I grew up in N California and we had skunk weed. It smells a bit like a skunk.
This sort of weed has been around a long time. I guess it wasn’t everywhere.
These powerful strains were developed by people with botany degrees.
I can remember my (toker) brother explaining all that to me, back in the mid to late 80s. He showed me a tiny little baggie with just a sprinkle of weed in it and explained that it was a ten dollar bag.
Huh? I thought he'd been ripped off until he told me that it wasn't the same sort of junk we'd smoked as kids.
I'd been out of that culture for a long time at that point, and didn't have a clue about street drugs any longer.