-borne virus in the Congo and was infected with cerebral malaria.

Franco Loja was part of the world-renowned Strain Hunters, a group of cannabis archivists and connoisseurs who travel the world searching for increasingly rare landrace strains and collecting seeds. They then take these seeds home and grow clones, ensuring that these pure native strains will continue to thrive. These searches take them all across the globe, including trips to India, Jamaica, Africa, and Morocco.

They document these trips in a series of incredible videos which they shared on the Green House Seeds YouTube channel. These videos are nothing short of breathtaking. Not only do they do a fantastic job of portraying the political landscape of marijuana overseas, they are absolute eye-candy for the cannabis lover. Watching Arjan and Franco trek thousands of miles to emerge upon acres of wild-growing marijuana, nourished by nothing but rich soil and sunlight, you truly grow to appreciate the literal lengths they travel to preserve the earth’s most rare and treasured strains.

The cannabis community has lost a treasured advocate and pioneer. We at Mrs. Nice Guy join the rest of the cannabis community in mourning the loss.

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