Nevil Martin Schoenmakers
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| Nevil Martin Schoenmakers | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 February 1956, 1957 or 1958 (sources differ) Western Australia |
| Died | 30 March 2019 Osborne Park, Western Australia |
| Occupation | Cannabis seed merchant and breeder |
| Known for | The Seed Bank, a mail-order cannabis seed business in the Netherlands, 1980s; sale of G-13 |
"2 February 1956, 1957 or 1958 (sources differ)" contains more than three components required for a date interpretation.
Nevil Martin Schoenmakers (died 30 March 2019) was an Australian-born seed merchant who ran The Seed Bank, a business in the Netherlands that sold cannabis seed by mail to growers in the United States in the 1980s.[1][2] The lines it offered in 1987 and 1988 included one sold as G-13, which accounts from 1987 onward connect with the cannabis programme of the University of Mississippi.[3] In 1990, at the request of the United States, he was arrested in Western Australia for extradition on charges that included running a continuing criminal enterprise; released on bail in June 1991 pending an appeal, he disappeared.[1][4]
The Seed Bank
Schoenmakers went to the Netherlands in about 1977 and established a business there as a seed merchant.[1] Accounts written after his death date the founding of The Seed Bank of Holland to 1983 or 1984.[5][6] The Cannabis Cup Winners site says it began with a small classified advertisement in the magazine in July 1984 and moved to a display advertisement in October 1985. By the same account the business paid tax two years later on $500,000 of seed sold to more than 15,000 growers in the United States. The first Cannabis Cup was held in 1988, and at the next The Seed Bank took all five awards.[7]
In a High Times sidebar of November 1987, headed as Nevil's breeding technique "in the King's own words", Schoenmakers named the lines in his stock, among them "Hash Plant and Big Bud and G-13".[3] The Seed Bank's advertisement in the magazine in May 1988 listed G-13 among the most potent varieties of its 1988 catalogue, with Northern Lights, Big Bud, Skunk No. 1 and Hash Plant.[8] The seed database SeedFinder quotes the 1987 catalogue: "G-13 is an outstanding indica cutting reputedly 'liberated' from the government research program in Mississippi".[9] A seed retailer's blog in 2023 retold versions in which he obtained the plant from the breeder Sandy Weinstein or from a researcher at the university.[10] A poster on the Overgrow forum wrote in 2022 that Nevil had collected it from a man who had once worked at a government agricultural facility, and that it had "nothing to do with" Turner or the university.[11]
According to Leaf Nation, he later sold the business to Ben Dronkers, who merged it with his Sensi Seed Club to form the Sensi Seed Bank, and co-founded the Green House Seed Company with Arjan Roskam.[5] Leafly says that he helped to run that company until 1998, when he sold his shares and left the public world of cannabis.[2]
The extradition proceedings
Schoenmakers returned to Australia on 29 May 1990. On 23 July 1990 he was arrested in Western Australia on a provisional warrant under the Extradition Act 1988, issued at the request of the United States government; he went to the office of the Australian Federal Police of his own accord for the purpose. The offences named were conducting a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to manufacture (grow) marijuana, distributing marijuana and using the mail, in some 44 counts in all. The Federal Court recorded the allegation that his business distributed cannabis seed to the United States, and that a man called Cogo had acted as its distribution agent there. On 27 November 1990 a magistrate found him eligible for surrender to the United States. On 22 May 1991 the Supreme Court of Western Australia confirmed the order for every count except conspiracy.[1] The United States Department of Justice, in a report of 1991, described him as the founder and chief operator of one of the world's largest marijuana seed distribution organisations, and said that he would be prosecuted in the Eastern District of Louisiana.[12]
On 21 June 1991, after about 11 months in custody, he was granted bail by Justice French of the Federal Court pending his appeal, on a recognisance of $100,000.[1] When the appeal came before the Full Court on 2 August 1991 his whereabouts were unknown. The court ordered that the appeal stand dismissed unless he appeared before 9 August.[4] The sureties forfeited the $100,000; in a later extradition case the Federal Court noted that he had absconded despite stringent bail conditions.[13] The Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2015 that the Netherlands had refused to hand him over, and that neither the Western Australian police, the Australian Federal Police nor Interpol then held an active warrant for his arrest.[14]
Life
Schoenmakers was born in Western Australia and held Australian and Dutch citizenship.[1] The Federal Court gave his year of birth as 1958. Leaf Nation gives 2 February 1957, in Perth, to Dutch parents, and a death notice in The West Australian gives 2 February 1956.[1][5][15] He had convictions in Australia in 1974 and 1975 relating to the use, cultivation and sale or supply of cannabis.[1]
He returned to Australia in 2004. In 2015 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that he had joined the Australian medicinal cannabis company AusCann.[14] In February 2013 he and Mark Heinrich made a submission to an inquiry of the New South Wales Legislative Council into the medical use of cannabis.[16] He died on 30 March 2019 at Osborne Park in Western Australia.[15][2]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Schoenmakers v Director of Public Prosecutions FCA 337. Federal Court of Australia (21 June 1991). No. WAG 53 of 1991. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hennings, Trevor (1 April 2019). "Remembering Nevil Schoenmakers". Leafly. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rosenthal, Ed; Cervantes, Jorge (November 1987). "The ruderalis factor". High Times. sidebar "Ruderalis: Nevil's breeding technique in the King's own words" – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Schoenmakers v Director of Public Prosecutions FCA 512. Federal Court of Australia (Full Court) (2 August 1991). Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Black, Bobby (1 March 2022). "Cannthropology: the original King of Cannabis". Leaf Nation. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ Courtenay, Piper (3 April 2019). "Remembering the King of Cannabis, Nevil Schoenmakers". The Georgia Straight. Archived from the original on 25 August 2025. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ "The Cannabis Kings and Queens". Cannabis Cup Winners. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ "The Seed Bank of Holland (advertisement)". High Times. May 1988. p. 62 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ "G-13 (Unknown or Legendary)". SeedFinder. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ "Was the G13 strain created by the US government?". Mr. Hanf. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ NIGHTMARE (31 August 2022). "Is the origional g13 available anywere, post 115". Overgrow. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ United States Department of Justice (1991). Toward a safer America: the Justice Department's record of accomplishment in the first two years of the Bush administration (PDF) (Report). Office of the Attorney General. Combating the drug scourge: major cases. NCJ 130948 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ↑ Rahardja v Republic of Indonesia FCA 1413. Federal Court of Australia (15 October 1999). Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Hannaford, Scott (18 February 2015). "King of Cannabis Nevil Schoenmakers stages a quiet comeback". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Schoenmakers, Nevil". Death notices. West Announcements. The West Australian. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
- ↑ Heinrich, Mark; Schoenmakers, Nevil (14 February 2013). "Submission no. 64" (PDF). Inquiry into use of cannabis for medical purposes. Parliament of New South Wales, Legislative Council. Retrieved 12 October 2026.