The names of Ben Dronkers and Sensi Seeds are synonymous with both world-class cannabis and the dawn of Dutch cannabis breeding history. We take a deep dive into both in this serialised article, featuring exclusive new interview material and a different historic strain for each month of 2025: the 40th year of Sensi Seeds.
- 40 years of the world’s largest cannabis seed bank
- Chapter One: Afghani #1, 1985
- Afghani #1: the engine for success
- An ‘Afghan sandwich’
- Lasting effects
- Chapter Two: Northern Lights, 1985
- A prizewinning tour-de-force
- The foundation of modern classics in Dutch cannabis history
- Dark times for the United States
- Persistence and determination create lasting change
- Jail time as a research opportunity
- Hiding in plain sight
- Chapter Three: Skunk #1, 1987
- The arrival of Skunks changed everything.
- The lost High Times Cannabis Cup
- As one door opens, another door closes
- Skunk takes on a life of its own
- The hash trade was not without risk
- Chapter Four: Hash Plant, 1987
- Hash plants, hash plants everywhere
- The first King of Cannabis
- Bringing Hash Plants into European and US gardens
- Continuing a legacy of protest and provocation
- The Summer of the Cans
- Cartoons and cannabis
- Get yourself something Nice
- Chapter Five: Early Skunk, 1989
- The perfect cannabis variety for imperfect growing conditions
- Dutch cannabis history is entwined with US cannabis history
- “After school I was looking after cannabis plants…”
- The fascination of breeding as an art and hybrid vigour as a result
- Chapter Six: Northern Lights #5 x Haze, 1989
- One of the world’s favourite cannabis varieties
- NL #5 x Haze apparently makes you lost for words
- One of the most requested varieties in Dutch cannabis breeding history
- Flower power becomes fire-power
- Chapter Seven: Super Skunk
- And then came Super Skunk
- The hubble-bubble parties
- The other skunk
- Super Skunk: mother of champions
- Chapter Eight: Silver Haze (1990)
- The most sativa of all the Early strains
- Ben and Nevil
- ‘We were not blood brothers. But we were brothers’
- And now for something completely different
- Chapter Nine: Shiva Shanti I & II (1991)
- The calm before the storm
- Twin businesses, twin strains, twin stars
- Sensi Seeds: a family affair
- 420 enters the global cannabis chat
- Chapter Ten: Jack Herer (1994)
- “Get the good stuff…”
- Jack Herer: the untold stories
- An inspirational party for influential people
- Bud brothers
- A classic Ben Dronkers move: bring back Dutch hemp farming
- “I love to get high on myself” – Jack Herer
- Legend behaviour
- Chapter Eleven: Black Domina (1996)
- What’s in a name?
- Girl power: Dominas and Queens
- ‘A combination of the four best Afghans we had’
- Black Domina’s lineage
- Still dominating coffeeshop menus
- Major breakthroughs for weed and sheep
- Chapter twelve: Hindu Kush (1991)
- A whole mountain range of ‘beans’
- Alan describes life at the Cannabis Castle
- First major legal challenge for cannabis seed cultivation
- How did Ben keep going in the face of setbacks?
- Hindu Kush: the ancient ancestor of modern heroes
- Onwards and upwards
- ‘Ben Smoking and Relaxing in an Office’
- It’s all about the plant – enjoy growing!
“When we started, there were no activists, of course. There were just people who liked to smoke.” Ben Dronkers takes a big inhale on a big joint. He’s reminiscing, but he’s also philosophising. “And when you start to smoke, you start to get interested in other things, right?”
It’s true. From anthropology to agriculture, cannabis sparks curiosity about all kinds of topics. How long have humans consumed it? What else can we do with it? Why was it made illegal? How do we make it legal again? And – a fundamental question for young Ben back in the 1970s – what happens if I cross this kind with that kind?
Ben exhales, taps ash neatly into an antique brass ashtray from Borneo. He’s looking out of the window and into the past, seeing the view four decades ago on the same stretch of Amsterdam canal we’re on now. The tops of the buildings haven’t much changed in over 200 years. Only the shop fronts, including his own. He smiles.
“When I started my first seed shop, I think it was the first in the world that was a real shop. Other people were also doing mail order, but this was really a shop that you could walk into. And it became what it is now.”
‘What it is now’ is Sensi Seeds, formerly The Sensi Seed Bank, formerly Sensi Seed Club, the Sensi Connoisseur’s’ Club, and The Seed Bank of Holland. 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of Ben Dronkers launching a small selection of cannabis seeds for sale. First, via mail order. Then over the counter at his shop in the heart of Amsterdam where the Red Light District meets the UNESCO World Heritage area.
The shop is still there, and some of the original old-school strains still feature in the Sensi Seeds catalogue today: Hash Plant, Skunk #1, Afghani #1, Early Skunk, and Early Pearl are now twice as old as some of the people growing them. It’s a testament to their timeless appeal and well-earned place in the annals of cannabis breeding history.
