From the Article: Please Shut Up About Indica Versus Sativa You're Starting to Sound Like You Don't Know What You're Talking About Are you looking for an indica, a sativa, or a hybrid?" Anyone who has walked into a legal weed store has heard this question. The majority of pot stores divide their products into these groups, and people who buy weed are used to the distinction—it's older than pot shops are. Supposedly, indica sedates and sativa uplifts. But here's a peculiar thing: That's all bullshit. The differences between indica and sativa plants are physical. Indicas are short and squat and supposedly come from the mountains of Pakistan. Sativas are tall and thin and supposedly come from the tropics. But according to Ethan Russo, a board-certified neurologist and one of the country's leading cannabis researchers, these outward physical attributes have no power in predicting what kind of high you will get. "You cannot tell the effects a plant will have based on its shape—the shape of its leaflets, its size, or how tall it is," Russo said. "What we really should be homing in on is the chemical composition of the plant." Looking at a tall pot plant and deciding that smoking its flower will uplift you is like deciding how sweet an apple variety is by looking at its tree trunk in June. Wouldn't it make more sense to decide the apple's qualities by tasting its fruit in September? That's what Russo is advocating for—looking at what is actually in the pot flower to try to predict how it will get you high. There is scientific evidence that certain strains produce wildly different effects, and each strain's specific effects are complicated by each individual person's mood, body chemistry...... https://www.thestranger.com/weed/2017/08/23/25380755/please-shut-up-about-indica-versus-sativa
New member today here. Just posted on an older I versus S thread, that no I don't experience a difference between the two and that is probably because I am not a frequent smoker as I dislike tolerance build ups and prefer a clean clear high. And when I do it is mainly the THC content I notice. Indica strains I've legally bought so far affect me about the same as Sativa and specifically no I do not get sleepy or couch anything. Thus suspect the I versus S descriptions are only valid for frequent everyday smokers that lack a balance of neurotransmitters.