BY MICHELLE ANN RIZZIO
Today’s article will be exploring secondary terpenes and how they work to help produce the entourage effect. Primary and secondary terpenes determine how prominent the experience of the strain will be. It is important to note that each cannabis strain incorporates multiple different terpenes to provide the whole experience of it. For instance, you cannot walk into a dispensary and ask for “linalool”. The cannabis market currently doesn’t provide isolated terpenes. You can however go into a dispensary and ask for a “linalool rich strain”. Your cannabis consultant will then be able to guide you into a direction of their more sedative and relaxing strains.
As an example, lately I have been really enjoying rich ocimene strains with beta caryophyllene so lately I have been using Sour Diesel and Lemon G, these assist with my pain scale but also keep me in a chipper and energetic demeanor. Remember, this is a new market, a new way of looking at cannabis, and an absolute new field of study in our society right now, so I highly recommend ALWAYS doing your own research. Green-flower.com is a fantastic resource for listening to cannabis based podcasts that offer professional and experience based findings.
Some secondary terpenes found in cannabis include: carene, fenchol, camphor, camphene, terpinene, guaiol, cymene, phytol, gui, menthol and isopulegol. The most notable effects of secondary terpenes for wellness are vast. For example, isopulegol which has the propensity to be gastroprotective and reduce seizure severity whereas menthol has the ability to relieve cold pain from sufferers of neuropathy. These secondary terpenes can work together to produce the overall entourage effect with your cannabis session. Please be aware, usually in distillates these full spectrum compounds are stripped away to produce a high THC content goo. You may not receive the same benefits from a distillate and if you’d like to experience the full spectrum in a concentrate go for a live resin or sauce option–but be aware less is best when starting out!
What exactly does the entourage effect do? The entourage effect is when terpenes and cannabinoids work together and affect the brain. The entirety of compounds found in the cannabis flower work together to create a psychoactive effect in the body. This allows for an awesome allowance for pain management. Secondary terpenes along with cannabinoids, flavonoids, and anthocyanins provide the user with a full feeling of relief. Depending on the terpene profile, one could fine tune their cannabis experience to assist in providing relief. It is really important to look past the THC percentages to understand this fully. The endocannabinoid system requires the full spectrum provided by the whole plant to be able to provide optimal relief. I have gone over many of the primary terpenes, cannabinoids, and the endocannabinoid system in prior articles which can all be found on coachellavalleyweekly.com.
