Smarter Weed Choices: Choosing Cannabis Beyond Strain Names

This article was originally published on The Fresh Toast and appears here with permission.

Marijuana strains are the most straightforward way to catalog cannabis, even if these labels aren’t the most accurate.

Marijuana users and sellers put a lot of weight on strains. With more legal weed, these labels have become increasingly meaningless But not accounting for terpene levels and cannabinoids, they’re the easiest way of cataloging weed and its effects which helps buyers. But how does one choose weed other than by strain?

Finding a different way to choose marijuana is not easy, but it’s possible if you account for different factors and are willing to approach cannabis through your senses. Here’s how to choose weed by judging for factors other than strain.

See also: Painful Truth: Chronic Pain Linked to Increased Tobacco And Cannabis Co-Use, Finds Duke University

It’s All Up To The Brand

Now that weed companies are popping up, cannabis growers and makers have a better understanding of cannabis. These brands are now trying to market the products in ways that are more accessible to different users, and more accurate to the experience of consuming them. Companies are now describing aroma profiles, taste, and more, trying to provide the most accurate description of products that get people to purchase them.

Choose By Smell And Feel

The smell and look of cannabis can help determine whether or not you’ll enjoy it or if you’ll like the taste. These factors also show whether or not the product is of good quality. Make sure the weed you want to buy has a strong and pleasant smell and that the bud is sticky and doesn’t fall apart easily in your fingers.

Know Your Terpenes

Terpenes are aromatic molecules present in different plants. In the case of cannabis, they affect its smell, taste, and effect, and are what makes one cannabis plant different from another. Terpenes’ interactions with cannabinoids are what produce the plant’s effects. You can read more here to understand terpenes’ effects further.

Ask Your Budtender Or Your Friends

If you don’t know a lot about weed, it can be difficult to know what makes a cannabis bud good or bad, or whether or not you’ll like it. While cannabis affects people in different ways, someone’s opinion on the drug and the way it feels can help you determine if that’s something you’re interested in trying out.

Trial And Error

Lastly, the best way to determine if you like a type of weed or not is to try it. It’s too simple an explanation but it’s the most accurate one, especially since weed expresses itself differently depending on the user. In short, if you like the way it smells and feels, you’ll likely like the way it affects you, so that’s a good place to start.

for science.

This article is from an external unpaid contributor. It does not represent Benzinga's reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.