Marijuana Seeds Legend Subcool from TGA Genetics Battles Deadly Disease

(BigBuds) I’ve grown marijuana seeds from all the top strain breeders worldwide, but seeds from North American breeder Subcool TGA Genetics give me the best germination rates, phenotype reliability, and the most interesting highs. Subcool—with his Weed Nerd YouTube series and his ubiquitous presence at cannabis trade shows and harvest festivals– is a marijuana seed breeding legend. But he’s battling for his life against a genetically-inherited illness known as Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency (A1AD). I noticed a couple of years ago that Subcool was struggling for breath. He revealed he has COPD (cardio-obstructive pulmonary disorder), sometimes known as emphysema. Some people get emphysema just from inhaling smoke or breathing air pollution, but A1AD harms lungs, liver, and blood, creating multiple health problems that shorten life expectancy—even if you’re not inhaling smoke. With Subcool’s condition worsening and our readers requesting we interview Subcool about his health, marijuana seeds, and life, we did a recent interview to see how he’s doing…   BigBuds: Subcool, the most important question is how’s your health. Subcool: I’m having a really hard time dealing with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. It’s passed from parents to their children through their genes, and creates serious lung disease in adults. It can cause liver disease at any age. This disease creates serious shortness of breath, but it’s also a liver disease, and mine has progressed pretty rapidly. The bottom line is I’m slowly choking to death, but there’s little I can do about it. There’s no cure for this genetic condition, but I get weekly infusions that prolong my life. Problem is, the infusions are incredibly expensive. My health insurance cost more than my mortgage. Let’s hope the new president can fix the ridiculously high cost of health insurance and medications! Ironically, given how much I love to inhale cannabis, this damned disease makes it unhealthy for me to smoke weed or even be around people that do. Because of this I’ve become somewhat isolated. People used to love to visit and get high with me. But these days, people rarely visit, because they can’t smoke or dab around me. I also have to watch out for contact with people, because I’m very susceptible to colds and flu. I tend to do most of my work via e-mail and social media. It’s a lonely disease. Read more