Why You Shouldn’t Look at THC %
The quality of a cannabis flower is not solely based on the THC levels, despite what many of us have been led to believe. There are a number of other important factors that determine quality, such as: where and how it was grown, the extraction process, and the terpene profile.
Imagine walking into a liquor store and asking the clerk for the bottle with the highest alcohol percentage because you assume that one must be the best. In this scenario, your thought process would be very incorrect as the strongest alcohols often taste the worst. In the same way, you would be foolish when walking into a dispensary and only looking at the flower with the highest THC.
How THC became everything
So, if THC isn’t everything when it comes to determining cannabis quality, how did we end up in this position where people view it as everything?
The “THC is king” belief has been around for decades now. Most experts agree it stems from the fact that cannabis is a complex plant with its variety of cannabinoids. Since THC is the most psychoactive compound in the plant, it became the primary marketing factor. “This flower is great, look at how high it tested in THC%.”
The CBD levels of flower used to hold more value for consumers, however, the market has shifted to favor users who solely value the more psychoactive THC. The high-THC marketing push has even led to some miseducation around cannabis. THC juicing is the act of artificially inflating THC percentages, past a level that is even possible, just to draw more interest in your product.
Terpene Profile
The terpene profile of a cannabis plant is what determines a strain’s flavors, subtleties, and expected effects. It is far more important than THC% for finding the flower that is right for you, yet most consumers are unaware of what it all means. Below is a great chart to get started (via Hydroponique):
The terpene profile of a particular flower may not be visibly displayed at the dispensary, or on their website, but it never hurts to ask an informed budtender, or search online, “What is the terpene profile for ___ strain?”
Finding YOUR ideal flower
While high-THC percentages do indicate a level of potency in the flower, it also indicates a deficit of other compounds that make the flower great in different ways. Flowers that are higher in THC will be lower in CBD, which can be less enjoyable or desirable for some users. Some high-THC flower can also produce negative side effects for users, such as anxiety.
It's important to find the flower that is right for you, as opposed to finding the flower with the highest THC percentage. We advise all cannabis users to explore strains with different terpene profiles, and different THC-CBD ratios, and determine what works best for them!
