In the early 1980s, Schoenmakers founded The Seed Bank of Holland, the first cannabis seed bank in the world. Now that’s an exciting story. How did he get the money to start the seed bank?

The Dutch government was offering loans to drug addicts to get them started doing something useful with their lives. As a result, Schoenmakers obtained a loan to construct an indoor grow to produce seeds. As he was quoted in High Times, “I told them I wanted to grow weed indoors. They weren’t thrilled with the idea, but they gave me the money anyway.”

Nevil Martin Schoenmakers became a cannabis seed and cultivator and changed the cannabis world forever.