Cannabis Terpenes: Why They’re Important To Consumption

Date: August 26, 2022

Different cannabis users have different reasons for consuming. It’s been used to chill after a stressful day at work, improve creativity when brainstorming ideas, or for medical reasons such as pain or insomnia. Either way, you should be aware of what is in your cannabis to make sure you can get to the level you want. There are many different components that make up a cannabis plant, many people consume cannabis for the THC content alone. CBD makes them feel good without the high, or a mix of both.This can’t always happen with just THC or CBD by itself, sometimes you want more than just the high.That’s where terpenes come in.

 

What are Terpenes?

The mixture of THC, CBD, and its varying ratios of compounds called terpenes can affect the sensations, enjoyability and medicinal value of your cannabis.Terpenes are the most common plant compound that give various cannabis strains and other plants its unique aroma, taste, effects, and medical benefits.  When you are dealing with raw cannabis flowers, trichomes, hairlike structures on the outside of the plant that protects the plant, produce a sticky substance that contains these terpenes. They are volatile, which means that they can evaporate at lower temperatures, so great care should be taken to preserve them. The types and amounts of terpenes in cannabis can differ from strain to strain depending on varying cultivation methods. 

 

Terpenes and Smell

The smell of terpenes not only gives you a product that smells good, it gives you an indication of what effects are to come based on your initial reaction, via organoleptics. Organoleptics subjective sensory testing that uses your senses (smell, taste, touch) to evaluate the characteristics and the quality of your raw flower. Take the terpene linalool, for example. Linalool is known for its calming effects due to its lavender-like scent. When you pay close attention to how the smell of certain terpenes make you feel, you may catch the calming effect after the first whiff. It may give you a sense of the quality of flower that you may want to buy. Any flower you get that looks discolored or smells musty or like fresh grass, you may want to steer clear of.

 

Benefits of Terpenes

Mood Balance 

Not only do terpenes have distinctive smells and tastes, they can enhance the elevated experience with your cannabis strains. Some terpenes, such as limonene, can have positive effects on your mood. This is due to how they interact with your brain. Within your brain, terpenes can attach to the site of action to create an effect. Specifically, terpenes can act on the serotonin transporter. Because serotonin has a role in mood regulation, it is the site of action for many conventional antidepressants. They can also increase norepinephrine activity , which controls your mood, alertness, and attention. Because of their action on some of the body’s most important mood regulators, terpenes can maximize the effects of our body’s existing chemicals.

 

Boost Therapeutic Impact

The entourage effect between THC and CBD have been well known, meaning that they work better together than by themselves. When drugs are being developed to act on the brain, they will primarily be lipophilic, or more likely to dissolve in fat, to cross the brain’s fat-like barrier. Terpenes are also a part of this when exerting effectual  therapeutic properties. Because of their fatty, greasy content, terpenes cross through the brain’s barrier and make it easier for cannabinoids to do the same. 

The terpene’s ability to cross into the brain to exert effects can positively change your sensations and your ability to think. THC by itself can reduce the sensation of pain. With the help of the painkiller myrcene, the terpene commonly found in indica strains, the pain you experience can be dulled to a manageable level. The terpene pinene can also have an effect on your brain by blocking the breakdown of chemicals that aid in memory, thinking and focus.

Crossing into the brain means terpenes can increase the desirable effects such as thinking and pain relief, but can decrease unwanted effects.Many regular cannabis consumers have gotten too high off a strain that may not have been the best for them. Linalool, a terpene commonly found in lavender, has calming effects that can potentially balance the feeling of losing it.

 

Effects The ‘High’ Type

The entourage effects are just isolated to the medicinal effects of cannabinoids like THC and CBD. Terpenes can also affect the high that you want. Terpenes like myrcene and linalool may be good when you need an alternative way to take a break from the stress and just think less about your problems to come. When you want to paint, draw or write a rough draft of an essay, you may want to try a strain high in limonene or pinene. Sometimes a mix of these terpenes may balance their own effects. Finding and strain with the right mix of myrcene and limonene can leave you feeling calm, creative, and productive. Looking for the strain with the right ratio of cannabinoids and terpenes is important for your experience with cannabis.

 

Terpene Takeaway

The types of terpene in your product can be the deciding factor between what you want to experience and what you actually experience when consuming cannabis. Terpenes are the key to you having the best time out with friends or getting cozy on a stormy night.

 

Check out our terpene-rich strains sold at Jamestown Dispensary:

  • High in Myrcene- Modified Bananas by Shango
  • High in Linalool- Sour OG by Shango
  • High in Pinene- Animal Face by Riggs Family Farms
  • High in Limonene- Doc Holiday by Shango

 

References: 

Britt, E. E. (2019, July 21). Cannabis industry gets crafty with terpenes . Cen.acs.org. Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/natural-products/Cannabis-industry-crafty-terpenes/97/i29

Innovations, O. T. (2021, January 14). Botanical vs. cannabis-derived terpenes. Terpene Warehouse. Retrieved August 3, 2022, from https://www.terpenewarehouse.com/blogs/news/botanical-terpenes-vs-cannabis-derived-terpenes

Russo E. B. (2011). Taming THC: potential cannabis synergy and phytocannabinoid-terpenoid entourage effects. British journal of pharmacology, 163(7), 1344–1364. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1476-5381.2011.01238.x

What's the difference between botanical and cannabis-derived terpenes? Phyto Extractions. (2020, September 25). Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://phytoextractions.ca/whats-the-difference-between-botanical-and-cannabis-derived-terpenes/

Warren, K. E. (2018). Beyond the blood:brain barrier: The importance of central nervous system (CNS) pharmacokinetics for the treatment of CNS tumors, including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Frontiers in Oncology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2018.00239

Related Posts

crossmenuchevron-down linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram