As a weed smoker for something like 25 years who has spent his time doing a lot of studying of the science because I understand that it is not an inert substance, and I know its affecting my health long-term somehow...

I've seen the studies that have shown specific strains have more to do with different "highs" than whether it is indica or sativa (nevermind that there is no such thing as a true indica anymore.), do you have any idea how I feel when some fucking twentysomething starts telling me about the (bogus) differences between sativa and indica and expects me to give a shit when all I care about is potency.

Like sorry, you're not getting a tip for knowing less than me, some bum off the street, about the stuff I'm putting in my body.

[–] NewNewAccount@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Pure indicas no longer exist? And strains are more important?

Would love to read more if you could point me in the right direction.

[–] dingus@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You really, really wouldn't want to smoke a pure indica, imo. I've smoked an actual indica and it was mostly stem and tasted like dirt. It has not had the selective breeding that has produced big, oily buds that people love to smoke.

It's honestly a lot like corn before it was selectively bred by humans for thousands of years versus modern corn. Imagine that the modern corn is a modern weed bud, and compare that to what nature gave us...

Here's a good scientific study on it:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0133292

From the Abstract:

Using 14,031 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in 81 marijuana and 43 hemp samples, we show that marijuana and hemp are significantly differentiated at a genome-wide level, demonstrating that the distinction between these populations is not limited to genes underlying THC production. We find a moderate correlation between the genetic structure of marijuana strains and their reported C. sativa and C. indica ancestry and show that marijuana strain names often do not reflect a meaningful genetic identity. We also provide evidence that hemp is genetically more similar to C. indica type marijuana than to C. sativa strains.

That last bit from the abstract is the money quote on Indica. Real Indicas are closer to hemp, and hemp hasn't been selectively bred for flavor and getting high. So a "real" Indica is going to be a lot like smoking.... hemp.

Anyway, long story short is that individual strains and the chemical combinations therein have more influence over the high you get than the idea that they're "sativa" or "indica."

Here's an article with a short interview with Sean Myles, who was involved in and credited with this study.

https://slate.com/technology/2019/04/indica-sativa-difference-cannabis-weed-science.html