HUMBOLDT GRACE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Humboldt Grace Releases Multi-Year Skunk #1 Case Study
MEDIA IDENTIFICATION
The Humboldt Legacy Project, created in 2020, is led by Humboldt Grace, a DreamMaker Project of The Ink People, Inc., a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It is not affiliated with any similarly named cannabis legacy initiative.
HUMBOLDT COUNTY, CALIF. — July, 2026 — Humboldt Grace has released the HLP Skunk #1 Case Study Report, a multi-year, community-led examination of how cannabis genetics can be protected, documented, and valued without separating the plant from its history, place, community knowledge, or ethical responsibilities.
The study began in 2020 with two specific seed-derived selections connected to the Skunk #1 breeding line. Preserved as clones and identified as HLP Skunk #1 No. 1 and No. 3, the selections followed separate research pathways. Both were sequenced as separate whole-genome records. No. 3—not No. 1—supported the reported THC synthase gene comparison and the multi-farm Grow-Off; No. 1 supported consumer research and was later lost as living material.
Those efforts built on Humboldt Grace’s first public white paper, “Preserving Genetics of Legacy Cannabis Communities,” which set out many of the questions the case study later explored in practice.
Skunk #1 is commonly called a cultivar, but the name describes a named breeding line or genetic family rather than one uniform plant. The report retains the term “cultivar” because it is widely used; it does not imply that all plants called Skunk #1 are identical or standardized.
The report does not present any single test as proof of cultivar identity. It documents what each tool contributed, where evidence remained incomplete, and why scientific findings must remain connected to chain of custody, community knowledge, cultivation experience, consent, and transparent limitations. Donated services, in-kind contributions, volunteer labor, and community participation powered the work.
“When we start to combine generations of experience with scientific understanding and ethical standards, we will begin to build a stable industry with the plant.”
— Lelehnia DuBois, Founder of Humboldt Grace
Key findings
- No single tool carried the whole record. The project’s strongest evidence came from connecting provenance, chain of custody, living-plant stewardship, whole-genome records, gene-specific comparison, cultivation data, chemistry, consumer research, and transparent
- Ten completed primary Grow-Off COAs ( one “supplemental”) from HLP Skunk #1 No. 3 reported total THC ranging from 88% to 25.35%.
- Total terpenes ranged from 0.58% to 1.78%; beta-myrcene was the highest-concentration measured terpene in every completed primary
- Exploratory testing on two submitted Grow-Off samples detected substantially different prenylthiol concentrations, supporting further research into sulfur-containing aroma compounds.
- In a small consumer survey, five of ten respondents chose the legacy story, four chose support for Humboldt legacy farmers and culture, and none chose THC percentage.
- Both HLP selections were sequenced as separate whole-genome records. The reported comparison involving No. 3 examined a specific THC synthase gene and supported continued investigation of the reported lineage; it did not independently prove complete cultivar identity, ownership, authenticity, history, or chain of custody.
RESEARCH IN CONTEXT
One Selection, Multiple Cultivation Settings
The Grow-Off was a descriptive comparison across independent cultivation settings rather than a controlled experiment.
The Grow Off coordinated the multi-farm cultivation project and distributed HLP Skunk #1 No. 3 to 29 registered participants. Eleven surviving participant records and ten primary Certificates of Analysis formed the main comparative dataset. Cultivation, harvest, post-harvest handling, storage, sample handling, and laboratory conditions were not standardized, so the study cannot attribute measured differences to any specific farm, environment, cultivation method, harvest decision, handling practice, storage condition, sample, or laboratory factor. The COAs document measurable differences among submitted samples from one preserved selection. Humboldt Grace also separated the research record by plant. HLP Skunk #1 No. 1 supported consumer research and was later lost as living material. Both selections were registered through Canopyright and sequenced as separate genetic records. No. 3—not No. 1—supported the reported THC synthase gene comparison and the Grow-Off. Findings from one selection were not automatically assigned to the other.
“HLP Skunk #1 did not give us one final answer. It gave us a process.” — Humboldt Grace
A donation-powered community research effort
The case study was not backed by a large institutional research grant. It was completed with $1,463 in direct cash funding—$1,000 personally contributed by founder Lelehnia DuBois and $463 in net donations. The 2025 David Watson memorial was a separate community-support activity and is not included in the HLP Skunk #1 research funding total, that will be disclosed in a later report. The project succeeded because businesses, farms, professionals, scientists, technologists, and community members donated services, infrastructure, laboratory research, staff time, cultivation, event access, travel, materials, expertise, and volunteer labor.
• HendRx Farm served as the primary preservation partner, providing nursery infrastructure, plant care, and preservation support for the HLP selections.
• Medicinal Genomics donated whole-genome sequencing of both HLP Skunk #1 selections and provided scientific guidance about what genetic comparison could contribute—and what it could not prove.
• Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs (ICAL) served as the laboratory partner for the ten primary Grow-Off Certificates of Analysis and exploratory thiol testing, for which reportable measurements were available only for two samples.
• The Grow-Off supported coordination and participant recruitment for the multi-farm cultivation project; twenty-nine farms and cultivators registered.
• MOCA Humboldt cultivated and made the HLP Skunk #1 No. 1 available for the consumer-survey.
• Satori Wellness hosted the Grow-Off distribution event for HLP Skunk #1 No. 3.
• The Farmers Cup donated farmer entries, booth space, two educational panels, travel support, and lodging, helping the project reach farmers and the wider cannabis community.
• ArcataX provided extraction services, Lightwork Distributors LLC supported the licensed laboratory submission, and SC Labs conducted finished-product testing for the batch-specific concentrate record.
• Marty Yip and the participating growers made the living research possible: Marty donated the two preserved Skunk #1 selections, while growers contributed cultivation time, data, and samples.
The value of these donations and in-kind contributions substantially exceeded the project’s cash budget. Humboldt Grace recognizes these partners not as background sponsors, but as part of the research record and as the reason a small, community-led project was able to reach completion.
Independent validation materials
The release is accompanied by “Humboldt Grace & The Humboldt Legacy Project: An Independent Validation,” a comprehensive analysis conducted by Horticultural Analytics Global LLC (HORT-AG). The HORT-AG report provides external organizational and project-validation context. It is not presented as scientific peer review of every laboratory result or as genetic authentication of Skunk #1.
From genetics to ethics
The lessons from HLP Skunk #1 connect directly to Humboldt Grace’s Cannabis Ethics Survey, which is in progress. Together, the projects examine not only what can be measured or documented, but who benefits, who carries risk, who receives credit, how consent is obtained, and what responsibilities arise when community-held cannabis knowledge enters legal, scientific, and commercial systems. No future HLP research funding had been secured at publication; proposed next phases depend on additional support.
Availability
A free public summary is available through Humboldt Grace. The complete, 84 page, HLP Skunk #1 Case Study Report and the full report with the public anonymized data workbook is available for purchase. Fee waivers and a sliding-scale community access is available for qualifying students, nonprofits, advocacy projects, cannabis community participants, tribal members, and legacy farmers. Commercial and institutional licensing is available. Introductory launch pricing is being offered during the first 30 days of launch.
ABOUT
Humboldt Grace and the Humboldt Legacy Project
Humboldt Grace is a community-based initiative focused on empowering rural communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs while honoring the people, plants, knowledge, and culture that helped shape modern cannabis. Humboldt Grace operates as a DreamMaker Project of The Ink People, Inc., a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The Humboldt Legacy Project is a research and education initiative created and led by Humboldt Grace. The project has been exploring practical and ethical pathways for documenting, preserving, understanding, and carrying cannabis genetics forward through a combination of history, living-plant stewardship, scientific research, community knowledge, transparent records, and ethical standards.
About Lelehnia DuBois
Lelehnia DuBois is the founder and director of Humboldt Grace. Raised in the Emerald Triangle as part of a second-generation back-to-the-land family, she has worked across cannabis policy, community organizing, media, human rights, education, legacy advocacy, genetics, and ethics. She founded Humboldt Grace in 2015 as a grassroots organization, created the Humboldt Legacy Project in 2020 when she became a Dreammaker project with the Ink People. Lelehnia is now leading Humboldt Grace’s Cannabis Ethics Survey.
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MEDIA CONTACT
Lelehnia DuBois
Founder and Director, Humboldt Grace Lele@humboldtgrace.org
www.humboldtgrace.org
@humboldtgrace
MEDIA ATTRIBUTION
The HLP Skunk #1 Case Study was conducted through the Humboldt Legacy Project, a research and education initiative created and led by Humboldt Grace. It is not affiliated with Cal Poly or any other similarly named cannabis legacy initiative.
