If you have heard of hybrid cannabis but you are unsure if whether you should consume it because you do not know if it is an upper or downer, then you probably want to know which it is.
The effects cannabis, and by extension, hybrid cannabis has on the user depends on the chemical elements and structure of the cannabis, and because this can vary with hybrid cannabis, this makes it less clear to some users which affect a strain of hybrid cannabis will have.
For a quick answer whether a hybrid cannabis is an upper or downer will depend on the chemical elements it contains and this can vary between different strains of hybrid cannabis.
For example, there are some terpenes like limonene which can be in your hybrid cannabis which will energize users and give upper effects, while hybrid cannabis could also contain a terpene like myrcene which is a lot more relaxing and acts like a downer.
But then, there are also some strains which contain a high percentage of pinene which has a mix of both uplifting upper effects, and relaxing downer effects.
Generally speaking, if you are buying a sativa dominant strain of hybrid cannabis, you are more likely to get energizing effects from the cannabis similar to an upper. Whereas, if you get an indica dominant strain of hybrid cannabis, you will likely get more relaxing downer effects.
While this is the general trend, this is not a rule, and there will be some more relaxing sativa dominant strains, and more energizing indica dominant strains.
If you are unsure about the effects your hybrid cannabis will have on you, the best thing for you to do is to research the strain and talk to your distributor about it so you know what you are getting yourself into.
The rest of this article will give you more information about hybrid cannabis, so, if you are looking for information on this type of cannabis, keep reading to get the information which you are looking for!
More About Hybrid Cannabis
Most of the strains of cannabis which are readily available are usually strains of hybrid cannabis, because of this, some people do not know what hybrid cannabis actually is, and how it affects us.
If you are looking to learn more about hybrid cannabis, then keep reading to get some important information!
What Is Hybrid Cannabis?
Hybrid cannabis is cannabis which contains both sativa genes as well as indica genes, because of this, most cannabis plants which you find will be a hybrid and will contain both of these types of genes.
There is a distinction between a pure indica strain, and a pure sativa strain, however, these are usually meaningless, instead of this, people tend to differentiate cannabis based on its terpene profile, as well as its growth pattern.
Because of this, you will usually find hybrid cannabis being called either a sativa dominant strain, or an indica dominant strain.
A sativa dominant hybrid cannabis will usually have terpenes which are more sweet and herbal, the most common examples of this are bergamotene, as well as farnesene.
However, an indica dominant strain will tend to feature more sedative type terpenes like myrcene being much more dominant.
You can tell if a cannabis plant is sativa dominant or indica dominant based on some different factors like the lineage of the plant, as well as its morphology.
There are also more subjective methods of telling if a plant is sativa or indica dominant, like the flavor of the plant, or its aroma.
While there are plenty of very common hybrid strains of cannabis which are popular, there is a massive variety of different strains of hybrid cannabis and these will all have different effects based on their chemical makeup.
How Is Hybrid Cannabis Made?
You can make hybrid cannabis by crossing a strain of cannabis with another and these are called cultivars. You do this by breeding a male plant with a female plant which are in different strains.
Some examples of this are cannabis cultivators crossing a pure male indica strain with a pure female sativa strain. This will give you a perfectly balanced hybrid which will sometimes be referred to as a 50/50 hybrid.
When the plants are being bred, the male plant will pollinate your female plant, and this will make seeds of both plants effectively mixing both strains.
After this the offspring of the male and the female plant will show qualities of both plants, however, you will sometimes see the offspring showing phenotypes which tend to resemble one plant more than the other.
You can find hybrids which participate in more selective breeding styles which will usually produce more desirable qualities from the parent plants.
Health Benefits And Uses Of Hybrid Cannabis
For the most part, hybrid cannabis will offer most of the same health benefits as pure or landrace cannabis which has not been crossed with any other species (see also “What Is The Healthiest Vape?“). However, this means that hybrid cannabis still has all of these beneficial effects you will find in other cannabis.
One of the most common health benefits which is experienced from consuming hybrid cannabis is that it helps with alleviating symptoms of anxiety or depression. While it by no means cures the user of these disorders, it can definitely help.
You can now quite commonly find cannabidiol, or just CBD being recommended for aiding with generalized anxiety disorder (see also “Is Sativa Better For Anxiety Or Indica?“), as well as social anxiety, panic disorder, as well as PTSD .
However, you can also find some users experiencing any symptoms of anxiety getting worse after using hybrid cannabis, so this is by no means something which will help everyone.
It has also been found that hybrid cannabis can help users who are suffering with insomnia get better sleep, and those who suffer from chronic pain can also find hybrid cannabis helping alleviate some of the effects of their pain.
Hybrid cannabis has also been shown to help with reducing inflammation.
Potential Risks And Side Effects Of Hybrid Cannabis
It is definitely worth discussing the potential side effects and risks which come with consuming hybrid cannabis. Like the previous point, there are very similar issues with consuming hybrid cannabis as there are with pure cannabis.
There are some side effects which you can experience when consuming cannabis like; dry mouth, red eyes, hallucinations, paranoia, nausea, headaches, fatigue, and lightheadedness are some of the most common.
You will find that effects like this are a lot more common if you have just started smoking cannabis, or if you have been consuming too much cannabis at the same time.
If you are trying to recover from the effects of cannabis, many users have been able to help themselves by chewing on black peppercorns.
It is worth keeping in mind that all of the side effects of cannabis are temporary, and there has never been a fatal overdose from cannabis documented on record.
Summary
Hopefully this article has given you the information you were looking for about hybrid cannabis. So, as you have read, hybrid cannabis can act as both an upper or a downer, but this is not always perfectly balanced and generally relies on the terpene profile.
Hi, my name is Ian James and I have been in the vape industry for almost seven years. I own a business specializing in vaping products and paraphernalia.
I created this website to share the truths about vaping and to stop the spread of misinformation. Please, enjoy my website and come in with an open mind. You never know what you might come out with!
