Seattle-based cannabis resource, Leafly today introduced a new visual guide aimed at helping people better-understand cannabis and make more-informed decisions when choosing products.
Utilizing the latest scientific understanding of cannabis, the new Leafly Cannabis Guide goes beyond the standard indica, sativa, and hybrid designations and conveys information about terpenes, cannabinoid content, and effects of different varieties of cannabis.
“Cannabis has unique physiological effects for each of us,” says Leafly CEO Tim Leslie. “As our understanding of cannabis grows, so does our need for a more sophisticated, yet intuitive language to help people navigate the very personal effects cannabis has. While indica, sativa, and hybrid are a starting point for understanding cannabis, this form of categorization doesn’t take advantage of our growing understanding of the effects of various compounds found within the plant.”
Leslie says that the Leafly scientists have condensed information into an intuitive visual language that can help people better understand cannabis and find the strain that is right for them.
To convey a particular strain’s qualities and effects, the Guide uses a language of geometrically-arranged letters, shapes, and colors.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is represented by a diamond which is shown as more-elongated when there is more THC in a certain strain.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is indicated by a circle which is shown as larger or smaller depending on how much CBD there is in a strain.
Colors indicate terpene content
Colors represent which terpenes can be found in a particular strain.
Together, the shapes and colors can provide an at-a-glance indication of a strain’s cannabinoid content and effects.
Previously, Leafly utilized a more-simple colored tile system which indicated sativa strains as red, indica as purple, and hybrid as green.
The new system uses a combination of thousands of customer reviews from website and app users and data from select laboratories including Confidence Analytics in Washington, SC Labs in California, ChemHistory in Oregon, MCS in Florida, PSI Labs in Michigan, and Anandia in Canada.
Leafly plans to announce more lab partners later this year.
