The legal cannabis industry is worth billions of dollars, and only going to grow. But since the industry is still so young, regulated consistencies in products and effects do not yet exist as they do in industries such as alcohol.
One of the big challenges is “taming” THC; in other words, combining chemical compounds that enhance THC’s positive effects while minimizing the negative. The role of terpenes in cannabis help to maximize the high, while lessening potential anxiety or paranoia that can be the side effects of ingesting THC.
This research is an area that we can expect to see grow, as discouraged users report having had great experiences with cannabis, but also report having had terrible experiences as well.
As a result, we now see products marketed that promise effects such as active, chill, zen, and more.
But the most elusive aspect as to the effect of a cannabis product is the person ingesting it. Not only does the person’s body chemistry and tolerance level play into the effects, so do the circumstances. For example, a person who smokes weed at the end of a long, arduous day may experience a different high than they do if they smoke the same weed at a party, or before yoga, or prior to making art. A person may have a different experience based on an enhanced placebo effect, and their preconceived expectations of what they are about to ingest.
The one thing we know for sure is that the scientist(s) who figure out how to create a streamlined, dependable, predictable high, especially one that can be predictably manipulated, stands to make a lot of money in the long run.
Source: New York Times, National Library of Medicine, Current Neuropharmacology