What's Next For Cannabis?

This is one of our favourite topics of discussion.

Cannabis is starting to receive the attention it’s always deserved. This incredibly unique plant has so many benefits that we are just beginning to understand.

So what's next?

This question will have many different answers but we’d like to give you ours.

SCIENCE

With Cannabis going legal across the world, the scientific research behind the plant is steadily increasing. Cannabis has been marketed mostly by the name of the strain, Indica or Sativa and the percentage of THC it contains. As strains have developed over the years, the demand for “flavours” have become very apparent in the industry today. A problem with this is people are misleading the consumer with strain names that don't relate to the taste or smell of the cannabis. Along with these strain names comes the THC percentage. “25%+” or “30%+” with people thinking that this is the “strongest” therefore will get you the most high. Now since forever strains have been sold as Indicas and Sativas. Where an Indica is going to provide a more relaxed effect and a Sativa is going to provide a more energizing effect. It turns out all of these marketing standpoints in the industry are all losing their value. In reality, there’s other variables that may be responsible for the effects- the cannabis plant offers.

We're talking Terpenes.

So, what exactly is a terpene? Terpenes are what provides plants with their aroma and taste. Terpenes are in all plants. The unique thing about cannabis is that it has the ability to carry a wide variety of terpenes unlike most plants in the world. You can have a cannabis strain that has the properties of lemon/citrus (limonene), clove or rosemary (caryophyllene) and lavender (linalool). Now most of us understand that different strains of cannabis will provide a different effect. There's strains that us enthusiasts will use at certain times of the day. This has commonly been termed as Sativa and Indica, but literature suggests nothing has been confirmed in this regard. Cannabis Indica plants are known to grow small, bushy with wider leaves and finish flowering faster. Cannabis sativa is known to grow tall, have skinnier leaves and take quite a bit longer to finish flowering. New studies are showing that terpenes and cannabinoids combine to produce the effects unique to each cultivar. These molecules can be consumed and brought to the endocannabinoid receptors in the human body to elicit a response. This is suggesting that Cannabis Indica/Sativa are not responsible for the effects on how the certain cultivar effects but solely explains how the plant looks and grows.

With this new information, the cannabis industry is going to shift into something much larger than it is right now. For example

Linalool is a terpene found in lavender that potentially helps aid in inflammation and fungal infections. In this case, maybe a cannabis cream containing a strain with a heavy presence of linalool will be recommended for pain or infection.

Limonene is a terpene found in lemon that potentially provides energizing and antidepressant effects. In this case, maybe this terpene is providing an uplifting or energetic effect.

Caryophyllene is found in pepper and potentially provides pain relief and may help aid in treating drug addiction. In this case caryophyllene can possibly be used as an alternative to big pharma pain medications.

With this newfound knowledge and further studies being performed, this medicinal aspect of the cannabis industry can become very prominent. It can completely change the way we think about pheno hunting, products, dosing and so forth.

Ultimately, cannabis has much to offer and we are just starting to understand what this plant is really capable of.

What do you think is next in the cannabis industry?

Share your thoughts!