If you are a patient that uses medical marijuana you become aware that different cannabis strains can vary in their effects. One strain might make you feel lethargic and tired, while another might energize you and lift you up. But what if someone told you that all of the different marijuana strains were the same, and it is only your preconceived notions that correlate to a change in its effects? In this article we ask the question: is all medical marijuana different, or the same?
Many believe the reason strains differ in their effects is not just because of the THC contained in marijuana, but from a symbiotic gathering of all of the hundreds of chemicals and compounds within the plant that act together to create the special power of cannabis.
This coming together of all of the cannabinoids, terpenes, cannabidols, flavinoids, and the other 400+ chemicals, all work together to create what has been known as the so-called ‘entourage effect’. This collection contains the power to produce a plethora of different characteristics by crossing strains and targeting specific ailments to treat.
Why is this important to understand? Scientists and medical marijuana proponents are fighting the notion that THC isn’t the main ingredient that the marijuana plant uses to generate its healing power. The government and pharmaceutical companies have derived a way to make synthetic THC so they can treat patients without using a federally illegal plant. However, the effects of synthetic THC are said to be “unpleasant” and don’t carry the same properties as the plant does when it is taken as a whole.
The research on the many compounds and chemicals contained within cannabis and how they all interact is scarce at best. It is important to know which strains work best for you and which ones don’t. The entourage effect has been studied over the years with many stigmas and outlier scientists fighting the belief that differences between cannabis strains and the traits that people associate with their effects are essentially a ‘pipe dream’.
Until it is proven that the entourage effect is real, there will be those who believe that all marijuana is essentially the same and the varied characteristics are attributed to personal feelings and not differences within each plant.
To read more about the ‘entourage effect’ check out this article by Scientific American