The Cannabis Terminology Style Guide

When you join the cannabis industry, the terminology is pretty daunting.

A mixture of new words, slang, chemical compounds and more can make it a bit difficult to keep up. And while many in the industry are happy to answer newbie questions, interrupting a discussion (and potentially effing up the rotation) is not always possible. I've been operating, researching and investing in the industry for over 7 years now and when I attend cannabis events, I am very often jotting down a word or two I hear in conversation that I don't know so I can look into it later.

Part of the solution for me has been to stay curious and surround myself with people who have been in the game much longer or focus on an area of the business that I don't. But another part of the solution is quite simple. Find credible sources and sticking with them. Google searching cannabis terminology and data might be helpful. Other times it can lead to more confusion given the treatment of content that includes the word cannabis.

The good people at Oaksterdam University have created a very useful tool called the "Cannabis Terminology Style Guide". This style guide is designed for use in academia and by any journalist, reporter, writer, or public relations professional and that's good enough for me. I highly suggest checking it out and bookmarking it.

Why Are We Asking Consumers to Memorize Chemical Compounds?

"Look at those terps!"
"Check out those terpene levels"
"This strain has a lot of terps"

I've been in the cannabis industry for years now and I'm getting a little impatient with "Terpenes are the future of how consumers will buy cannabis" theory. I'm constantly hearing how "good" a cannabis product is based on the same vague references to terpenes that are listed in the beginning of this post.

My opinion is that consumers are going to buy based off quality ingredients, consistency, and brand value transparency...not chemical compounds. The "connoisseurs" or "ganjiers", maybe. Maybe.

I want to believe that terpenes will play a big role in cannabis product selection because I'm becoming a bit of a nerd learning cannabis science, especially as it relates to pharmacological use cases. But I am still struggling envisioning the day that I or someone else walks into a dispensary or visits an online store looking for the "linalool" section. We don't have to create our own lexicon and confuse consumers. Lavender, gas, citrus, pine, pepper, etc. These are all words consumers use that they understand. Why are we making this more difficult than it has to be? Why are we asking consumers to memorize chemical compounds?