Now that you have decided to get your medical marijuana (MMJ) card and became certified, you’ve been diligently working to understand the medical marijuana industry more in preparation for your first trip to a dispensary. Once you think you are ready to go, you remember, just in the nick of time your good friend, Miss Kitty, mentioning about the marijuana strains being indicas, hybrids, or sativas. Now you have a question because this was something you had not even planned for.
Just what the f*ck is that?!
This is just more medical marijuana lingo that is important to budtenders when helping a customer identify a product that might suit them better as well as for cultivators for the purpose of understanding how to care for their trees, but in this case, knowing this information is also important to you. You need to be able to recognize the lineage of strains that might be suitable for your condition so that you do not aggravate your current symptoms. For example, electing to use a sativa strain is absolutely not recommended for someone who deals with severe insomnia. Bad idea. If you did not know that, you might not think to ask.
So What Are Indica and Sativa Strains?
The use of the word indica and sativa, themselves, are primarily used by growers to describe the plant features produced by the seeds that were cultivated together. While this jargon is something I know you are not really interested in hearing right now, I will shorten this up as best as I can while giving you thorough information just how this applies to you. What you must know is using these three categories operates in providing a very general description for what you might be looking for in herbal relief when it comes to cannabis.
The three categories you need to know about before entering any dispensary is sativa, indica, and hybrid. I mentioned above how budtenders will use these terms in other aspects of the business to describe cannabis plant characteristics, but please note that indica and sativa will always be two categories that are most mentioned in dispensaries no matter where you are in Arizona. Knowing about these two will land you better chances of pairing up with the strain or strains that suit you best. A brief breakdown of sativas and indicas as it pertains to your consumption: Sativa strains will produce effects which can be felt mostly as high energy, and Indica strains often induce total body relaxation, making it perfect for winding down at the end of the day for a long night of restful relaxation.
Where does Hybrid strains fit in with all of this?
Don’t freak out. Hybrids, in short, are just what the category title suggests, a hybrid. Hybrid strains tend to lead to a balance the THC and CBD effects. No worries, though. I will grind up the buds for you and pack it down nice and tight so you know about this topic with enough understanding to confidently make your first purchase.
Sativa Strains
Sativa strains are the group of cannabis strains when consumed produces a energetic and uplifting effects. While sativa strains do have a general mention of causing the user to feel energized and ready for socializing, these are very general effects. I’ll give you an example. Let’s say I decide to use the strain Green Crack (GC) - or Green Kush depending on who you ask. I could experience high energetic feelings as if I had a few cups of coffee before any kind of food after use of GC, while a friend of mine just felt relaxed, but alert. These differences are very real, and it does provide trial and error with a few sativa strains before finding your happy medium among them.
A few strains that I have personally tried from this category are Green Crack, Super Lemon Haze, and Durban Poison. I do not recommend the sativa category of strains if you suffer from any sort of anxiety or panic disorder. The strains in this group absolutely trigger paranoia as well as extremely high energetic bursts. Based on my experience, sativa strains are perfect for individuals suffering from low mood, low appetite, and/or heavy fatigue. All sativa strains I've given a shot in the past lifted my spirits and had me finally in a space where I felt happiness, just with munchies .
Indica Strains
Indica strains hold a pretty confident stance in it’s position of providing some really strong cerebral relaxation moments. Most of the strains within this category tend to induce feelings of total body relaxation with really amazing cerebral highs that have the potential for leaving you couch-locked. According to Leafly.com, this is because indica strains contain a higher CBD to THC content, unlike sativa strains which displays the opposite - a higher THC to CBD content.
With this said, most individuals dealing with muscle spasms, chronic pain, as well as all over severe pain benefit more from the use of indica strains. Restlessness is also a symptom that can be easily treated using an indica strain. I personally enjoy Jupiter OG, Blackwater, as well as Blue Cheese marijuana strains. Those three strains knock out all of my high end-of-day stress that cannot relax due to the high level of alertness my nervous system maintains on a daily basis. With the help of these strains, I can quickly rid myself of annoying stressors that are beyond my control and carefully think through the next steps in controlling the other stressors.
Hybrid Strains
The hybrid strain group pushes forth effects that represents a balance between indica and sativa strains when they are crossbred with one another. Usually the hybrid will produce the effects of the more dominant parent strain. When a pattern is found where the new crossbred cannabis is displaying one of its parents’ traits more than the other, this is when dominance is established.
Let me explain it to you with an example of the popular strain of recent years, Blue Dream. Blue Dream traces its lineage through Blueberry (indica) and Haze (sativa). Blue Dream is sold as a sativa-dominant hybrid because although this strain is said to display a nice balance between the two strains, most consumers report feeling energized. This, of course, labels Blue Dream as being a great social kind of strain. You will feel some relaxation, but for the most part you will experience waves of energy.
Do not let this discourage you from giving hybrid strains a shot. I personally recommend that first time users start off with a hybrid strain as you will not find yourself in a situation where the cannabis is too potent and not enjoyable enough for you. For my anxiety sufferers, hybrid strains are your best friend. Hybrids enable you to dabble in some sativa strains without the full on sativa affect.
No matter how you choose, make sure it’s the best choice for your ailment. You are now armed with some footwork knowledge on what the sativa, indica, and hybrid categories are and how they could help you with your medicinal needs.
Always ask your budtender as many questions as you need to if you are unsure about any product they have available. It’s their job, so let them do it - and don’t forget to leave a cash tip for them or ask about leaving a tip whether they have a jar present or not (*wink*). They are paying you personal attention so please be considerate.
Always consume responsibly and, as always, I'll catch you in the trees!
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