Please Shut Up About Indica Versus Sativa

Lester Black | Aug 23, 2017

“Are you looking for an indica, a sativa, or a hybrid?”

Anyone who has walked into a legal weed store has heard this question. The majority of pot stores divide their products into these groups, and people who buy weed are used to the distinction—it’s older than pot shops are. Supposedly, indica sedates and sativa uplifts. But here’s a peculiar thing: That’s all bullshit.

The differences between indica and sativa plants are physical. Indicas are short and squat and supposedly come from the mountains of Pakistan. Sativas are tall and thin and supposedly come from the tropics. But according to Ethan Russo, a board-certified neurologist and one of the country’s leading cannabis researchers, these outward physical attributes have no power in predicting what kind of high you will get.