Zamnesia and TICAL sell seeds with knockoff names among other shady methods, man

Last month, Zamnesia announced a new seed collaboration with Method Man’s TICAL, making available eight of Method Man’s favorite cannabis cultivars for homegrowers across the world. The negative response from the movers and shakers of the cannabis culture was instant, and continues to reverberate. You might have heard Method Man’s cannabis seeds include Method MAC; or you might have seen Capulator’s response to the announcement.

Suffice to say, the cannabis culture has seen this move as the ultimate cannabis culture faux pas. Truth in marketing is sadly missing from the cannabis industry, and that is one of the chugging engines of Post-Prohibition Changes in Cannabis Genetics. There is no better 2025 example of this than the recent announcement of a partnership between Zamnesia and TICAL, bringing well known and coveted American cultivar names to the worldwide market as seedlines under intentional obfuscation of the original breeder and even the seedmaker. Are the claimed cultivar names what you’ll receive if you buy seeds from Zamnesia x TICAL? Who made these seeds for TICAL, and did they consent to having lineages and names obfuscated?

Zamnesia x TICAL seed drop mired in controversy

On June 12th, 2025, Method Man’s TICAL announced a seed distribution deal with European company Zamnesia via a press release assembled by Grasslands PR. The press release includes an ironic quote from Zamnesia’s General Manager, which was proven blatantly false in the subsequent lines:

“TICAL and Zamnesia are a natural fit. We’re united by a foundation of authenticity and deep roots in the cannabis culture.”

The press release continues to emphasize that Method Man personally handpicked and approved not just these cultivars, but also their names:

“The exclusive seed drop features eight premium strains personally selected and approved by Method Man, including:

Shaolin Spritzer (Runtz x Mac x Blue Dream) — THC: 20%-23%

Method Mac (Alien Cookies x (Colombian x Starfighter)) — THC: 21%-25%

Sweet Morning Mimosa (Clementine x Purple Punch) — THC: 21%-24%

24K Gold Fangs (Kosher Kush x Tangie) — THC: 22%-26%

Spazzola Garletti (Chem D x Gelato) — THC: 22%-26%

Grape Gorilla Gas (Grape Ape x Gas Mask) —THC: 23%-25%

La-La-La Log Cabin (Pineapple x Cookies) — THC: 20%-24%

Rugged Runtz (Zkittlez x Gelato) — THC: 20%-25%

“

Immediately, the original breeders of some of these cultivars noticed the announcement and the multiple layers of cannabis culture disrespect embedded. Capulator, the original breeder behind MAC, commented on June 13th, 2025:

“@methodmanofficial I never knew you were such a grifter. Those quotes are hilarious. “Method MAC” with the same lineage as MAC? GTFOH. 🤣🕊️”

Capulator followed up his post with another showcasing his view of the seed launch, which I strongly believe is now shared by the undeniable majority of people that smoke cannabis, know basic botany, and can read English:

“@methodmanofficial seed drop brought to you by Zamnesia is a total scam.

The epitomy of grift.

What’s the cross on that Method MAC again? 🧢”

With the knockoff names presented next to the lineages reported by the original breeders, cannabis culture observers were presented with the rational conclusion that the cuts were stolen and used for breeding projects to create seedlines from the cuts, or that unrelated seeds are being sold as specific seeds. Both are cannabis culture faux pas of the worst kind, and BOTH have actually been committed here.

Are Zamnesia x TICAL seeds a scam or just a cannabis culture faux pas?

Just like Method Mac is obviously a name knockoff of MAC originally bred by Capulator, Shaolin Spritzer is a name knockoff of Spritzer, originally bred by Cannarado Genetics – just like Spazzola Garletti is a name knockoff of Garlatti originally bred by Cannarado Genetics.  Sweet Morning Mimosa is not claiming to be anything besides Mimosa originally bred by Symbiotic Genetics. 24K Gold Fangs is a name knockoff of 24K Gold originally bred by DNA Genetics. Grape Gorilla Gas is meant to knock off the known name of Grape Gas of Compound Genetics fame which contains genetics that can be traced back to original breeders like WyEast. La-La-La Log Cabin is a name knockoff of Log Cabin bred by Phinest Cannabis.

All these knockoffs meant to capitalize on the branding done by the original breeders is especially galling when the realization hits that some of the seedlines being sold under these names actually have zero relation, as opposed to just half or a quarter, with the claimed cultivar. This mismatch, where a seed buyer expects a known cultivar and ends up growing seeds from a seed line that is all but genetically guaranteed to disappoint, is exactly the scenario that Zamnesia and TICAL have set their potential customers up for.

As an example, the seedline behind Shaolin Spritzer isn’t Runtz x Mac x Blue Dream as claimed, it’s actually Angry Peaches x Peaceful Puppy and was originally named Peach Breath by Freeworld Genetics before Method Man approved the new name even though the real lineage behind “Shaolin Spritzer” reveals that the seedline itself has absolutely nothing to do with the cultivar known as Spritzer or Cannarado Genetics – making the name both a knockoff, and an inaccurate knockoff.

Let me be frank, it’s the equivalent of cutting the letters “LV” off of a bag, stitching them onto a fake Gucci bag, then selling it as a Chanel bag. It’s like Method Man singing a country song over an EDM Beethoven beat, being sold as the newest WuTang Clan album. I don’t know how else to illustrate what happened here in ways that the perpetrators will understand.

What TICAL names as Grape Gorilla Gas and La-La-La Log Cabin are actually creations by Freeworld Genetics which have completely different lineages than claimed in the press release and likely original names chosen by Freeworld Genetics that weren’t meant to rip off prior art from a marginalized community without the legal means to obtain the intellectual property right needed to prevent moneyed interests from making business moves like this.

Rugged Runtz? A name knockoff of Runtz, but what’s actually in the “Rugged Runtz” seedline is Clearwater Genetics’ Apple Tartz x Freeworld’s Peaceful Puppy. Sure, Runtz is technically a grandparent to Rugged Runtz via being a parent to Apple Tartz, but the “Rugged Runtz” seedline and whatever seedline that the infamous Runtz was pulled from are undoubtedly very, very different.

To get to the bottom of this Zamnesia x TICAL fiasco, it’s useful to know that TICAL had been working with Vera Cultivation and Freeworld Genetics for several years, and for many of those years TICAL has been selling a cultivar known as “Free MAC” in Colorado dispensaries via a partnership with Vera Cultivation. Free Mac was bred by Freeworld Genetics and is half MAC, half Freeworld Chem. With TICAL’s recent partnership with Zamnesia, Free Mac has now been renamed to Method Mac.

This cannabis culture faux pas goes far beyond forgetting to remove placeholder lineages from words destined for a website, it digs right into the crux of decision makers who do not respect the plant, the breeders, the intelligence of potential seed buyers, or the cannabis culture.

Zamnesia isn’t the only European seed company to blatantly lie about their genetics while still proudly telling the world how many fraudulent seeds they have sold, and how badly they’ve fucked up their corner of the dreaded name game. ILoveGrowingMarijuana CEO Ernst promised The Highest Critic in 2024 that the combined ILGMand Barney’s Farm conglomerate would honor the real story behind the seeds that they sell. Ernst commented when asked why his company doesn’t honor original breeders and their work:

“Yeah, I personally feel that we should do that. Yeah, definitely. And so I think that if you look to the old ILGM, one of the switches that we’re really making is really telling the honest story about our seeds. […] So you will probably see it when our new platform comes live with the whole new rebrand. It will have different messaging. It will have more, I think, stories to tell. I mean, more honoring the heritage of the strains that we offer. So it’s definitely a change that I think that we are currently already making.”

It is surprisingly easy to determine whether a seedseller is operating honestly or fraudulently. When a brand chooses names for its plants, it becomes abundantly clear whether they respect existing cannabis culture prior art or whether they are committing a cannabis culture faux pas for the money. For the reccord, as of July 2025, seven months after the promise, ILGM along with Zamnesia are still failing at truth in marketing.

Let’s take a lil recap. Zamnesia x TICAL are selling Freeworld Genetics seeds under knockoff names. Speaking with The Highest Critic, one of the breeders at Freeworld Genetics mentioned that they have no legal recourse in their arrangement with TICAL and Vera Cultivation for this type of business decision, and that it’s only a gentleman’s agreement secured by a handshake which was keeping Vera Cultivation and TICAL from renaming Freeworld’s work when presenting it to the wider world either as product or seeds. It’s unclear whether Freeworld Genetics helped in the knockoff name generation and lineage obfuscation process, but given the haphazard mixing and flavor mismatches galore, I suspect that no breeder was involved in this regrettable marketing decision – which is a shame, because this drastic faux pas could have been so easily avoided if just a single person who respected the plant and truth in marketing was involved in the decision making chain…

I don’t know exactly how many people were in this failed decision chain that thought the renaming, let alone the fake lineages, would be OK, but they all need to reconsider their relationship with cannabis culture at large.

Instead of announcing a partnership with Freeworld Genetics like might seem normal – and might still have ruffled some feathers, TICAL selected 8 seedlines from Freeworld, then proceeded to select 8 popular cultivar names, then morph them into names that fit with Method Man lyrics, by doing so, associating new names with bred cultivars with zero consideration for long term consequences to seed buyers seeking specific medicinal effects from specific cultivars or even their reputation as cannabis companies from the cannabis industry attempting to capitalize on the cannabis culture.

Even after throwing the bone to Freeworld and listing the actual lineages provided by Freeworld on Zamnesia, every single cultivar presented by TICAL not only still uses a blatant knockoff name without crediting the original breeder or namer, they also lied about the lineage of the seeds at launch. Every, single, seed. Again, every single name is a knockoff, and most won’t share the desired characteristics of the target cultivar for which it was intentionally falsely named. It doesn’t mean that the seeds won’t yield wonderful medicine, it just won’t be what the seed buyer is expecting based on the name.

Zamnesia, TICAL, and Vera Cultivation respond to cannabis culture faux pas

TICAL, Vera Cultivation, and Zamnesia responded to The Highest Critic’s requests for comments and a post mortem for this shameful cannabis culture faux pas incident.

TICAL and Vera Cultivation founders expressed their deep regrets that the placeholder lineages were mistakenly published at launch due to oversights at every level. One of TICAL’s founders, Z, commented:

“You know TICAL means taking into consideration all lives. […] We’re an inclusive brand that prioritizes partnerships with black owned, female owned, minority owned and operated businesses in the cannabis space. Right. So, it’s kind of our way to highlight the disparities of the cannabis space and to be able to try to operate with, you know, a moral compass, right?”

In this high critic’s mind, that moral compass should have started going haywire as soon as the knockoff names were prescribed, well before the placeholder lineages arrived and stayed. TICAL’s company mission and commitment to marginalized communities is admirable, but sharply contrasted by their clear business moves against one of the most marginalized communities in cannabis culture: cannabis breeders.

Zamnesia, provided a statement to The Highest Critic on June 26th, 2025 which frankly reads extra ironically especially given the fact that each TICAL seed listing on Zamnesia still provides inaccurate and contradictory lineage information as of July 2025:

“At Zamnesia, we take product integrity seriously. While we are not a genetic testing lab ourselves, we do vet our seedbank partners through a combination of internal review, transparency requirements, and long-term, trusted business relationships. We work closely with partners like TICAL to ensure their marketing claims are backed by clear and consistent information, and in this case, lineage transparency was part of the launch planning from the start.

The genetics for TICAL’s eight cultivars were developed through a formal collaboration with Freeworld Genetics via Vera Cultivation. All lineage data has been provided directly by the brand, and we’ve updated our listings accordingly. If and when there are legitimate concerns, we address them constructively with the involved parties and make changes where needed to maintain accuracy.

Our goal is to build trust with our customers and partners alike, and that means standing behind content that’s both compelling and truthful. We believe that clarity and alignment across the industry are key, especially when dealing with legacy strains and evolving genetics.”

The fact that Zamnesia thinks that a genetics testing lab would have been needed to avoid this faux pas is laughable, and highlights an institutional inability to provide clarity, which I agree is key in this industry, “especially when dealing with legacy strains and evolving genetics.” In fact, the response from Zamnesia, and the inclusion of accurate lineages provided by Freeworld, is tempered by the fact that Zamnesia’s edits to the rest of the seed listing pages are still inaccurate and wholly reminiscent of LLM hallucinations conjured by humans who don’t understand cannabis culture or cannabis botany.

Despite the public outroar, as of July 10th, 2025, Zamnesia still lists the placeholder lineages and/or incorporates them as content marketing hooks, doesn’t credit Freeworld Genetics as the breeder of these seeds let alone the original breeders the names were taken from, and is still using the exact same knockoff names. What kind of companies hear feedback from breeders that they don’t want their names and lineages misrepresented, and then just double down? This fiasco proves to me definitively that Zamnesia doesn’t check claimed lineages, claimed breeders, or any of that, despite selling so many seeds on their site.

This matters because TICAL is but one of the cannabis companies with a relationship with a  seedmaker that works with Zamnesia, and I’d posit that despite all the faux pas, this relationship actually represents one of the more transparent relationships from Zamnesia’s “seedbank.” After all, Rugged Runtz is but one of the available “runtz” on Zamnesia, and though every seedline hopefully is a Runtz S1 at best, Runtz as one of the parents hopefully, or Runtz as one of the grandparents… In the case of TICAL’s Rugged Runtz, Runtz is just a grandparent (a female pollen donor at that).

All that to make this ridiculous point: Rugged Runtz, being at best 25% Runtz, might actually be the most runtzy thing sold by Zamnesia. Similarly, Method MAC aka Free MAC, being at best 50% MAC, might actually be the most MAC-y thing sold by Zamnesia. Let the absolute ridiculousness of that sink in.

Sure, breeders don’t have trademarks on the names they’ve created because of federal prohibition, but if your business model is solely based on taking advantage of that lack of legal protection, maybe you’ll now understand why the cannabis culture hates you and why this is a faux pas which all companies involved with are still not recognizing the long term consequences of.

While Zamnesia, TICAL, and Vera Cultivation are deeply apologetic about mistakenly putting the wrong lineages out on their press release and launch, they have no semblance of an understanding that the knockoff names themselves are the even larger issue. That Zamnesia’s TICAL seed listings still lack clarity is damning evidence, at least to me, that Zamnesia has no business being in the seed selling business.

What kind of people should buy TICAL’s (Freeworld’s) seeds from Zamnesia?

Despite all this, I still believe there is a small subset of potential seed buyers that this Zamnesia x TICAL x Vera Cultivation x Freeworld Genetics seed drop is actually perfect for. Freeworld and Vera have been working together for five years, and with their TICAL partnerships, their flower has been going out under the TICAL brand for awhile. This is the flower that Method Man smoked, it’s the same flower that some Coloradans and Miciganians also enjoy. Now, users that like the TICAL flower they buy at the store, can buy the seeds from online. It won’t be a guarantee that you’ll find that exact phenotype that you smoked, in fact the odds are probably against you, but there’s also the chance that you’ll find something better for you than is available at the store, and it’ll end up costing less overall. Given that allowing homegrow and easy seed sales goes against a state government’s dispensary taxing model, it’s no wonder that by and large cultivators have lobbied against homegrow and also refuse to release their exact cuts and SOPs but as we can see, seedlines with knockoff names are very much still on the table.

Whether Method MAC – which most people have only tried as Free Mac – is actually as MAC-y as MAC1, or if Chem takes over as it always does doesn’t matter to the right seed buyer. The familiar flavor from the store can now be grown at home. All that being said, the only people I would recommend to buy seeds from Zamnesia are people that have tried the flower from the specific cuts grown by Vera, can’t afford it from the store but need that specific medicinal effect, but can afford to try and phenohunt it and homegrow it at home.

For the 99% of the world that isn’t in that subset, as always, I recommend that seed buyers interested in specific cultivars to buy those specific cultivars or seedlines directly from the original breeder. The more degrees of separation you get from the original breeder, the more and more fuckery like described above happens. If this ain’t the perfect example of that, I don’t know what is.