WHAT MAKES A CANNABIS VARIETY AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Different cannabis varieties produce different medicinal effects, owing to unique variations in the chemistry produced by each individual variety. The medicinal effects can vary so dramatically among cannabis varieties that each one can effectively become a different medicine. Some cannabis varieties produce THC, while others produce CBD; some produce nearly equal amounts of both cannabinoids. Variation in terpene content also significantly modifies the medicinal effects of cannabis varieties.

Narrow-leafleted THC cannabis varieties were likely introduced to the Western Hemisphere by indentured laborers from India, when the British transported these Indian workers to Jamaica in the 1830s. The major expansion of cannabis varieties in the West did not begin until marijuana breeding became more widespread in the 1960s, however. In 2009, CBD-rich varieties were identified in the United States and the use of these CBD cannabis varieties could eventually spark another medical cannabis breeding revolution.

Name Games and Strain Identification

Pick up any alternative newspaper in San Francisco, Denver, or Los Angeles, and you’ll see advertisements for G13 Kush, Blue Lightning, Charlie Sheen Kush, Obama Cookies, and so on. There are hundreds of medical marijuana varieties being marketed by storefront dispensaries and delivery services. The average person looks at this and thinks, “Where do they get these ridiculous names?” The answer is that they’re made up. Then again, someone made up the name “Google,” too.

The more important question about these medical marijuana varieties is: If the names are just made up, what are the chemically distinct varieties of cannabis that these companies claim to be selling? The fact of the matter is that nobody really knows, including the folks selling them. This ignorance is usually not malicious, and cultivators do try to make informed guesses as to the identities of the cannabis varieties they provide. But there aren’t many standards or certification procedures in California or Colorado—although that is changing.

In 2013, legislation was introduced in Connecticut to regulate medical cannabis, and it requires products to have brand names. As a result of this, each batch of the cannabis product must fall within a tight chemical tolerance based on its initial product specification registered with the state, or it loses the right to the product name.

There are thousands of cannabis varieties from Korea to Mexico, from Uruguay to Malawi. All across Russia, Kazakhstan, Nepal . . . Cannabis is everywhere and everywhere each strain is different, slightly adapted to each specific locale. Individual varieties are called landraces—a term used to define the local variations of the cannabis plant. And it is from these landraces that modern medical cannabis varieties have been bred. In a few cases, such as Malawi Gold, the landrace has not been bred with another variety. For this unique strain, the plant remains exactly as found near villages along the banks of Lake Malawi in Africa.

In the 1960s, as illicit cannabis use increased in Western countries, hippie backpackers visited regions of the world where native varieties of cannabis could be found. Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia, Morocco, southern Africa, Lebanon, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, and Thailand all produced landrace varieties that were brought back to form the genetic pool from which modern cannabis was bred. This illicit “bioprospecting”—searching for local plant species of medicinal value, is actually prohibited in many of these countries today, because the landrace plants are now considered strategic national assets.

Most medical cannabis varieties in use today have been crossed to yield new varieties. They are descended from landraces, certainly, but the majority of them likely bear little resemblance to their ancestors. These new varieties have been chosen and bred for one thing: their ability to produce THC. And while this has made for some extraordinarily psychoactive varieties, it has also resulted in highly inbred cannabis. Marijuana from around the world exhibits some fascinating natural diversity, while modern, medical cannabis contains very little that is unique and quite a bit that is identical. In a word, these varieties are invariably cut from the same cloth.

There may be an occasion on which a breed of cannabis is designed to smell good or look attractive—but at the end of the day, it all comes down to cannabinoid and terpene content, and the cleanliness of the cultivation.

Selecting a Medical Cannabis Variety

The common descriptors used at dispensaries, indica and sativa, rarely determine anything beyond the most basic medicinal effects. Typically, indica is used to describe broad-leafleted varieties that produce terpenes such as myrcene and linalool. More sedating, they produce more lethargic “stone.” Sativa characterizes narrow-leafleted varieties that produce terpenes such as caryophyllenes and pinenes, which are stimulating and tend to produce more of a cerebral “high.” Selecting precisely the appropriate variety of medical cannabis requires an understanding of the variety’s basic genetics and chemistry beyond simplistic indica and sativa designations.

The basics of cannabis chemistry manifest themselves in a variety’s appearance and aroma. Certain aromas produced by cannabis provide a surprisingly reliable indication of the variety’s effects. A piney scent is indicative of stimulating results. A lavender or grape aroma typically is associated with sedative varieties. Learn how to associate cannabis aroma with cannabis effects and you’ll become informed very quickly.

But judging cannabis simply by its variety name remains a gamble. There is a great deal of fraud, and even more innocent ignorance. For example, nobody really knows what varieties bred OG Kush. So what is real OG Kush? More importantly, what are the genetics and chemistry that make OG Kush an effective medicine? There are stories of the origin of OG—they may or may not be true. But they always run out of rope. Some say that OG Kush’s parent first showed up as a seed in a bag of Chemdawg cannabis at a Grateful Dead concert. OK, but then what varieties bred the cannabis seed in that bag? No answer. Is this Chem ’91 a version of some amazing Colorado variety? Or a Nepalese Thai cross? Or a landrace from Afghanistan? Nobody knows. What is known for certain is that OG Kush is a tall, broad-leafleted hybrid that typically produces upward of 20 percent THC and has an intense aroma of pine, citrus, and fuel.

Once you establish consistency in the varieties available to you, it’s easier to decide among them. Simple, right? You just need to find someone who pays attention to their cannabis and looks for repeatable patterns in its structure and chemistry. Those patterns are definitely there, and with the help of laboratory instruments—which take precise measurements of your cannabis product’s constituent elements—the uniqueness of your preferred medical variety may be revealed.

The following patterns and observations can help you determine the most suitable medical cannabis variety for the course of treatment recommended by your physician.

The following pages consider 27 modern cannabis varieties and their medicinal properties. The locations in which they are grown are indicated on this map, as well as each variety’s species type, whether indica, sativa, or hybrid.