since “kine” means “cattle”, why is it used in reference to marijuana?
I never heard of this phrase. I did a search for “cattle bud” on google, and got exactly zero drug related results. Care to elaborate and tell us where you have heard/read the phrase?
Are you sure your stoned ears aren’t mishearing “kind” bud?
I suspect that the name comes from Hawaiian pidgin. “Da kine” is a phrase in Hawaiian pidgin with a vague meaning but in common use.
While Sue probably has it correct, there are various message board discussions that attribute it to Hawaiian, da kine pronounced <duh-KYNE>. Supposedly means good, etc.