It’s the middle of winter. The sky is gray and the roads are mucked with mud and trash. An unknown residue is lining the sides of your favorite pair of rain boots and it almost seems like a sign to stay in, snuggle up, and share a bowl and some stories with friends. Well let me give you a tale that you can add to your roster…

Ever heard of the legendary “Godfather of Grass” and his classic hybrid strain “Kentucky Bluegrass?”

Johnny Boone, otherwise known as the Godfather of Grass, is a legendary figure in the weed smuggling world. As a once-been leader of the “Cornbread Mafia,” a rural Kentucky-based drug organization that grew 29 large illicit cannabis farms in 10 states, Boone obtained an intense following and was looked up to by many. After a mass arrest of the mafia in June of 1989 with over 70 arrests and 47 tons of confiscated cannabis from the site, the U.S. attorney in Louisville coined the Cornbread Mafia as the “largest domestic marijuana syndicate in American history.”

After the arrests of the Cornbread Mafia, Boone included, law enforcements believed this to have a positive impact on the community. However, after Boone was released and then arrested once more in 2017, the Godfather of Grass began to publicly defend the Cornbread Mafia and his crewmates.

“We’re from a poor place. … I don’t think anybody here is into any kind of thievery. I can only say that … in our area, marijuana is one of the things that helps put bread on the table for people,” he told the judge, according to the Washington Post. “We’re not criminals, we’re not. We’re not the kind of people who go out and harm people.”

The truth was that the local communities thrived off of the Cornbread Mafia’s business. Stationed in rural, small towns, there weren’t many job opportunities. The cannabis industry became a livelihood for many locals. After the organization’s bust in 1989, neighboring towns became impoverished. Local enforcement didn’t know what to make of this endeavor.

This has left Johnny Boone to be seen through two different perspectives: an infamous kingpin who ran the largest cannabis drug-ring in American history, or an individual whose cannabis business created commercial growth in local communities.

Boone’s story and the strain within it became so popular High Times magazine dubbed it as “Kentucky Bluegrass.” It is an evenly-balanced hybrid strain crossed between Blueberry and Huckleberry Kush. 

With this cross, notes of sweet berries can be found while smoking it, all to be rounded out by a soft lemongrass aftertaste. Although a hybrid, it is an excellent strain to use to relax and is even made popular by medical users to relieve pain and physical stress. You can nearly feel yourself transporting to a rural Kentucky farmland, surrounded by warm sun and nature’s silence.