Cannabis, Hemp, and Marijuana – What’s the Difference?

 

Cannabis, hemp, and marijuana. They’re all basically the same, right? I’d always thought marijuana and hemp were the subspecies of cannabis. Take the willow tree, for example. The scientific family name for willow is Salix, while the scientific name for two of its subspecies is Salix caprea (pussy willow) and Salix babylonica (weeping willow).

 

I was also under the impression that cannabis indica and cannabis sativa were strain classifications for marijuana, like the sub-sub-species of cannabis. Sativa strains have long, skinny leaves and produce more of a head high, while indica strains are short plants with broad, dark green leaves, and give more of a body high.

 

But when I google the scientific name for marijuana and hemp, I get cannabis for both. Furthermore, Google describes them as varieties of cannabis sativa.

 

Cannabis sativa – what? How can marijuana and hemp have the same name, and where does cannabis indica fall into the equation?

 

As I conducted my research on this important question, I found myself running in circles. I read blog posts among blog posts, but to my dismay found the majority of them contradicted each other. Some confirmed what I’d thought originally, while others supported my google search, but without much more explanation. It seems I’m not the only one who is confused.

 

At this point, I decided to take the advice of my high school teacher’s who’d adamantly discredited any blog or common contribution source used in research papers. From now on, I’d only read articles that resembled the painstakingly boring research of structured education.

 

Everything made so more sense once I realized that sativa simply means “cultivated.”^[1] So, cannabis sativa literally means “cultivated cannabis”. The name was coined in 1753 by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus to describe the cannabis plant native to Europe and western Eurasia. Most notably was its small percentage of THC.

 

Cannabis indica translates to “cannabis from India.” It was named by Jean Baptiste Lamarck in 1785 after studying samples of it. He found it came from eastern Eurasia, and that it was very high in THC. Eastern Eurasian natives had been using it for marijuana and hashish, as well as fibers. 

 

The second species of cannabis indica was found in Afghanistan in 1974, where it was only used to make hashish. Since this genome had limited geographic range and restricted use, it was much different than the Eurasian species. This plant, or, cannabis afghanica, was short, robust, and had broad, dark green leaves compared to the Eurasian plants that were taller with light green, narrow leaves.

 

Sound familiar? It should since today those characteristics mark the difference between indica and sativa strains in marijuana. The question now is how did these strains get those names?

 

Basically, these strain names are a misnomer. They are used to describe the physical differences between marijuana plants, not genetic identity^[2]. The Eurasian plants named by Linnaeus and Lamarck that have narrow leaves were classified as cannabis sativa, while broad-leaved cannabis from Afghanistan was coined cannabis indica when it came to the United States in the 1970s.    

 

One important thing to keep in mind is that cannabis has been cultivated extensively and artificially selected for centuries. The ratios between THC and CBD in the different cannabis varieties is not the same as it was. The tall, narrow leaf plants that used to be low in THC are now high in it, unless of course it is being cultivated as hemp. This brings me to my second point: the legal definitions.

 

Legally, both marijuana and hemp are considered cannabis sativa^[3]. Google was right. They are distinguished by three different factors: statutory definitions, chemical makeup, and the difference in production practices.

 

Statutorily, marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug, though this is complicated by state legalization. Hemp is cleared as legal as long as it’s dry weight contains less than 0.3% of THC.

 

Chemically, the ratio between THC and CBD defines the difference between marijuana and hemp. A high ratio of CBD classifies the plant as a fiber-type (or hemp), so long as it is less than 1% THC. One percent is considered the threshold for the plant having psychoactive effects, thus classifying it as a drug-type (or marijuana). Since cannabinoids are concentrated in the flowers of the plant, marijuana also refers to the flowers and leaves that have upwards of 10% THC.

 

Production definitions rely on the cannabis varieties being grown, the methods used for growing, the timing of the harvest, and the selection of different traits. Ultimately, is it being grown for fiber and oil, or for medicinal/recreational uses?

 

Cannabis is a dioecious plant, meaning there are males and females. Females are more valuable for marijuana cultivators, whereas hemp cultivators favor the males. Marijuana and hemp fields are kept separated since cross-pollination would degrade the value of each crop.

 

Male hemp would pollinate female marijuana plants, making their flowers seedy and lowering their THC levels. Similarly, marijuana would raise the levels of THC in hemp, thus putting it over the legal threshold.

 

Marijuana plants are also kept short, leafy, and tightly clustered, while hemp is discouraged from flowering. This was, it will grow tall – useful since its stalks are used for fiber. Hemp is harvested for its stalks and seeds, while marijuana is grown for its resiny flowers and leaves.

 

Overall, genetic identity does not reflect cannabis nomenclature. The important definitions to know are legal, especially in today’s society, where cannabis laws are changing. Hemp and hemp-derived CBD are legal, as long as they strictly follow federal regulations^[4].

 

 By legal, I mean removed as a Schedule 1 drug – not made legal in a general sense^[5]. Marijuana and marijuana-derived CBD and THC are still Schedule 1’s, though, as mentioned earlier, state laws offer flexibility. As much as we may not like to admit, our high school teachers were right. We should always check our sources, and not take hearsay for truth.

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