This may come as a shock, but researchers now know that on a molecular basis there is absolutely no difference between the indica and sativa strains of pot. There used to be, historically, but breeding practices have evolved the cultivation of cannabis into a chemical potpourri of what we are calling chemovars, individual chemical fingerprints of the plant specific to its chemical makeup of cannabinoids and terpenes.
The Genetic Structure of Marijuana and Hemp
Cannabis (marijuana) has typically been grown for its high THC content and for use both medicinally and recreationally. Hemp, on the other hand, has typically been grown for its excellent properties for making rope, its fiber, seeds and now, CBD. Hemp has a negligible THC content but high CBD content.
Two gene pools have been used traditionally to describe marijuana, Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. To evaluate the genetic components of the sativa and indica strains, 81 marijuana samples were gathered, and genetic makeup was identified. This recent study shows that ancestral chemovar distinctions between indica and sativa only partially captures their true ancestry with many shared genes evident upon analysis. Another study looked at 396 reported breeder names in Nevada and came up with low medical diversity and only 3 chemical profiles to choose from out of the 396 unique names. These profiles had nothing to do with indica or sativa classifications but varied more on their terpene content than any other chemical. Although this study identified twelve genotypes, none of them matched any of the 3 profiles. However, there is a genetic difference between hemp and marijuana.
Cannabis Terminology Confusion
In 1976 a single species concept was proposed. Researchers separated taxonomy at the rank of subspecies as C. sativa and C. sativa subspecialty indica. The subspecies were based on the amount of THC with the C. sativa as having < 0.3% THC to comply with regulations governing fiber-type or hemp plants and drug-type or marijuana plants. It was in the 1980’s that drug-type plants (marijuana) came to be divided into two categories, indica and sativa. The popular terminology took off and became identified both by their morphology or plant structure and popular effects attributed to each strain. The term sativa has been inappropriately tied to a drug-type plant when it should be reserved for the hemp plant for which it was originally named after according to some researchers.
Characteristics of the Cannabis Plant
Cannabis is an annual flowering plant with both male and female flowers with some flowers being both male and female. For THC extraction purposes, we are only interested in the female buds. Flowering is based on light length and strength. The top ten extraction equipment industries are listed here.
Cannabis plants have small hairs called trichomes which in the female plant are high in THC. While the purpose of the trichomes is not totally known it is thought that their role is to trap insects dangerous to the plant.
Typically, the cannabis plant is classified into 3 species, although there is a lot of disagreement on the classification. The popular strain names are indica, sativa and ruderalis. Each species can be bred with another species creating a hybrid which some will say is all we have right now, that we have lost the genetic purity of the sativa and indica plant. Another researcher might say we have one species, cannabis sativa with 3 sub-species based on THC:CBD ratio. The 3 sub-species would be hemp, indica and ruderalis.
The Sativa Plant
Cannabis sativa is typically said to be tall and thin reaching 5-18 feet tall and with few branches. They normally have one big kola bud at the very top of the plant when mature. Longer flowering cycles than the indica are characteristic and this plant is better suited to warm climates with a long growing season. The sativa tends to have a higher THC and lower CBD. It was originally called a subspecies indica. Hemp was originally called cannabis sativa.
Perceived Effects
Medical marijuana users were surveyed as to proposed effects from each strain. Comments related to perceived effects for sativa included euphoria, alertness, creativity, energy.
The Indica Plant
Cannabis indica is typically said to be short, with broad leaves and bushy with a lot of littler buds and grows to be 2-4 ft. tall. The indica has shorter flowering cycles and is suitable for colder climates with a shorter season. The indica plant tends to have a higher CBD than sativa strains.
Perceived Effects
Surveyed users responded to the effects of indica with terms such as relaxed, used for headaches, pain relieving, spasticity relief. Others have described indica as a form of “couch- lock.” Stress-relieving, relaxation have also been used.
The Ruderalis Plant
The ruderalis plant tends to grow wild or is used to breed hybrid strains. Many believe ruderalis to be a descendant of Indica genetics that adjusted to harsh climates and short growing seasons in the northern regions where it originates. Cannabis ruderalis is native to areas in Eastern/Central Europe, Asia, and Russia. Ruderalis grows to be about 1-2.5 feet tall with thick and sturdy stems and automatically flowers after 21-30 days of vegetation. It is ready to harvest at 70-110 days from seed. It is auto flowering regardless of sunlight and these characteristics are what draws breeders to use ruderalis in developing hybrids. The buds are small and chunky. THC levels are low, about 2.5% and it is high in CBD.
Perceived Effect:
Not used commercially for any effect despite its high CBD content.
What is Hybrid Marijuana?
Some will say that hybrid cannabis is all we have today because the genetic diversity is gone. Gaining a knowledge of the cannabinoids and terpenes and looking for specific arrays of chemicals on your Certificate of Analysis may help you pick out a compatible strain until there are more standardized guidelines for classification
Figure 1. NIH Pictures of Sativa, Indica and Ruderalis Plant Forms
The Cultivar
The use of the word “strain” came about in 1985. A local database now lists 14,358 strains of cannabis. This crossing and re-crossing of hybrids has resulted in a loss of genetic diversity in the cannabis industry. There is confusion abounding. For example, one seed company might sell a seed as sativa-dominant and another seed catalog might market the same seed as indica-dominant. The confusion is highlighted even further when one realizes that the “Best sativa” in the 1999 Cannabis Cup won the “Best Indica Cup” four years later.
Theoretically, a strain is similar to a cultivar, the latter being a taxonomic rank recognized by the “International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP).” However, few marketed “strains” of drug-type Cannabis have met ICNCP criteria for acknowledgement as a cultivar. Some researchers feel that the hybridization of indica and sativa strains threatens the agricultural diversity of C. sativa. The multitude of strains identified in seed catalogues only speaks to the components of a vanishing world and a classification system that is like renaming dinosaurs.
Chemovars are an attempt at classifying cannabis, however weak the start of the system. But, chemovars, or the chemical makeup of the cannabis plant has nothing to do with the physical structure of the plant at all. It has nothing to do with whether the leaves are narrow or broad or if the plant is tall or short, it is all pretty similar in genetic makeup with the major differences being found in the minor cannabinoids and terpenes. What this means is not all sativas will energize you and not all indicas will put you into couch lock.
The effects of any cannabis strain can depend on several factors including the ratio of CBD to THC, the terpenes, minor cannabinoids, your individual biology and tolerance, dose, type of product, and the consumption method. For example, you will absorb less of the active compounds from the cannabis plant if you eat rather than smoke it due to first pass metabolism in the gastrointestinal tract. You will experience more of the effects of the major cannabinoids at a lower dose if combined with synergistic terpenes and minor cannabinoids such as is obtained in a full spectrum product. So, type of product makes a difference in effect.
Strains and the Entourage Effect
The concept of cultivar and strains depends heavily on the entourage effect philosophy or the
“sum of the whole is greater than its parts.” This philosophy revolves around the concept that THC and CBD are only the leaders of the band and it takes the minor cannabinoids and terpenes to make the entire song. Rather, systemic effects are greater with the entire spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes than by using isolated cannabinoids.
Also, there is a push for the use of the term cultivar rather than “strain” since strain applies more to bacteria classification and cultivar refers to a chemical profile. The one stumblingly point of controversy is that the definition of cultivar as established by ICNCP does not fit and is not likely to include any classification system we come up with using the term cultivars.
The entourage effect of cultivars has been defined in the literature. For example, in a randomized controlled trial of cannabis based extracts in patients with intractable pain despite taking opioids, a THC isolate failed to produce favorable results from the placebo group whereas a whole plant extract with both THC and CBD combined proved statistically significantly better than either the opioid or the THC isolate.
Additionally, anecdotal data from clinicians utilizing Epidiolex, the CBD pharmaceutical, found that their patients demonstrated notable improvement in seizure frequency on a lower dose of cannabis extracts than on higher doses of the standardized CBD extract Epidiolex. These researchers found that 71% of their patients improved with CBD predominant cannabis extracts vs. 3% on purified CBD.
Cultivars and Cannabinoids
The cannabis plant is composed of a multitude of chemicals that all act in symphony, the entourage, with each other. This symphony is led primarily by THC and CBD and their ratios, the maestro of the orchestra of compounds. Strains are generally classified as Indica or Sativa according to their morphology rather than their THC or CBD content or ratio thereof. Efforts are underway to change this taking the “chemovar” into consideration. Chemovars, as previously discussed, are the entire composition of the plant including cannabinoids and terpenes and related compounds.
THC makes us feel hungry and euphoric and will quell nausea and pain to name just a few effects. Between 2000-2004 the THC content of marijuana plants from the Netherlands rose from 8-20%. A larger multinational view also saw an increase over time but not like in the Netherlands. Average THC now in most plants whether sativa or indica is in the high teens except for the rare high CBD strains. Minor cannabinoids are found mostly in trace amounts.
CBD is a non-intoxicating molecule potentially good as an anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety, neuroprotective non-intoxicating medical miracle with many other potential benefits still being studied. These are only two cannabinoids, albeit the two most important. Other important cannabinoids (following decarboxylation) include CBG, CBC, CBN, CBGV, THCV, CBDV, and CBCV.
Decarboxylation is a chemical process that activates the cannabinoids. THCV and CBN are two cannabinoids that influence physiology but are rarely mentioned. CBN does not result from decarboxylation as THCV does but rather from THC degradation after being exposed to light and heat but is a cannabinoid, nevertheless, and has sedative properties. CBN is synergistic with THC in many of its medicinal effects such as in pain control. THC is the primary cannabinoid in most commercial cannabis products.
Chemovars and Terpenes
Terpenes seem to be the major players driving the creative or relaxed effects. There are many terpenes found in cannabis with the most common being myrcene, caryophyllene, limonene, and terpinolene. Smelling your chemovars might be your best bet for familiarizing yourself with the scent of the desired effect. Terpenes are responsible for the aroma and color of the chemovar and will give off the very aromatic odors so characteristic of the plant. Look for a Certificate of Analysis (COA) to determine terpene profile.
In the study done on the sample strains in Nevada, 3 chemovar types were identified mostly by terpene level. The terpene chemovars were classified into 3 clusters representing 59%,33% and 8% of all samples. The most common terpenes were β-myrcene, γ-terpinene and limonene in each of the 3 clusters. Thus, the study concluded that the terpenoid composition in a sample is much more indicative of the sample’s origin and genetic background than the cannabinoid profile. The link between the terpenoids and the three clusters make sense because the terpenes provide the colors and smells that differentiate the many varieties of cannabis.
Cluster 2 had the cannabinoid CBGA and cluster 3 had CBDA. CBGA and CBDA are cannabinoids before decarboxylation. The differences were minor.
The results of the Nevada based analyses tend to suggest that when classifying or creating new chemovars, plants should not be selected solely for their high THC content and to a much lesser degree for CBD content because across different terpene and cannabinoid backgrounds there are different effects from different combinations of these neglected chemicals. All the other cannabinoids seem to have been mostly ignored in the breeding efforts, despite documented medical values for the differing cannabinoids and terpenes.
Chemovars, rather than cultivars, are the preferred term for many researchers for the specific makeup of the plant cannabinoids, terpenes, and other cannabis constituents. The reason this term is preferred is the lack of standardization. Cultivar is still the trending word for strains despite the lack of standardization.
Lack of Standardization for Cultivars
There are no rules for naming new cultivars, which is based on strains and now standards, yet names are being created daily. Products labeled with the same cultivar name can differ significantly in their chemical profiles depending on the origin of the genetics, where the plant was grown and how the plant was processed. There is no protection for patients from mislabeling or standards for such in place. Doctors are at a disadvantage in recommending products with any degree of certainty due to the ambiguous nature of the classification system. Alternatively, lack of patient and doctor education on the medical benefits of the minor cannabinoids and terpenes may also contribute to the problem of the high THC content in our marijuana supply. There is currently no regulation stating that a Certificate of Analysis be done on each product.
Lack of standardization leads to misinformation
Lack of standardization has led to misinformation. For example, the sedation of the so-called indica strain is falsely attributed to CBD content when in fact CBD is stimulating in low doses. Rather, sedation is usually caused by the terpene myrcene present in the chemotype. In contrast, the uplifting effects one experiences is probably due to the terpene limonene and a relatively rare terpene, alpha-pinene, can effectively eliminate or remove the short-term memory impairment caused by THC.
Need for Standardization
About 33 states have laws for medical marijuana for differing medical conditions. We are learning everyday what differing cannabis components are potentially effective for medicinally. If we don’t know what is in our product because of a lack of label standardization or a lack of a credible classification system, clinicians are not able to effectively recommend the name of a product that may potentially help the patient and his/her medical condition
Standardization Through Education
There are ten top organizations for cannabis education, which is one place to start when you want to start standardizing your practice and establishing cultivar guidelines. They are listed on the best marijuana guide at: https://www.bestmarijuanaguide.com/best-cannabis-education-and-training
The age of indica and sativa are gone. We need to understand the actions of the cannabinoids and terpenes to effectively choose our strain of cannabis. This entire process of reclassification of cultivars is going to take an educated budtender, grower, consumer and essentially, anyone that might sit on a board or committee involved in the reclassification of indica and sativa. The concept of the chemovar must be kept foremost in mind with the reclassification system. A cannabinoid receptor matrix design may be implemented to help in such a strategy. Such a design incorporates the interaction between the minor cannabinoid going beyond the chemovar into the entourage effect more specifically. Regardless, reclassification of strains will be challenging.
