First registered in the United States in 1964, Acapulco Gold was defined the following year by the Oxford English Dictionary as "a special grade of cannabis growing in the vicinity of Acapulco...with a color of 'brownish gold, or a mixture of gold and green.' Traditionally grown in the Guerrero mountains outside the city, it is a landrace variety described as having "stunning effects", attributed to a long season growth and the plant growing in conditions to which it was adapted.
Acapulco Gold (sometimes called Mexican Sativa) has a history rich in rumors and legends. While some sources claim that Acapulco Gold is a cross between a Mexican sativa and Afghan landraces, a majority believe that it is a strain native to the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains that surround the city of Acapulco. Legend has it that the strain developed its unique physical characteristics, aromas, flavors and cannabinoid concentrations over centuries, adapting to the conditions of the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range (home to tropical forests dry, pine and oak forests, as well as numerous endemic plant and animal species).
Long considered the favorite strain of 60s and 70s hippies, Acapulco Gold was even mentioned in Cheech and Chong's 1978 classic Up In Smoke.
