This article was recently published by HighTimes and written by one of our GN members, @todd.mccormick . Although cannabis plants are commonly referred to as Indica, Sativa, ruderalis, hybrid, sativa-dominant etc… Its fairly confusing as a grower, consumer of cannabis to understand the exact category your cannabis falls into. This is a nice article about the possible different naming conventions to categorize cannabis. Click here for the full article.
In 2013, Robert Clarke launched a new taxonomy in the world of cannabis, the problem is, it’s a bit complex. Robert breaks down the varieties as follows:
Broad Leaflet Drug = BLD
Narrow Leaflet Drug = NLD
Broad Leaf Hemp = BLH
Narrow Leaf Hemp = NLH
Robert also has another category for ancestors, as there are varieties of cannabis growing around the world that have escaped human cultivation and have become feral once again. For this he uses “PA” for punitive ancestor.
Robert’s 21st century cannabis taxonomy has been around for 10 years now and while it makes a lot of sense, it’s not catching on. I think this is mostly because it’s too complex for people to grasp easily, but that is to be expected considering Robert is a scientist and if you read any of his books, you will see that they are very detailed and well referenced.
The modern cannabis market is made up of hybrids which are incredibly hard to classify as Northern or tropical, Indica, or sativa, because they have attributes of both.
The effects we feel when we smoke or vaporize are controlled by the cannabinoids and terpenes which modulate the effects of the cannabinoids. The analogy I would use is that getting high is like getting on an airplane, the cannabinoids bring you up to altitude and the terpenes are the rudders that control the whole flight.
The terpenes are so important that the entire experience from the bud can be ruined if the bud is over dried, because when it is over dried, the terpenes evaporate and the bud does not taste or smell anywhere near as good as it did when it was fresh.
