# Why does marijuana smell different than it did in the '80s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-marijuana-smell-different-than-it-did-in-the-80s/831815 "2019-03-31T18:33:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [April 12, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-marijuana-smell-different-than-it-did-in-the-80s/831815/41 "2019-04-12T19:21:32Z")
Oh, yeah, I forgot about the aero-cloner I played around with! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-marijuana-smell-different-than-it-did-in-the-80s/831815/42 "2019-04-12T19:35:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Moderating] > Just a reminder, everyone, that we’re not allowed to encourage illegal activity on this board, and marijuana remains illegal everywhere in the United States… MJ is legal for medicinal uses in 33 states and recreational use in 10, with some overlap. [Cite](https://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000881) ---
**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:** [April 13, 2019, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-marijuana-smell-different-than-it-did-in-the-80s/831815/43 "2019-04-13T00:23:54Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > The biggest difference I notice aside from the smell is that back in the 1960’s weed would give someone a tight head feeling, it felt like an elastic band was tightly wrapped around your head. I have not experienced that since the early 1970’s. Inspite of the huge difference in THC I don’t find the effects to be all that much stronger. I would take the old stuff if I could find it. From what i understand it was mostly grown in Mexico. That’s almost certainly due to low-quality, poorly preserved weed in your area at the time. When I was younger, you could tell that the weed we were smoking started to be less potent and tasty as the summer wore on. By September, about half of what you bought was likely to give you a headache. I generally attributed this to the suppliers getting to the end of their inventory from the last harvest, which had been getting hot all summer in whatever non climate-controlled building they were using. By mid-October, the earliest harvests were coming in, and by November pretty much any weed you bought was good again. And yeah, perfecting a pure hydroponic or aero grow is purely about the speed of growth of the plant, not about the quality of the end product. As long as you start with the same genes and take care of the plants, it’ll be the same potency. To provide a legal analog, hydroponic tomatoes don’t taste any better, they just grow faster in a smaller space. ---
**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:** [April 13, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-marijuana-smell-different-than-it-did-in-the-80s/831815/44 "2019-04-13T00:40:20Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > MJ is legal for medicinal uses in 33 states and recreational use in 10, with some overlap. [Cite](https://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000881) It is, however, still illegal under federal law. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-marijuana-smell-different-than-it-did-in-the-80s/831815/45 "2019-04-13T04:43:43Z")
> [@DaveRaver](#): > > Back in the '80s, marijuana had a unique, pleasant odor. Nowadays, it smells like a skunk. Why does it smell different nowadays? If TV has taught me anything it’s that you’ve gone nose blind. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-marijuana-smell-different-than-it-did-in-the-80s/831815/46 "2019-04-14T14:59:50Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > The biggest difference I notice aside from the smell is that back in the 1960’s weed would give someone a tight head feeling, it felt like an elastic band was tightly wrapped around your head. Again, this might be a strain thing. [Headband](https://www.leafly.ca/hybrid/headband) is known for that effect, > [@](#): > > Many report that the effects create a slight pressure around the crown of their head and feels as though they are wearing a headband. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-marijuana-smell-different-than-it-did-in-the-80s/831815.md?page=2)