Science and Culture: Integrating Indica-Sativa Terminology at East Fork
At East Fork, we’ve always been big proponents of evidence-based practices and also had an affinity for the deep, generational culture of cannabis cultivation.
In communicating about our farm and our products, we’ve consistently opted to use language that is the most accurate and precise: accepted (and not misused) scientific terminology.
We’ve chosen to say cannabis and not marijuana, cultivar or variety over strain, and to discuss genotypes, phenotypes, and chemotypes rather than Indicas, Sativas, and Hybrids.
We’ve resisted using the vernacular or “folk taxonomy” of Indica, Sativa, and Hybrid to refer to the effects of cannabis products, as these terms are no longer connected to their original botanical meanings.
With deep respect for the work and sacrifices of breeders and growers before us, we have also looked forward to accessing increased empirical data that science could offer about the plant’s many varieties.
But new scientific understanding hasn’t come fast enough to create much evolution in general public knowledge about cannabis, even as more and more people are using it.
A big part of learning is meeting people where they are – and Indica-Sativa terminology is a mainstay of the cannabis-consuming public’s understanding.
How It Started
Production of cannabis in the US – and with it, America’s cannabis culture – rose in the underground (often literally, in basements).
With the advent of decriminalization and legalization progress, that culture has long since come into the open, and gained access to new scientific and agricultural tools.
For those Oregonians working in cannabis (like our team at East Fork), the eight years since our state’s adult-use legalization feels like much longer.
Many of us were eagerly optimistic that further progress was inevitable and not far behind: scientific advances, tax reform, even federal legalization – all just around the corner.
Maybe five to seven years away, maybe even three!
How It’s Going
How starry-eyed we were.
While there have been some advances, the pace of progress has been much slower than we all had hoped.
The realm of science promised the development of a new classification system for cannabis which would help people better find specific effects they were seeking, and would further the integration of cannabis therapeutics into mainstream medical care.
But this particular aspect of cannabis – a chemotype standard and taxonomy – has remained elusive.
We still don’t have clear scientific categories for the array of different chemical compositions that cannabis expresses.
Meanwhile, for years many people involved in the movement for cannabis legalization have decried the cannibalization of its culture, along with increasing corporatization of the industry.
Cannabis grew from a subculture to a mainstream culture, but it became contested – a battleground even.
Science or Culture?
Science has offered valid critiques about the lack of predictable reliability in plant expression, and pushback against the incorrect use of its terminology such as “strain,” “Indica,” and “Sativa.”
However, some of these voices have also cast shade on the knowledge and trustworthiness of cultivators and breeders.
Legacy growers and breeders, on the other hand, have seen their body of work under attack by people who generally have far less hands-on and personal experience with the plant than they do.
However, some of these voices have denied the value of empirical cannabis evidence and disparaged the motives of anyone who seeks it.
Our online era especially inflames our divisions and urges us to pick a side – in this case: Science or Culture?
The most strident voices on either side are ready to tell you why theirs is The Correct One – but either way, there will be scathing detractors.
The Value of Both/And
Sides need not be taken, though – there is a middle way.
East Fork chooses to take an approach that mindfully incorporates both science and culture, using the best of both to continue evolving our collective knowledge of the plant.
And in fact, the most cutting-edge science is moving in this direction too.
A recent study that compared cannabis labeling to the flower’s genetic and chemical makeup found that there was no statistical association between the strain names and their genetic identity.
Importantly though, the researchers did find an association between “a small number of terpenes associated with key Cannabis aromas” (including farnesene, myrcene, and eudesmol) and whether the flower was labeled Indica or Sativa.
As Project CBD writer Nate Seltenrich summarized, “If we want to keep these [Indica-Sativa] designations, they’d be better assigned based on an analysis of specific terpenes or their genetic markers in the plant, and not according to lineage, breeding history, or general assumptions about type.”
But notice that the crucial link in this discovery was the experiential piece.
Growers and sellers of cannabis were labeling flower as Indica or Sativa based upon their experiences of the plant – almost certainly consumption, not just smell.
This makes sense because terpenes (along with flavonoids), “simultaneously influence cannabis flavor and effect.”
And those sensory experiences were then validated through empirical analysis, showing a broad applicability.
We wouldn’t have that data or this finding without the contributions of people who work with cannabis, who consume it, and are experts on its effects.
So thank you, connoisseurs of the plant!
Collaboration between cannabis science and culture was key to this understanding, and it’s clear that there’s room for each approach to evolve and continue integrating new information.
East Fork’s Evolution
For East Fork, part of our evolution on this issue is acknowledging that many people continue to find the Indica-Sativa-Hybrid labels helpful.
We want to do what we can to help people find what they’re seeking, so you’ll see us using this labeling on some of our products going forward.
We’ll continue to utilize the current Type I-V cannabis taxonomy, and of course to provide as much comprehensive information as possible about our plants and products, including our full test results with terpene profiles.
And we’ll keep on pursuing the latest information that illuminates just why and how this fascinating plant does the many things that it does.
We’ll keep evolving as we go, nourishing our knowledge from both our roots and our leaves.
After all, it’s about both – science and culture.
