When I go to a dispensary and the budtender asks if I prefer sativa or indica, i ask them "if I showed you two plants, one indica and one sativa could you tell the difference?" I never got a yes answer, always no. Yet this is how we judge weed. In fact the words sativa and indica have nothing to do with effects.
Sativa in Latin means cultivar or domesticated plant. Indica in Latin simply means from India. Cannabis is Latin for hemp. Cannabis is were we get the word canvas. Derived from old Dutch cannavis meaning cloth plant. Cannabis Sativa translates to cultivated cloth plant. Cannabis Indica means cannabis from India. Also called in English Indian hemp. Cannabis Indica was Indian hemp in America long before we started using words like Indica. Indian hemp was a main ingredient in most American medicine prior to 1937. A new hybrid strain was in fact grow here in the USA called Cannabis Americana that was produced by American drug companies for medicine. Prohibition killed Cannabis Americana and now we are stuck with sativa or indica.
The fact is that some sativas knock you out and some indicas lift you up. Effects are mostly determined by terpines and other cannabanoids. The intention of the words sativa and indica has nothing to do with effects. Most plants today are crosses and in my opinion we should use words like uplifting or couch lock. I like Americana too. That is what it really is. It was the California hippies in the Emerald triangle that made weed what it is today. Give credit where credit is due. Let's call it Cannabis Americana. That is just my 2 cents on the matter.
