Super Afghan Hash

UNODC’s 2009 survey of Afghan cannabis traces Afghan hash back to garda, a powder rich in resin that comes from sifting dried plants, and Super Afghan Hash is sold under the Afghan name.

Afghan hash in numbers, from the UNODC survey

• 3 siftings. Garda is made by sieving through cloth on a slanted wooden frame, then shaking the powder in a cloth bag for roughly 5 minutes; the sieving is done three times.
• 3 main grades. First, second and third, with a few southern cases adding a fourth. The first has the largest share of resin and tends to come from the very first, gentle pass of shaking and sieving; lower grades are likely to hold much more plant matter. UNODC found that the grades follow no set standard from one region to the next.
• 25 kg to 14 kg. Turning 25 kg of ordinary first garda into Jooshi or Balkhi garda, the northern first grade made the traditional way, reportedly leaves only about 14 kg. It has more resin and carries no leaf; central and eastern regions leave leaves in their garda.
• 58%. The share of farmers who named Mazari, also called Balkhi, as the most popular variety, and it is the main one grown in the north.
• 2 stem colours. Pink-red stems mark a type that farmers said gives better resin; the other type they named has green stems.
• 10,000 to 24,000 hectares. UNODC’s estimate of cannabis cultivation in 2009, with total garda output put at 1,500 to 3,500 metric tons.

Planting and harvest

Cannabis in Afghanistan is a summer crop, UNODC says: planting runs from April through June, and the harvest from October through January.

A second grading

Sensi Seeds also grades garda in three steps. First is the best, with the highest resin-to-leaf ratio, and the second and third carry many more impurities.

Hash and THC

Hash is among the extracts that Health Canada calls high in THC, and the agency would rather first-time and occasional users left them alone. Grading for sifted hash is covered in our dry sift guide.