Beyond Indica and Sativa

Before I talk about how I'm gonna use all that weed, let's define a couple terms.

I grew several types of cannabis in my gardens this year, and a good chunk of it was high THC weed, like most cannabis sold in dispensaries. But I also grew two high CBD strains, and two of my own crosses that are (hopefully) equal parts THC and CBD. I’ll get all sorts of different uses from this variety filled harvest. I chose plants both for a spread of different cannabinoids, and also some diverse and tasty terpenes. And unlike some, I will not be using the terms indica or sativa to describe their effects on my mind and body. These plants are all both indica and sativa — because they are all hybrids. I use the terms indica and sativa to describe their botanical subspecies origins, not to describe the type of high you might get from any given strain. This is outdated marketing speak that is rapidly being replaced with other emerging description methods.

Let’s get a couple things straight about how the scientific and breeding community is talking about cannabis today. As cannabis science and breeding has matured, a classification system was created to classify cannabis by their expression of cannabinoids. Unsatifsied by the squishy notion of ‘strains’, folks developed the concept of Chemotypes. This is a way of broadly categorizing cannabis types by the main cannabinoid made by the plant. Here are the Five Chemotypes of cannabis so far described:

Type 1: High THC, very little CBD. Also known as the drug-type cannabis. This is the dominant type of cannabis you’ll widely find for sale. This one will get you high!
Type 2: High CBD, very little THC. This is the second most common type of cannabis sold. Sometimes called hemp, but I say more accurately high CBD drug-type.
Type 3: THC and CBD in mostly equal parts. My favorite chemotype for mellow experiences of euphoria, also excellent for pain. This is the elusive mixed ratio type and one that I find super useful, but hard to find. I call it hippy weed, or old-school weed.
Type 4: CBG dominant. This is the mother cannabinoid, and is increasingly sought after by those wanting its potent anti-anxiety benefits.
Type 5: Little cannabinoids. A true hemp, or fiber type cannabis. Rarely offered for sale in dispensaries or nurseries for home cultivation. This type of cannabis is wonderful for fibers and was traditionally cultivated solely for this purpose.

Now, there’s another classification system at play in addition to the Chemotype. A Chemovar is a narrower description that includes both cannabinoid profile and the top several dominant terpenes in any given seed line. The term Chemovar is a much better way to describe cannabis than strain. I really appreciate the information that high quality seed producers include in their offerings — describing both the dominant cannabinoids and terpenes that the plants will give you. This is Chemovar language. Look for that the next time you go shopping for seeds. Now if only they could come up with the perfect chemovar to erase my memory of last week’s presidential election results I’d be thankful.