Episode 8: Jorge Cervantes

Jorge Cervantes is known as a prolific cannabis author around the world, but his story began in a small rural town on the west coast. It was in this conservative environment he first was exposed to cannabis and it was there he took his first toke. Like many kids raised in the 50’s and 60’s, he was taught many of the common lies about cannabis and having experienced otherwise, the lense through which he viewed things shifted. Jorge Cervantes has authored 50 books and DVDs, in 12 languages and his Marijuana Horticulture handbook is widely known as “the grow bible”. He started by self publishing is work and from there was able to sign with professional printers who could also handle distribution. Although his work had been translated to a dozen languages, there were many countries were his books were banned. That didn’t stop him from shipping his work, but it didn’t always reach the destination.

There were other risks associated with being the author of books detailing the methods of growing this illegal crop. In 1989 Operation Green Merchant swept the nation and these types of materials and those providing them were targeted. Over his many years documenting thousands of grow rooms, Jorge has seen the technology advance from using traditional film to digital cameras. But did you know Jorge Cervantes has published grow books under another name?