Cannabis 101
Common Terms and Some Information About the Cannabis Industry
Some Key Terms
- Terpenes
- Aromatic compounds found naturally in the cannabis flower. They contribute to the unique qualities between different strains and flowers.
- Sativa, indica, hybrid
- Sativa describes plants that grow tall and narrow-leaved, historically from warmer regions with longer growing seasons. Indica describes shorter, broader-leaved, faster-finishing plants. Hybrid means the genetics cross the two, which today is nearly all of them. Decades of breeding mean very little in a Canadian store is purely one or the other, and a label saying “indica” usually means indica-dominant rather than pure. Health Canada does not regulate or verify these three words as indicators of effects. They are naming conventions the industry inherited from the legacy market, and two producers can label similar genetics differently. Treat them as a starting point for a conversation at the till, not as a specification.
- Strain names
- Lineage names from the plant’s history, often legacy-market street names. In the legal market some producers use new names for the same genetics.
- THC and CBD
- THC is the main psychoactive cannabinoid in cannabis, while CBD is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid. Unlike THC, CBD does not produce the same intoxicating high. Higher THC levels generally mean stronger intoxicating effects, although the experience varies from person to person. THC and CBD levels alone do not reliably predict the overall experience. The effects also depend on the dose, individual tolerance, route of consumption, and the product’s broader chemical profile.
General Information
Where legal cannabis comes from, why it is packaged the way it is, and what we carry.
- Origin
- Produced in Canada by Licensed Producers vetted and regulated by the Government of Canada.
- Packaging
- All packaging for cannabis products must be child-proof and carry specific product labels and warning stickers. That is why there is so much of it.
- What we sell
- Dried flower, pre-rolls, cannabis vapes and carts, concentrates, edibles and beverages, capsules, oils, topicals, seeds and accessories.
How to Read THC and CBD
Dried flower and pre-rolls print THC and CBD as a percentage of weight, usually as a range, “22% to 28%”, because the figure varies from batch to batch. Cannabis vapes, carts and concentrates are printed the same way, which is why they read so much higher: they are extracts, not flower.
Edibles, beverages, oils, capsules and topicals print milligrams: the total in the package, and, for anything sold in units, the amount in each unit . A “100 mg, 10 × 10 mg” box is ten pieces of ten milligrams. THC is the main active cannabinoid; CBD is a secondary cannabinoid that is non-psychoactive.
Seven things on every package
Read the Label
Every legal package in Canada carries the same seven things, in the same plain format. Click a marker to read what it is. The drawing is generic, with no brand and no product.
Marker 01
The Standardized Cannabis Symbol
The red octagon with a white cannabis leaf and the letters THC is a single federal symbol, printed at a fixed minimum size on every package of a product containing more than a trace of THC. It is the one graphic every legal package in the country shares, so it is the fastest way to tell a regulated package from anything else.
Marker 02
THC and CBD Totals
The package prints the total THC and the total CBD it contains, and for anything sold in units, whether capsules, gummies or a can, the amount in each unit as well. Dried flower and pre-rolls are printed as a percentage of weight; edibles, beverages, oils and capsules are printed in milligrams. The two scales are why a vape reads 94% and a beverage reads 10 mg.
Marker 03
Packaged On
The date the licence holder packaged the product. Dried cannabis is not sold with a best-before date unless the producer chooses to add one, so this date is the usual way to tell how long the package has been sitting. The date drawn here is an example, not a WestCanna figure, every package prints its own.
Marker 04
Lot Number
A code identifying the production batch. It is what a producer or a regulator traces a package back through, and what a recall is issued against. The code drawn here is an example, not a WestCanna figure.
Marker 05
The Excise Stamp
A cannabis duty stamp issued by the Canada Revenue Agency and applied across the seal by the licence holder. Each province and territory has its own stamp, so the one on a package sold in British Columbia is not the one used in Ontario. No legal package leaves a producer without it.
Marker 06
The Health Warning Box
A yellow box with a black border carrying one of Health Canada’s required health-warning messages, in English and in French. The set of messages rotates, so two packages in the same store often carry different ones. Its size, colour and border are all specified, a producer cannot shrink it or restyle it.
Marker 07
Child-Resistant Packaging
Containers have to be child-resistant, and the packaging itself has to be plain: one uniform colour, no metallic or fluorescent finish, no images beyond a single brand element no larger than the standardized symbol. That is why a legal package is heavier and duller than the box it replaced, and why it takes a moment to open.
Descriptive only, from Health Canada’s packaging and labelling rules. Ask at either location and someone will walk a real package through it.
Cannabis has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. Keep out of reach of children and pets. 19+.
Licensed cannabis retailer in British Columbia.