# Is the distinction between sativa and indica supported by research? Or is it marketing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2022, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623 "2022-08-30T21:06:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/81 "2022-09-06T16:07:34Z")
Being able to go to the store a couple of miles down the road or to order online is simply wonderous. It came a bit too late for me though. I almost wish that I still smoked an eighth every week or so to get to fully take advantage. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/82 "2022-09-06T16:15:56Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I almost wish that I still smoked an eighth every week or so to get to fully take advantage. I’m 64 and find an eighth a week totally within my abilities. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/83 "2022-09-06T16:31:56Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I almost wish that I still smoked an eighth every week or so to get to fully take advantage. There are, ah, ways to achieve this goal. > [@kayaker](#): > > I remember nearly crying, I was so happy. Me, too. Back when Colorado first legalized it, my bestie and I saved up to fly out there. Walking into a legal shop was amazeballs … but when I checked out, and they _handed me a receipt_ I damn near lost it. It was so … legitimate. Like, the same transaction as buying a Gatorade and some onions at the grocery store. After years of serious sketchy stuff, it was exhilarating. (Whoda thunk, years later, I’d _work_ as a budtender.) ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/84 "2022-09-06T18:03:31Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’m 64 and find an eighth a week totally within my abilities. 😉 I’m 65 and I’m good with 2 puffs of vape every night or two. On the other hand, my daughter’s boyfriend (who also has a MM card) blows through his 2-month dispensary allotment in about a week. _Kids these days!_ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/85 "2022-09-07T11:37:51Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > his 2-month dispensary allotment The Pennsylvania MMJ program doesn’t have a maximum amount a patient can purchase. We are supposed to buy what we need. Realistically the cost at some point becomes prohibitive. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/86 "2022-09-07T12:18:12Z")
I’m surprised they allow unlimited purchase. Seems that would encourage some to purchase large quantities for resale at a profit to those without cards. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/87 "2022-09-07T12:36:43Z")
That would be illegal! I have had friends ask me to buy them stuff. I refuse, but I offer to help them get their card. It’s ridiculously simple, especially since “anxiety” was added as a diagnosis two years ago. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/88 "2022-09-07T13:47:28Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The Pennsylvania MMJ program doesn’t have a maximum amount a patient can purchase. We are supposed to buy what we need. Realistically the cost at some point becomes prohibitive. Oklahoma allows someone with a card to buy three ounces a day. How do they enforce that? Very weakly. A dispensary will only sell a person three ounces at a time. There’s nothing stopping my brother from going next door (dispensaries are really thick on the ground in OKC) and getting three more immediately. The density of options leads to a lot of competition. $30 ounces are common. There was at least one place that was giving away 28 1G pre-rolls with any purchase. It’s like it was designed to flood the market and leak into the neighboring states. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/89 "2022-09-07T15:58:00Z")
Florida is a bit more stringent as far as tracking what is dispensed at all dispensaries and you can’t go over your allowance in each category (flower, vape, edibles, concentrates…): _All orders for medical marijuana are recorded and dispensed via the Medical Marijuana Use Registry. The Medical Marijuana Use Registry is accessible online, with real time information to ordering physicians, law enforcement and medical marijuana treatment center staff._ But, they allow quite a bit in each category, so I can’t complain. If you do try to order something in a category you’ve reached the limit on, your friendly budtender asks if you want to try a different category that you haven’t reached the limit on. _Hey, wanna try gummi bears?_ ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/90 "2022-09-07T19:55:12Z")
I’m annoyed that FLA is still trying to maintain the fiction of Medical Use Only. Just let people buy for fun, dammit. I’m no fan of pot and pot culture. But this prohibition-style approach by the state is just an absolutely unnecessary hassle for everyone and serves no good purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/91 "2022-09-08T03:23:12Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Well one consistently mellows you out and the other consistently makes you more active/hyper. That is the “party line” assertion that the OP is asking for evidence to support. Several people said it’s just what you’re expecting. We Two posters have submitted links to different articles saying that there is no discernible difference. Like the OP, I have been smoking weed for over 50 years. I have never experienced weed that makes me even slightly hyper. Some black market weed made me fall asleep, and some let me stay awake. I haven’t compare the 2 strains of legal recreational weed. My daughter-in-law (40s) believed the hype. She took 2 gummies of the kind that’s supposed to make you hyper an hour before her Peloton class. When it was time to ride, she couldn’t get off the couch. On the other hand, my youngest son (30s) says that sativa makes his actions feel mechanical, which he finds very unpleasant. I agree with the OP that your experience matches your expectations. > [@CC](#): > > I believe that there is a strong component of suggestibility in the supposed characteristics - primarily a feature of marketing. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/92 "2022-09-10T21:04:29Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Occasionally, depending on the store, I get more of an “Apple Phone” vibe than a candy store one. They tend to be very antiseptic, and there are gadgets (e.g. batteries for vapes) on prominent display. About five years ago, a dispensary in Juneau, Alaska nearish to the cruise ship dock was like that - it felt like walking into a cannabis museum with artfully displayed things in glass cases and ultra-white LED spotlights. The prices matched the overall vibe. A bit later, we were chatting with a lovely senior couple. She said she never goes anywhere without her dabs and that we just _had_ to go to the Stoney Moose in Ketchikan. That place looked like a pot shop should (in my mind, at least) and had much saner prices. The dispensary I usually go to here is like a pot Disneyland as it used to be a grocery store. They pretty much set it up as a mirror image with the same stuff on either side of the building’s center, and most of the building’s depth is devoted to growing. I wouldn’t call it antiseptic, but it is fairly sparse with a very long counter running end to end. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/93 "2022-09-11T00:47:03Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > A dispensary will only sell a person three ounces at a time. There’s nothing stopping my brother from going next door (dispensaries are really thick on the ground in OKC) and getting three more immediately. Colorado allows possession of up to 2 ounces. In Denver a few years ago, I represented a guy accused of “looping” - buying his allotment, going to the car, putting it into the trunk, and then going back into the store. (Why? Because the black market price a few states over made resale highly profitable). It wouldn’t have been an issue if he just went into another dispensary, but he was one of several people who’d loop through this one store. It resulted in an undercover sting against the dispensary chain. I actually felt bad for some of the people who got into trouble, as it wasn’t clear how often a person could get their allotment. But it was pretty dumb not to call out somebody who had literally just come through the store for his 2 ounces only a few minutes ago - unless he had just given it away as soon as he walked outside, it’d be hard to imagine that it was a lawful purchase. > **[Denver pot shop workers arrested for 'looping'](https://www.abc15.com/news/national/denver-pot-shop-employees-accused-of-selling-more-than-legally-allowed-to-undercover-officers?_amp=true)** > > More details were released in a Denver Police operation that targeted several marijuana dispensaries and netted more than a dozen arrests Thursday morning. > [@gotpasswords](#): > > The dispensary I usually go to here is like a pot Disneyland as it used to be a grocery store. A lot of the stores that I go to used to be banks. They have a vault for the product, and a drive in lane for people who’ve ordered ahead. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/94 "2022-09-11T03:42:04Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > The dispensary I usually go to here is like a pot Disneyland Since COVID, the dispensaries I go to have mostly become order online and pic-up places. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/95 "2022-09-11T11:36:02Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > “looping” - buying his allotment, going to the car, putting it into the trunk, and then going back into the store. In Pennsylvania we do that with beer purchases. A **bar** can only sell a person so many ounces at a time. A **distributor** can sell cases with no limit. When distributors aren’t open, people buy two six packs, put them in their car and then buy two more. Two separate sales, entirely legal. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/96 "2022-09-16T16:13:14Z")
The terpines could make a difference in how the marijuana affects you. FWIW, I have found that eating a mango before smoking weed or eating an edible does make the high more intense. The myrcene does seem to help. However when I’ve tried myrcene by itself (bought as a chemical) it didn’t make a difference. I don’t think its placebo. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/97 "2022-09-18T03:33:56Z")
Does dried mango work? I have some at home. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/98 "2022-09-19T01:28:41Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > The taxes are a small price to pay for the peace of mind that comes with not be labeled a criminal. In fact a lot of the perceived paranoia that’s been associated with pot smoking could come from it having been illegal for so long and the aspect of being arrested and losing your job or profession could cause guilt that leads to paranoia. “. . .having been illegal for so long and the aspect of being arrested and losing your job or profession could cause guilt that leads to paranoia.” \<==THIS, THIS, THIS I’ve been using pot since 1968, over 50 years ago, and still feel the need to skulk about when I’m buying it or smoking it. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623/99 "2022-09-26T13:48:42Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Does dried mango work? I have some at home. I’ve tried all sorts of mango forms and not noticed much of any difference, though pot does generally have a very weak affect on me as it is, so I may not be the best to ask. I do feel somewhat left out of the cool experiences by most and only sometimes get a mild affect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-distinction-between-sativa-and-indica-supported-by-research-or-is-it-marketing/970623.md?page=4)