{"id":4007,"date":"2021-02-19T04:20:01","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T12:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?p=4007"},"modified":"2021-02-19T07:26:45","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T15:26:45","slug":"why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Does Skunk Weed Smell That Way?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The modern marijuana market contains every type of edible, device, accessory, beverage, paraphernalia, tablet, lotion and oil you can imagine. It\u2019s come a long way very quickly (there is even cool cannabis gear and lifestyle products<\/a>). But one thing it hasn\u2019t done is change the way cannabis smells.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s fine, in most cases. Cannabis fans are fans of the fragrance of burning marijuana. But there\u2019s one type of weed – most commonly referred to as skunk weed – that is noticeably more pungent than others. It\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is definitely a thing, and many people through the years have wondered why.<\/p>\n

Scientific research provides some answers, but there\u2019s still much that is unknown and some disagreement.<\/p>\n

What Puts the \u201cSkunk\u201d In Skunk Weed?<\/h2>\n

The main suspect in the skunk weed smell investigation is something called thiols. They are chemical compounds that have a composition similar to the composition of alcohol. However, rather than having an oxygen atom, thiols have a sulfur atom. This makes all the difference.<\/p>\n

Skunks – the real ones, the animals – have evolved to put thiols to use. They are one of the primary chemical compounds in the defensive and extremely smelly spray that skunks deploy. It repels potential predators, including humans, who can detect thiols at lower levels, meaning that a little thiol can overwhelm everything else, according to <\/a>Discover magazine.<\/p>\n

Thiols are involved in many of the smells you likely remember well, and for the wrong reasons. They are in freshly chopped onions, which is fine. But they also are present in petroleum and natural gas, where they are \u201cobjectionable because they have disagreeable odors, interfere with catalysts used in refining processes, and produce sulfur dioxide upon combustion,\u201d according to<\/a> Brittanica.com.<\/p>\n

Some research indicates that thiols may be responsible for the odor of skunk weed. It\u2019s also the reason that your beer might taste a bit \u201cskunky: at times. However, experts in the cannabis\u00a0 industry say it involves another naturally occurring chemical compound in cannabis called terpenes.<\/p>\n

The Relationship Between Hops and Cannabis<\/h2>\n

Both hops and cannabis naturally produce thiols, according to research <\/a>done at Iowa State University. That means that skunk weed has something in common with both the liquid spray from skunks and that smelly beer you drank outside. (The \u201coutside\u201d part is key with beer. When some beer is exposed to sunlight, it causes a chemical reaction that can turn a beer skunky).<\/p>\n

Both hops and cannabis also produce terpenes, chemical compounds that produce fragrances and many health benefits in marijuana<\/a>. Terpenes exist in everything people can taste or smell.<\/p>\n

It is these terpenes that people in the cannabis industry typically attribute the skunk weed smell. While they produce an odor that is similar to thiols, they have no relationship to them.<\/p>\n

So, research still hasn\u2019t answered the question, although both terpenes and some type of thiol are behind the odor. What\u2019s interesting, as pointed out by Discover, is that these smells are often good ones to many people. Sometimes it can depend on the amount. A little of the terpene pinene provides a pine smell that is refreshing. A lot of it, like in turpentine, which carries a high concentration of pinene, is overwhelming.<\/p>\n

Scientific research will no doubt answer the question of skunk weed definitively one day. However, it\u2019s important to note that many cannabis users feel positive about the smell, because it usually indicates a potent strain of marijuana. That\u2019s the main reason some of the most highly sought strains in the cannabis industry have \u201cskunk\u201d in the title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Science has come a long way with marijuana research, but we’re only now looking into why skunk weed features such a pungent odor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[582,1066,200,1067],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Does Skunk Weed Smell That Way? | Marijuana Terpenes vs Thiols<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Science has come a long way with marijuana research, but we're only now looking into why skunk weed features such a pungent odor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Does Skunk Weed Smell That Way? | Marijuana Terpenes vs Thiols\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Science has come a long way with marijuana research, but we're only now looking into why skunk weed features such a pungent odor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dispensaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-19T12:20:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-19T15:26:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/skunk-weed.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dispensariescom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/\",\"name\":\"Why Does Skunk Weed Smell That Way? | Marijuana Terpenes vs Thiols\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-19T12:20:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-19T15:26:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\"},\"description\":\"Science has come a long way with marijuana research, but we're only now looking into why skunk weed features such a pungent odor.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Does Skunk Weed Smell That Way?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dispensaries Editor\"},\"description\":\"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. We cover everything to the business trends, latest products and even help the cannicurious people better understand cannabis and the industry around it.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dispensariescom\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/author\/dispensaries-editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Does Skunk Weed Smell That Way? | Marijuana Terpenes vs Thiols","description":"Science has come a long way with marijuana research, but we're only now looking into why skunk weed features such a pungent odor.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Does Skunk Weed Smell That Way? | Marijuana Terpenes vs Thiols","og_description":"Science has come a long way with marijuana research, but we're only now looking into why skunk weed features such a pungent odor.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/","og_site_name":"Dispensaries","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/","article_published_time":"2021-02-19T12:20:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-19T15:26:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/skunk-weed.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dispensaries Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@dispensariescom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dispensaries Editor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/","name":"Why Does Skunk Weed Smell That Way? | Marijuana Terpenes vs Thiols","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-02-19T12:20:01+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-19T15:26:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0"},"description":"Science has come a long way with marijuana research, but we're only now looking into why skunk weed features such a pungent odor.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/why-does-skunk-weed-smell-that-way\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Does Skunk Weed Smell That Way?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/","name":"Dispensaries","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0","name":"Dispensaries Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dispensaries Editor"},"description":"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. We cover everything to the business trends, latest products and even help the cannicurious people better understand cannabis and the industry around it.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/dispensariescom"],"url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/author\/dispensaries-editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4009,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007\/revisions\/4009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}