As the cannabis industry morphs from an underground “stoner” culture into a mainstream business, marketing and branding experts say it’s critical that breeders, growers and retail shop owners be alert to how the general public perceives their products. This is particularly important if the industry wants to make marijuana more appealing to a wider audience and get state and federal lawmakers on board.

Marijuana strain names are a good place to focus, experts said.

While longtime cannabis users may think nothing of names like AK-47 or Alaskan Thunder F#*$, such monikers can scare off uninitiated consumers and florida marijuana doctors and patients as well as raise eyebrows among lawmakers. Some strain names turn off people because they are offensive, sound scary or invoke deadly drugs.

Some companies are already taking action. Many growers announced the abandoning of traditional strain names in favor of an “effects-based” classification system using terms like “calm” and “cruise.”

“You shouldn’t need to bio-hack your body through a periodic table of ominous strain names like Trainwreck just to buy some pot.

Many Patient Groups came to a similar conclusion a while back. A California dispensary worked with a grower to come up with an alternative for the strain Green Crack. It’s now called Dream Queen.

“Green Crack is not very medicinal sounding, which is what we’re trying to portray the dispensary’s director of marketing. “Dream Queen, which is well-used throughout the industry, takes the edge off a name like Green Crack. It’s a widely acceptable use of an interchangeable name.”

Patients Group and marijuana doctors in florida also has reassessed other products. It previously sold a hash wafer named Shiva Crystals, which some of its patients took offense to for religious reasons. Shiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism.

“It was not super offensive, but it had a religious undertone that was offensive. “That was a very high-quality marijuana product, and we had to work with the manufacturer to change the name to be able to carry that top-quality product.”

The dispensary ended up calling the product Hash Wafer.

Understand the Meanings

Strain names typically reference the genetics of the two parent cannabis plants that created the flowers ultimately sold in dispensaries. The word “kush,” for example, is found in a number of strains that are descendants of indica plants originally grown in the Kush mountain range around Afghanistan and India. Chem and Dawg also are qualifiers found in many strains.

While there’s science and history behind what strains are called, many have names that perpetuate the industry’s counterculture. Marketing and branding experts say that could be detrimental to the marijuana industry moving forward.

“If formalized opposition occurs for any kind of legalization, the industry doesn’t want to give that opposition any fuel for a negative advertising campaign. The industry doesn’t want to give its opponents those high-octane names for its strains.

All Natural MD – “What are patients saying?”, and said they’ll keep testimonials anonymous. Well, we’ve gone one better, and will provide you with video testimonials from patients who readily and publicly admit to using cannabis for their health condition …

The All Natural MD practice sees hundreds of patients a day. The numbers of people coming through our doors and saying “Cannabis helps me” or even “Cannabis is the only medicine that helps me” is huge. Moreover, it’s not just the common (though still serious) problems of depression and anxiety, either, but everything from rare cancers to diabetes to epilepsy to Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“Replacing painkillers with marijuana made me feel human again.” Mike has injuries in both of his knees, and has been waiting four-and-a-half years for surgery on his left knee. Sadly, Mike has fallen several times whilst he was on crutches, and now needs surgery on his right knee as well. Unsurprisingly, Tom is often in excruciating pain.”

“The prescription for the degree of pain I was in and how often I needed to be treated, it was predicted I’d be on OxyContin within three years. That scared the daylights out of me.” Tom is right to be scared of oxycodone, the main active substance in OxyContin. Prescriptions like OxyContin carry the claim that they will work for 12 hours. Now, whilst this may be true for some, it is nowhere near being true for all, and this may well increase the chances of OxyContin being abused. Indeed, calling OxyContin a “Commercial Triumph, Public Health Tragedy” doesn’t seem too far off the mark.

There are several other reasons why Tom was and is right to be afraid of opioids and extremely powerful anti-inflammatories. People prescribed opioids can have trouble sleeping and eating. Opioids don’t necessarily decrease joint swelling or inflammation, and powerful anti-inflammatories can cause all sorts of problems with internal organs (in particular the kidneys). The withdrawal symptoms of these kinds of drugs may just be swapping one set of problems for another. Feeling dehydrated is also a common side-effect of opioids. Tom knows all about these issues.

“They had me on such exotic pain medications and anti-inflammatories, and the problem was my entire metabolism had shifted, because I can’t walk. And so, everything that was mild and manageable about my conditions became out of control. They [the drugs]made me sick. They’re causing chronic inflammation. Chronic joint swelling. I just deteriorated very quickly.”

You are not alone if you’ve spent most of your adult life believing that cannabis is bad for you. I used to think cannabis was unhealthy, but it turns out it was my lack of knowledge and education that was unhealthy.

We have a lot to catch up on, as cannabis research and science education was restricted for the greater part of the 20th century. It’s time to take on the knowledge we need to be informed, and, if we choose, safe and educated consumers.

Cannabis was a healthy addition to my life once I took the time to understand the following lessons.

1. Cannabinoids: How cannabis interacts in the human body

Did you know your body makes its own version of cannabis? Cannabinoids are the complex active compounds in cannabis that mimic naturally occurring compounds produced by your body, in your endocannabinoid system (ECS). We didn’t learn about the ECS in school because it wasn’t discovered until 1992 when researchers were looking at how THC interacts with the human body.

There are many different cannabinoids found in cannabis, up to 100 by some reports, with the most famous being THC and CBD. These active compounds in medical marijuana doctors in florida bind to the receptor sites throughout our ECS in the brain and body, affecting mood and feeling.

Recent research has suggested that if your body is not performing optimally, it may be because of a lack of naturally-produced cannabinoids in your endocannabinoid system, resulting in cannabinoid deficiency. Careful consumption of cannabis could help maintain optimal health and body function, also known as homeostasis and is available to florida medical marijuana doctors and patients.

There is the chance that you might get too much of a good thing, so it’s important to take your time to know your cannabis 101 and talk to a cannabis educated doctor.

2. THC vs CBD: Not all cannabis products will get you high

Want the benefits of cannabis without the high?  Focusing on products lower in THC (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and higher in CBD (cannabidiol) may provide the solution. THC has strong psychoactive properties and CBD is non-psychoactive. While there are other active compounds in cannabis THC and CBD are the ones most identified and readily available in cannabis products in Canada, for now.

Although THC is proving to have many medical applications, including chronic pain relief, for those who are new to cannabis and are concerned about the euphoria of the high, starting out with CBD products may be the ideal solution.

The cannabis oil drops I use by Tilray have a ratio of three parts CBD to one part THC, so the CBD is three times more than the THC. It provides me with mild pain relief with minimal mind alteration other than some relaxation and increased focus.

It’s also possible to get the benefits of cannabis through topical products such as salves, lotions, massage oil, bath soak, lip balm and more. When I apply topicals, the THC and active compounds are not absorbed into my bloodstream or digestive system so I don’t feel the psychoactive properties but the pain relief I get is locally targeted.