Glossary
Terpenes
Aromatic compounds in cannabis (and many other plants) that shape flavour and may modulate cannabinoid effects.
Terpenes are the aromatic compounds that give cannabis strains their distinctive smell and flavour — myrcene, limonene, pinene, linalool, and caryophyllene are the most discussed. The "entourage effect" hypothesis proposes that terpenes modulate cannabinoid effects, contributing to strain-specific therapeutic profiles, though rigorous clinical evidence for this is still developing. In Section 21 prescribing, the cannabinoid ratio (THC:CBD) and dose are the primary clinical levers; terpene profiles are secondary.