You may think you don’t know, but you already know what terpenes are. It’s what gives your favorite plants their smells and tastes. For instance, Pine trees are full of pinene, and Lavender is full of Linalool. They even have specific effects to each terpene. Why is lavender used for relaxation? We have found that linalool has a relaxing effect on humans through scientific study.
Now I know you think THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids are the healing powers of cannabis, and they are. However, terpenes play a significant role in the powers of cannabis. When they all work together, an entourage effect happens.
This means that when cannabinoids like THC and CBD work alongside terpenes, they do their best work as a team of compounds. THC and CBD can be helpful, but you get the most out of your product with terpenes included.
Terpenes can truly downplay the effects of the cannabinoids as well. Have you ever smoked two similar strains and found utterly different effects? One can knock you out for the night, while the other has you grabbing a toothbrush and soap bucket to clean the tiles in the bathroom—just another side of the entourage effect driven by terpenes and cannabinoids.
There are over 20,000 known terpenes, and cannabis carries over a hundred of these. Many cannabis plant terpenes are found elsewhere in nature. But let’s start with a few common terpenes found in cannabis, and then you can start looking up individual terps and their effects on your own.
Check out my blog posts on some of the more common terpenes found in cannabis and their effects.