Sarah Talks Cannabis Strains: Why Do They Matter?

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What is the name of my favorite strain for pain?

That is one of the most common questions I get, and I have no answer. Two years ago when I relocated for access to cannabis, I would have said the Grape Stomper was my favorite. Thankfully that was the first one I ever tried and has truly changed my life, but now I can no longer say that is my go-to cultivar – there are other strains that make me happier. So, right off the bat strains do matter.

Before myself and my family relocated from Wisconsin to Nevada, my husband and I came down to get married. Trying Grape Stomper on that trip showed me the power of cannabis for my body and is what showed us moving 1,800 miles was worth it for me to live a better quality of life. That tasty grape will always hold a special place in my heart, but I have learned that it is not just that one type of cannabis that will help me – depending on the type of day I’m having utilizing different strains becomes necessary to control pain, inflammation, and so much more that comes with my disability. Let me explain further:

One day when my dispensary ran out of Grape Stomper I went into a panic attack. I immediately thought that life would go back to how it was asking myself “am I going to go back to barely being able to walk and be bedbound again? Thankfully I had an amazing and very knowledgeable budtender, which is so important in this industry, who explained I just needed high Myrcene? High what? I was lost. Terpenes! Something I had never heard before and yet here he was, telling me this was my answer. That day I went home with a strain, Sunset Sherbert, excited but nervous and hopeful for the same relief. To my surprise, the strain worked just as well as my go-to and my research and fascination with terpenes began, the smell of the plant holds the key to the efficacy.

Then I begin to learn that there was so much more than Indica, Sativa, or Hybrids. I know there are other types of Cannabis but those are the ones we normally see at the dispensaries. What I found out that day was that the strains matter a lot and they vary by the different elements in the plant that give it flavor and taste just as much as the cannabinoids like THC and CBD.

Every cannabis strain has a different terpene profile, and within that, each plant can yield a different type of feeling for the user – the efficacy differs from person to person. This is important for patients because terpenes offer medicinal benefits in addition to the phytocannabinoids and other plant constituents – many believe that the terpenes are the strongest part of Cannabis. My own body loves Myrcene and Linalool – two very predominant ones found both in cannabis and other botanicals.

However, what I have learned through trial and error is my body needs 5mg minimum of Myrcene to truly get the relief I desire. The more myrcene, the better. Linalool is a harder one to find concentrated solely in cannabis, but I get vape cartridges that have linalool and incorporate it naturally into my routine through things like lavender and mint leaves. The thing is with less Myrcene in my flower, the less pain relief, and in turn the more cannabis I need. It’s important to remember I’m explaining what works for me, you may find that it takes way different strains than I do and that is the beautiful thing about cannabis and hemp – there’s so much to choose from.

Where I live in Nevada we have labels that will show the terpenes so I can accurately pick my medicine in the manner I like, everyone has their own routine. When I go to pick my flower, I never ask for a strain, I say what is your highest Myrcene flower with the price range. Grape Stomper was my life changer but some days, it would barely help me and only because the Myrcene dropped too low. This is why labeling is crucial. Patients need to know what is in their medicine to have broader options available to them, accurately choose their medicine with the desired effects, and should never have to gamble away their money on strain after strain hoping for relief when their go-to is out.

What if you live in a state that doesn’t have advanced labels or even legal cannabis? When you get your favorite strain from the dispensary or if you grow it, there are ways to make as best as an educated guess as one can on what the strain holds. Smell and taste are one thing of course, very citrusy, most likely limonene or another constituent that is similar to that. But what about earthy, maybe myrcene, but maybe pinene – or it could be that clove extract that’s also in cannabis known as beta-caryophyllene. This can only go so far with a guessing game – however, I do want you to notice those things about your flower. There are various online publications including Google Images where you can do a search on your favorite strain and learn all about the terpene profile in it.

Now you can look at what strains are similar and suddenly your options will be broadened the next time you choose a cannabis strain. Now there is no exact science behind this – yet, so there will be trial and error for almost all patients. Keeping track of the strains you try as a patient is so crucial. Keep a notebook and track the name, scent, taste, effects felt, symptom changes, time of onset, how long you felt the effects of the strain, and your other likes and dislikes in regards to it. Tracking your cannabis allows you to know what has worked, what has not, and as a patient better identify what type of plant best suits you.

Buying cannabis and figuring out exactly what works for you takes time and patience, however, with the right tools, you will be on track to get what works best without spending money on products that unfortunately do not give you the desired therapeutic effects for your own personal situation. Knowledge is power and through learning one will be able to navigate the many products out there and find what works best for them to live the best life they can.

By: Sarah Schwefel, Research Analyst at Global Cannabinoid Research Center

Note from Mike:

The beauty in having contributing writers to Mike’s Medicine’s is we see different opinions, writing styles, skill sets, and knowledge bases. As patients such as Sarah continue down their path of cannabinoid medicine slowly the education is forced upon them in order to treat debilitating disorders such as she has – we’ve kept this to why she picked the strains she did vs. what type of health issues she has. Her own navigational journey through the various types of cannabis is actually a short one in comparison to many who will go through dozens and dozens of different cannabis types mostly due to others telling them to try it.

For the more advanced individual, we’d be talking about Indica, Sativa, Ruderalis, Afghanistan, and Hybrid types of cannabis plants whether they be hemp or high THC cultivars. But for most it’s going to be all about those olfactory senses – what does it smell like. More than once, in doing random research on the streets, I’ve brought multiple people into a dispensary at one time to pick out a strain of cannabis so I could buy them a gram. Every time I’ve done this the same thing happens – each person finds the ‘best weed there is’ inside the store – and each person has a different strain.

Why? The answer to this one is simple. Our bodies will often tell us what we need – our brain has the ability to pick up what elements of nature will heal us and when we smell a cannabis strain or any plant at all that will help us it’s a natural instinct to go after it. There’s much more complex information in regards to what type of cannabis, what terpene profile, and what exact strain may work for an individual based on DNA. That’s an intensive subject that we delve deeply into at the Global Cannabinoid Research Center – Sarah is right in that there’s no exact science on this yet but it’s very very close to ‘exact’ – and soon it will get there. The human body and the cannabis plant share similar DNA – so similar that it’s becoming capable to match strain specifics to human specifics.

More to come,