There is more to cannabis than just THC

Cannabis patients tend to be overly focused on THC percentage when purchasing their medicine.  This should not be the sole metric with which to judge quality. Purchasing and using cannabis only based on this metric is similar to someone walking into a liquor store and asking only for wine with the highest alcohol percentage. Like wine, cannabis has a wide variety of smells, tastes, and effects. The medicinal values of cannabis are wide-ranging and are actually found more in the combination of diverse cannabinoids and terpenes. This holistic medicinal value is called the “Entourage Effect.”

The “Entourage Effect” is a term coined by Shimon Ben-Shabat and Raphael Mechoulam back in 1998, to represent the biological synergy of cannabinoids, flavonoids and terpenes found in cannabis. When a medical patient consumes cannabis flower or its extracts, the cannabinoids and terpenes together form a synergistic influence that is the medical effect.  This symbiosis between cannabinoids and terpenes is what gives different cultivars of cannabis their varied flavors, smells, and effects. The presence of terpenes in the medicine consumed can do many things: some can improve the absorption of cannabinoids, overcome bacterial defense mechanisms, and even minimize side effects of high THC dosages. To read further look at our Cannabinoids and Terpenes pages on our website.