I’m curious what everyone thinks about the varieties of cannabis and whether the indica/sativa labels at dispensaries are relevant or misleading? I appreciate the added descriptions like good day time or wake and bake weed or good for winding down and sleeping. I’ve had friends tell me products that were supposedly good to relieve stress were the opposite and made them paranoid. Of course, these things are subjective, not everyone agrees on anything. And marketing may play a role as well.
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I don’t think they have much relevance outside of marketing purposes. As a grower I’m more concerned about the specifics; is it long or short flowering, does it have a dense or loose bud structure, is it stimulating or sedative, etc?
They have never been distinct species, it’s more accurately described as one species, Cannabis Sativa, which expresses as high fiber or high seed/low cannabinoid (hemp) or high cannabinoid drug types which may at one point have been unique biotypes before growers started collecting seeds along the hippy trail and hybridizing them. I’m currently reading The Handbook of Cannabis Production in Controlled Environments which has an interesting section on breeding that discusses how the prevalence and dominance of the “sativa” biotype is all we see functionally expressed in modern genetics. Which is where I think it’s more useful to talk about overlapping subpopulations and what traits their more likely to express then a simply binary division.
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It’s a convenient way to describe appearance and effects.
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yep, “so convenient” that growing a wide-leafed plant has an effect that is characteristic of what is commonly called a sativa. Maybe once it worked. But everything is much more complicated. Only ruderalis has unique traits (such as the “horseshoe” at the base of the seed) that are not characteristic of what is called indica or sativa.
As somebody who worked in dispensaries for years, I can confidently say that indica/sativa classifications are meaningless.
As are THC percentages.
Terpene profile, and cannabinoid profile, are the two indicators folks should observe when trying to determine effects IMHO.
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I don’t think most people use indica and sativa properly in the commercial market. I know the majority of places have hybrids yet label something as indica or sativa yet it isn’t. A true pure indica is more likely to give you a certain type of effect that tends to hit the body more and are usually plants bred for hash or resin extractions of different types Were as a true sativa is normally one were the effect is more in your head and are usually grown and bred to use the flowers for direct use. Were the lineage of the seed or plant is a hybrid of these you will normally get a mix of the effect which can be altered and tailored dependant on the amount of one or the other or how the seedline has been moved forward.
Some of the community is pushing to use the narrow leaf drug and broad leaf drug as a classification system which personally i think is not appropriate. You can get pure indicas that have narrow leaf plants yet going by this new classification they are saying it should be something that gives the sativa type effect which isn’t really the case as its still a indica… same with pure sativas, you can get some plants with wider leaves but its still a sativa. So personally i think indica and sativa is a better type of classification as it wasn’t put together just based on leaf shape but also structure of the plant and type of plant and what it was bred for and used for.
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IMO the biggest reason to care about a hybrid being “60% indica/40% sativa” for example, is to anticipate growing characteristics.
Beyond that, potency and effect are kinda out the window. OH, another thing could be general terpene profiles; aren’t most indicas “dank” and most sativas are “bright/citrus”? 
Were you was saying sometimes were something is sold as maybe being a more indica type yet makes some one paranoid dosage may play a part in that. Alot of people use flower raw with no tobaco so for example maybe used to putting in a gram in their joint or pipe regardless of the strain. Some strains are stronger regardless of their indica sativa amounts and using too much of something strong can lead to uncomfortable effects.
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I know what I mean when I say 100% sativa…I don’t know what others mean or If they know what I mean.
I consider the oaxacan 11 foot tall narrow leaf plant in my backyard sativa…the short afghan or Tashkent landrace plants as indica…I think 99% of the cannabis available today in dispensaries is hybrid.
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Go here an Read this man, this research document has everything you need to know.
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I think NLD and BLD is good for growers. This labeling are talking about structure and the actual plant, but nothing about the high. Just that its a psychoactive high or stone.
As a customer i would rather see categorys of highs.
Like:
Couchlock
Stone
Numbing
Active
Cerebral
Focused
Electric
This would give me a better chance to find something i like over and over.
Pz 
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Imo sativa or indica is more headed to the way the plant is, not effect, but there are some common terpene profiles in both, but this is talking about pure landraces, either indica or sativa. While it may be whatever effect/terpenes, there is for example a common flowering stretch depending on sativa/indica(again, if its pure), a durban i.e will have a way bigger stretch than a pure afghan hashplant, also in the case of the sativas, there is a general bud structure, and resistance to molds, this can be in an indica? For sure, but its more common on those. If we are talking hybrids the thing changes a lot, this is because of simple genetics, lets say you take the before examples, durban(NLD) and afghan(BLD) and cross them, you could get NLD while having the terpene profile and high of the hashplant, if the structure resembles more to the NLD, more sativa, if not, BLD, simple as that. Thats why in hybrids it doesnt matter that much, take into account this was stablished before the hybrid thing became widely done, then the plants were more pure so it was more relevant than today, hybrids are like a mashup of genetics that depending on the breeder could be x way or y so specific details to that strain should be given.
hi all found this by jeff ditchfield confused now it seems we have been
long term misinformed! i copy and paste this from another site i hope thats ok?if not mods welcome to remove post but it is relevant,confused,yes!
You think you know cannabis?
Many people are aware of the terms, Sativa, Indica and Ruderalis, however, the vast majority of people are mis-informed regarding their correct definitions.
It turns out that there is just one species of cannabis, with different subspecies. What people generally consider to be cannabis Indica actually originated in Afghanistan so it is actually cannabis Afghanica, cannabis Sativa? well that is actually Ruderalis and cannabis Indica iscannabis Sativa, confused?
cannab2_new.png?w=625
Enter a caption
Traditionally
For the past 40 years, the conventional view has been that there are 4 distinct varieties of cannabis plant, namely: cannabis Indica, cannabis Sativa and cannabis Ruderalis. The fourth classification is given to what is now referred to as Hemp, this is the name given to low producing THC cannabis plants which are grown commercially for their seeds, oil and fibre.
Cannabis Indica
This variety originated from the mountainous regions of Central Asia. Local strains were collected from Kashmir, Pakistan, Northern India and Nepal during the early 1960’s and these native plants became the gene pool for many of today’s varieties. They are characteristically stocky and hardy plants that produce broad, maple like leaves and rarely reach heights in excess of 2m (7ft) outdoors, producing dense, tight flowers.
Cannabis Sativa
Sativa varieties originate from equatorial regions and can reach heights in excess of 15 feet (4.5m)
They are easily identified by their thin, slender, spiky leaves.
Cannabis Sativa varieties are sort after for their high THC content and the associated profound and uplifting experience, a total contrast to the more sedative effects of Indica strains.
Cannabis Ruderalis
This is a debated third variety of cannabis found in Russia, Poland, and other eastern European countries, Ruderalis varieties do not require a photo-period to induce flowering.
Latest Findings
The above definitions are mainly due to the work of Richard Schultes, who categorised the varieties in his cannabis taxonomy in the 1970’s, however, it seems that he was in error.
From O’Shaughnessy’s:
“McPartland was the first researcher to look at the genetic markers on the three subspecies of cannabis using the plant’s genome to conclusively identify where it originated. He also proved conclusively that they are all the same species, just different subspecies. As it turns out, cannabis Sativa should have been identified as cannabis Indica, because it originated in India (hence indica) and cannabis Indica should have been identified as cannabis Afghanica, because it actually originated in Afghanistan. Finally, it seems that cannabis Ruderalis is actually what people mean when they refer to cannabis Sativa”
It has been determined by using “DNA barcodes” that cannabis Indica and cannabis Sativa are not separate species, they are both subspecies, separate varieties of one cannabis species.
McPartland traced the confusion that prevails today among cannabis breeders to the 1970s, when botanist Richard Evans Schultes incorrectly identified cannabis Afghanica as cannabis Indica.
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This is just a quick reference.
Sativa = narrow leaf variety
Indica = wide leaf variety
Hemp = non drug type
Ruderalis = auto flower
All are the same species.
Cannabis Sativa
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what about Afghan narrowleaf indicas? and ruderalis has additional traits besides autoflowering.
I would assume the term hybrid would be used for those.
But in the end I am pretty sure it is all just Cannabis sativa.
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I totally agree and the good news is the descriptions of the high, which many of us consider #1 priority, are getting better. Over the years I’ve found that many varieties put a smile on my face and brighten up my day even if they’re not extremely potent. I’ve always sought them out.
And when you find one that also smells and tastes wonderful, it’s a keeper. I’ve thrown out cuttings that had all that but were poor yielders. I had commercial reasons then but I don’t anymore. I’m looking forward to breeding some new crosses indoors this year and I’ll pay closer attention to what I want not what is commercially profitable.
I’ve been growing outside for the last three years and it’s been challenging staying ahead of the PM, budworms and short season in the northeast. The indoor environment seems so much less problematic, at least from my perspective. The only real issue for me is the electric lighting and ventilation costs. The sun is awesome but the other necessary conditions are uncontrollable. Two years out of three I had to deal with PM halfway through flower.
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If sativa is only about the shape of the leaf, what about the squat structure of the bush? I’m not trying to prove something, I just don’t really like this classification myself. I’m more inclined that there are only sativa and ruderalis. my conclusion is based on the fact that ruderalis has traits that are not characteristic of agricultural cannabis
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Sativa means “useful” or, “cultivated”. Indica means “From India”. Many other non Cannabis species also have “Sativa”, or “Indica” after they’re scientific names. The guy from Chimera Seed Company explains in much better in an episode of the Potcast.
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if my memory serves me, there was a time when everything new plants and fruits was called indica as it is now … uh … I don’t know what is popular there now
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