Dr. Raber's assertions, if borne out by the data, spells big trouble for websites like Leafly, which recently sold for an undisclosed sum to
private equity firm Privateer Holdings. According to the logic of the
predominant pot nomenclature, Leafly is king; with thousands of strains
listed and categorized by user reports, the slick-looking website has
been called “the Yelp of weed.”
By aggregating the responses of users and ranking strains based on
those responses, Leafly aims to cut through cannabis consumers'
confusion and provide objective data on all new strains as they arrive.
But how can all of that data be of any use to patients when, as Dr.
Raber asserts, an OG Kush bought in one dispensary bears precious little
resemblance to OG Kush bought at the dispensary next door?
It gets even worse than that. Dr. Norman Zinberg, author of the seminal Drug, Set, and Setting,
explodes any idea that the effects of drug use are strictly
deterministic – in other words, that two people with different life
experiences will experience the same high from cannabis, even if they're
sharing the same joint. According to Dr. Zinberg, nothing could be
further from the truth: while one person may feel giggly and content,
the other may become edgy and paranoid. In fact, Zinberg provocatively
asserts that the mind set and the physical setting of the drug user have
effects equal to the drug itself when used, providing the basis for his
book's name. This means that even identical twins smoking identical
weed may have vastly different drug experiences therefrom, provided that
their minds are dwelling on separate subjects at the time or that their
immediate setting may be different. One may say that the herb is
uplifting and euphoric; the other may report its sedative effects. Same
genetics. Same pot. Vastly different reactions.The sum total of the findings of Dr. Raber and Dr. Zinberg means that the patient-reported data employed by Leafly and dispensaries nationwide is essentially bunk. To the extent that there is any consistency at all, such results are more likely the result of Zinberg's observed power of the user's mind set (i.e., if the user expects to get a creative boost because it says so on the label) than any kind of pharmacological congruency. Because such congruency does not exist (as shown by Dr. Raber) and because self-reported data is so unlikely to translate between subjects (as implied by the work of Dr. Zinberg), Leafly and nearly every marijuana outlet in the country are barking entirely up the wrong tree.
There is a better way. Dr. Raber's lab and others – notably Steep Hill Laboratory in Oakland – have already developed sophisticated techniques for testing cannabis for cannabinoid and terpene content, meaning that every gram of bud sold could potentially carry a label breaking down the entire drug experience with the most accurate data available. Cannabinoid content, and especially the ratio between THC and CBD, can be compared to gauge the bud's potency; terpene profiles can be aggregated to predict flavor and smell. With complete information and a little experience, consumers can learn over time what works best for them, empowering themselves to make better decisions when trying new strains in the future. But unfortunately, state regulations are already headed in the wrong direction. Washington state, for example, has passed labeling rules providing woefully incomplete information, making it much more difficult for consumers there to make informed purchases.
A better system would set up 'grades' of cannabis according to potency and flavor, through a system similar to the way computer processors are ranked according to post-manufacture testing. Just as CPUs each come out of the factory a little different but can be ranked for speed according to stress tests, so can cannabis, with all its minute variations, be tested by laboratories after curing and ranked by brackets of potency. Terpene levels can also be standardized; machine-learning software can analyze the relative prevalence of each fragrance-producing chemical to rank buds by its fruity, piney and other scents.
When the cannabis industry adopts a common language across producers, processors and retailers, the winners will be the consumers. Any person of legal age will be able to walk into a store or dispensary and easily compare the options without having to know the subtleties behind such obscure names as J1 or XJ-13. Consumers deserve such consideration; and the first company to deliver it to them stands to make a lot of money.
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