A conversation with Dan Herer

Dan Herer is the heir to the Jack Herer brand and lineage, and he’s keeping it going with style and the same passion as his father before him. We spoke to Herer to see what he's been up to, and what the future holds.

Who is Dan Herer?

Dan Herer is the son of the legendary Jack Herer (more on him shortly). After the death of his father, he now runs the various Jack Herer brands and competitions, and keeps the name alive and strong. A lover of cannabis and psychoactive substances in general, he’s much more than a businessman. He communicates a genuine passion for this plant, and sincerely believes that it can be a force for good in the world.

Brief history of Jack Herer

Jack Herer (1939–2010) is a legend in the world of cannabis, and sometimes went by the pseudonym The Emperor of Hemp. He began his early career as the proprietor of a headshop, but soon became a global activist for the legalisation and destigmatisation of cannabis. He didn’t just believe that people should smoke it, but believed in the potential of the whole plant, from its use as a food source to building material.

A controversial figure for many, there can be no doubt that his heart was in the right place and that he wanted to see the world improve. Today, he lives on in many ways, not least in the strain of cannabis named after him.

Jack Herer Automatic (Zamnesia Seeds) feminized

(66)

Parents Jack Herer x Ruderalis

Genetics Auto Hybrid

Flowering Time 10-11 weeks from seed to harvest

THC 16%

CBD 3%

Flowering Type Autoflowering

View product

(66)

View product

Jack Herer Automatic (Zamnesia Seeds) feminized

Parents Jack Herer x Ruderalis

Genetics Auto Hybrid

Flowering Time 10-11 weeks from seed to harvest

THC 16%

CBD 3%

Flowering Type Autoflowering

The conversation

At Mary Jane in Berlin, celebrating the decriminalisation of cannabis in Europe's biggest economy, we caught up with Dan Herer to talk about the past, present, and future.

What are you doing in Germany?

We're just out here trying to build a relationship with this new market and the existing cannabis community here in Germany. We’re interested on multiple levels, from how the cannabis is processed and grown, as well as engaging the consumers to understand how they experience the developing market; we're just trying to assimilate our name.

What was your father’s relationship with magic mushrooms?

My father was a very significant supporter of the various mushrooms, both on the medicinal side—lion's mane and other beneficial, adaptogenic mushrooms—and on the more magical side, like psilocybin-containing mushrooms. On both levels my father understood it, but he was very much connected to the more elevated mushrooms—the psychedelic ones.

He became very committed to using mushrooms after 2000, when he had a stroke. He credits his use of mushrooms for improving the remaining nine years of his life, and that his recovery from his stroke was in part due to the amount of mushrooms that he consumed. He started writing a book in the mid to late 90s, finished it as best he could through the mid-2000s, but the book was never published.

Would you be interested in working with mushrooms in a business sense?

Today, with the changes in people's attitudes toward mushrooms and how they can effectively benefit mankind, you know, we're looking to branch into the mushroom market and community, potentially with a brand that is associated with my father and his name. That's where we're at right now, all still in development. It would be based in the US, and then we'll build out from there.

What’s the most exciting development in the cannabis world at the moment?

Well, I think April 1st in Germany—the legalisation of cannabis—although it's not commercialised yet. The demonisation of cannabis is starting to change, and the acceptance that it is not this God-awful, you know, devil-worshiping herb, and that it has extraordinary benefits to humankind.

The fact that the pharmacies here in Germany are producing products and giving them out to patients; the fact that the consumers and the general public are also able to use cannabis without the fear that they used to have. Because they've realised that this is not a gateway drug to other harder substances. In most cases, this is an exit drug, and that it might relieve pain, aches, disabilities, and so on, you know?

Germany is taking the first steps to undo the falsehoods that created prohibition around the world, and this is a huge step in making things right, setting the future on a new path toward utilising this plant to its full potential.

Do you think it will spread around Europe?

One can only hope.

But if you do it only for economic reasons, you will most assuredly go the wrong direction. If you engage with this plant as it's supposed to be engaged with, from the ground up, from the community up and apply it to where it benefits, which is in virtually every sector of how we live and operate, then it will go in the right direction.

So there's lots of benefits that could happen because of the first steps that Germany has taken, and the steps that other countries around the world may embark on soon. I hope that they think long and hard about whether this is something that you need to control or not.

What else could we use cannabis for?

We could have a far healthier community, a healthier mindset, and maybe a better thought process and insight on how the future looks if we used cannabis right. If we can start making our phones from hemp plastic and our homes from hempcrete and our clothes from hemp, then we can start replacing the poisonous materials that we have been using for the last century.

We're starting to see the growth in hemp products that we've been utilising for most of human history. So maybe microfibers aren't going to end up in our oceans and in the food that we eat.

Should people be afraid of cannabis?

No. People should embrace cannabis.

What would you recommend to our readers?

Don't be afraid to look back into the past and understand the history of cannabis. Virtually every product at some point in the past has been a product of cannabis, so whether you're talking about Germany or you're talking about Britain or you're talking about Russia or you’re talking about China a thousand, two thousand years ago, they all used hemp. The sails that powered the ships that went around the world and created global trade; those ships were powered by cannabis, the sails were made from cannabis, the ropes and rigging were made from cannabis, the books and Bibles were made from cannabis, the maps were made from cannabis, the sealant for the holes of the ship were made from cannabis.

These are just a couple of the things that cannabis touched throughout history. And it was also something to be traded, something to be bartered. It also was used for medicine for thousands and thousands of years. Humans have been inseparable from cannabis for a very long time indeed.

Dan Herer: Expanding his father's legacy and forging his own

Inspired by the groundbreaking actions of his father and the spirit of the modern cannabis community, Dan Herer looks to continue pushing innovation in the industry and potentially even moving into the realm of psychedelic mushrooms—something both Dan and his father shared a great appreciation for. In the meantime, check out everything the Jack Herer brand has to offer and keep an eye out for new developments!

Max Sargent

Max has been writing for over a decade, and has come into cannabis and psychedelic journalism in the last few years. Writing for companies such as Zamnesia, Royal Queen Seeds, Cannaconnection, Gorilla Seeds, MushMagic and more, he has experience in a broad spectrum of the industry.

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