If you’ve ever been into a dispensary or been around marijuana, you have probably heard names like Charlotte’s Web, Girl Scout Cookies, Blue Dream, and Harlequin. Like most people, you probably refer to them as different marijuana strains. You also might know that they all fall into 3 distinctive groups or varieties of cannabis: sativa, indica, and hybrids.
If you knew that, then you probably know that these three main varieties come with different effects. Sativa strains are high in THC, used most in recreational use, and gives a person a strong psychoactive experience and high. Indicas are said to be more medical with high CBD as oppose to THC and cause body relaxation among other therapeutic properties. Then we have hybrids which are a mix of the two, for the best of both worlds.
All of this is completely utterly wrong!
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Sativa vs Indica vs Hybrid
That’s right, everything you think you know about sativa, indica, and hybrids is wrong. Well, except for one thing. Sativas are tall with skinny finger-like leaves — this is the leaf used frequently in marijuana imagery. Indicas, on the other hand, are short, bushy, and have fat leaves — they also tend to flower sooner.
None of this is important to you unless you’re a cultivator. Don’t believe me, well then let’s look at where the terms Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica came from.
The Origin of The Terms Sativa and Indica
In the 18th century, both terms were introduced. Carl Linnaeus is responsible for coining the term “sativa” to describe cannabis plants used for fiber and seeds that grew in Europe and western Eurasia — or otherwise known as hemp.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck is responsible for coining the term “indica” 30 years later when he was describing a psychoactive variety of cannabis out of India used to produce hashish along with fiber and seeds.
Interestingly enough, when most people think they are smoking a sativa variety of cannabis, they are actually smoking Cannabis indica ssp. Indica. Today’s Indica is technically Cannabis indica ssp. Afghanica.
If you‘ve ever used a hemp product then only then have truly used Cannabis sativa, and you certainly never used it to get high because you can’t since there is essentially no THC in it. Incredibly ironic, considering sativa strains are supposed to be high in THC and low in CBD when it’s utterly the opposite.
Science
Pretty crazy right! It’s actually not that uncommon for the marijuana world to have terrible terminology or just bad science in general. Fortunately, it’s really easy to see why indica and sativa strains both deliver results across the spectrum.
There are two main compounds in cannabis that produce its therapeutic effects: cannabinoids and terpenes. Cannabinoids are the big producers of cannabis’ therapeutic properties — CBD and THC are the two most responsible.
Cannabinoids all have their own therapeutic properties which often overlap reinforcing the therapeutic property. As well, they can counteract each other — THC can produce anxiety, but CBD will override this effect with its own anti-anxiety property. It’s the ratio of cannabinoids and terpenes that will play a large part in determining the effects you feel — your unique body chemistry along with tolerance, dose, and consumption method round out the rest.
So, instead of saying I want an indica that will reduce my anxiety and not make me paranoid, you say I want a cannabis strain that’s high in CBD and low in THC. It’s incredibly easy to find an “indica” strain that’s extremely high in THC and low in CBD and vice versa. So our new terms should be THC-dominant, CBD-dominant, or a balance between the two.
Terpenes: The exception to the rule — well, kind of
Now, sativa strains do tend to have more citrus notes in general which would be the terpenes doing, and since they provide therapeutic effects, the terpenes and only the terpenes might separate the effects of the modern use of the terms “sativa” and “indica”. But this is just in general, you can easily find ‘indicas” with citrus aroma/terpenes and “sativas’ completely devoid of them so it’s still not great to use those terms.
Eventually, we can get even more complicated and determine which ratio of cannabinoids and terpenes produce the best results for different medical conditions, which we are starting to see with distilled CBD oil.
Distilled CBD Oil: The Gold Standard
Terms like sativa and indica are already a thing of the past for many CBD companies as they move to a process of CBD extraction known as short-path distillation. This process takes raw hemp extract and heats it at various boiling points releasing and separating the cannabinoids from themselves and everything else.
By doing this we can have our CBD, THC, CBC, CBG, etc. all in separate containers, and then reintroduce them creating precise ratios every single time.
Eventually, instead of walking into a dispensary and saying “I want a sativa that can help with my back pain”, you simply pick up CBD or cannabis oil formulated for back pain. You don’t care about its strain name or if it’s a sativa or indica; you only care about getting the best and precise ratio of cannabinoids and terpenes for pain reduction every single time.
What’s great is distilled CBD oil can still be used the same way as raw extract and can be mixed in foods and even pet CBD treats from Canada pet owners love CBD oil.
Which Cannabis Strain is Right For You
It’s completely OK if any of this seems overwhelming because it is! So let’s go over some ways that make it easy to now which cannabis product is the best for you.
THC-Dominant
- If you’re looking for a strong psychoactive and recreational high, which is often described as cerebral and creativity-inducing go for high THC — if anxiety or paranoia is an issue move to a strain with a higher level of CBD.
- THC main medicinal properties include: inhibition of cancer cell development, reduction of seizures, increase in appetite, and despite the myth promotes tiredness.
CBD-Dominant or CBD Products
- If you’re looking for medical marijuana’s positive effects on health, go for high-CBD.
- CBD main medicinal properties: anti-inflammatory, reduce epileptic episodes, inhibition of cancer cell development, reduced pain, suppressed appetite, neuroprotection, anxiety relief.
- CBD oil is fantastic for medicating throughout the day without worrying about getting high.
At Vitaleaf, we believe in distilled CBD oil and create ours with a strong focus on CBD, CBG, and CBC. As well, we reintroduce the terpenes back in for their own therapeutic properties. This means, that along with enjoying the medical properties that CBD provides from above, you will also benefit from CBC’s and CBG’s anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, antibacterial, and pain reduction properties.
Related Resources:
http://mommygeekology.com/getting-right-raspberry-ketones-plus-garciniacambogia.php
http://mommygeekology.com/5-thoughtful-gifts-can-help-new-parents-save-money.php
