My Favorite Strains: White Widow

As Billy Idol never sang: “It’s a nice day for some White Widow!”

Accent on the “day”…White Widow is a very intense high containing over 20% THC, and feels like an almost pure sativa, meaning it’s best for daytime use only. You’re not going to want to go to sleep, anyway. It may be pure coincidence that the plant itself looks like marijuana with a sack of cocaine dumped all over it, but White Widow is quite the mental stimulant. The “cocaine”, of course, is actually the large number of white, THC-containing trichomes that this strain is famous for.

Unlike some other strains with almost occult origins, White Widow is quite well-documented. It was developed by the legendary breeder Shantibaba in Amsterdam in 1994, and almost immediately won the High Times Cannabis Cup. That accolade, as well as being the strain with the highest THC content up until that time, cemented its reputation as the “top gun” of strains for quite a while, and it remains quite popular even today.

One of the reasons for White Widow’s popularity is the fact that it’s not a pure sativa at all, but a hybrid that’s actually 40% indica. A pure sativa with this much THC would be special-use only; it would be quite easy to smoke a bit too much and start feeling quite anxious and paranoid (Casey Jones, an 80% sativa hybrid, does that to me every time, for instance). But White Widow has just enough balance to keep you grounded and happy, as long as you don’t get too high, of course.

White Widow will probably give you some classic side effects such as dehydration, but it will also reward you in other ways, such as euphoria, insights, and creativity. It’s great for making your mind wander, and in fact while I was writing this article, I lost 90 minutes while following random links on Wikipedia and IMDB for no other reason than the two hits of White Widow I had previously.

Here are a few examples of what some other people have to say about this strain:

• Cannabis Search says: “often leaves the user stunned over the surprising potency it contains.”
• KGB says: “washes over you with a warm feeling of mildly trippy sensations.”
• Kind Reviews says: “Cerebral and uplifting, this strain is powerful and consistent.”
• Canna Central says: “a very powerful, energetic, and long-lasting buzz.”

TL,DR: White Widow hybrid has all the THC you’ll ever need, with a decent amount of indica to help prevent sativa imbalance. Still, not recommended for new or anxious smokers.

Check out other posts from Weedist’s My Favorite Strains series!