The Official Cannabis Independent strain guides
Hindu Kush Shop

Comparison

Hindu Kush vs Durban Poison

These are opposite ends of the landrace story: Durban Poison is a pure sativa from the South African port city of Durban that users call focused and energetic, while Hindu Kush is a mountain indica they call sleepy.1,2,3 In state labs Durban Poison tests higher: 19.45% median THC, against 17.91% for Hindu Kush from only 17 tests, a small sample.4

Side by side

Hindu KushDurban Poison
TypePure indica landrace3,5Pure sativa2
OriginHindu Kush mountains, Afghanistan–Pakistan3Durban, South Africa2
Median THC (state lab tests)17.91% (17 tests); small sample19.45% (528 tests)
Middle half of THC results17.03%–18.89%17.33%–21.99%
Top terpenes (median)Too few tests for a profile (1 of 17 with terpene values)Terpinolene, β-Myrcene, β-Caryophyllene (235 tests)
Leafly top effectsSleepy, relaxed, hungry3Focused, energetic, uplifted2
FlavorEarthy, woody, spicy/herbal3Pine, earthy, sage2
High Times greatest strains, 2014#216#206

Lab rows come from the same state lab dataset and matching rules for both strains.4

Lab-tested THC: Hindu Kush vs Durban Poison

16% 18% 20% 22% Durban Poison Durban Poison: median 19.45%, middle half 17.33%–21.99%, 528 tests 19.4% n=528 Hindu Kush Hindu Kush: median 17.91%, middle half 17.03%–18.89%, 17 tests 17.9% n=17 Median total THC (dot) and middle half of tests (bar)
Median and middle half of total THC in state lab tests. Small sample: Hindu Kush has only 17 tests.4

Two landraces

Leafly’s guide to landraces names both as strains that carry the name of the place they developed: sativa landraces spread around the world, while indica landraces such as Hindu Kush stayed isolated in the mountains around Afghanistan and Pakistan.1 High Times placed them side by side in its 2014 list of the 25 greatest strains.6

More comparisons

Sources

  1. Leafly, 5 classic weed strains from the ’60s you can still find today (2024-06-20). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  2. Leafly, Durban Poison strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  3. Leafly, Hindu Kush strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  4. Cannlytics (CC BY 4.0), cannabis_results: public state lab results (filtered and aggregated by Official Cannabis). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  5. Leafly, Leafly’s 100 best weed strains of all time (2026-07-14). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  6. High Times, 25 greatest strains of all time (2014-10-09). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.