DEFINITIONS
Sample Selection: Choose mature over immature plants. Choose female over male
plants. Choose bud over upper plant leaves. Choose upper plant leaves over lower
plant leaves, if no bud is available. Submit more than one sample per seizure if there
are observably different groups of mature plants.
Cultivated Sinsemilla: Female cannabis plant, which has not been pollinated. May
grow from cutting or from seed. May contain some seed (if un-pollinated the seed will
be sterile). Common illicit indoor grow technique.
Cultivated Non-Sinsemilla: Male or Female cannabis plant commonly grown for
illicit drug use.
Cultivated Ditch Weed: Male or Female cannabis plant, which grows wild in many
states that has in some way been tended by man. Examples of tending are: weeding,
watering, topping, fertilizing, harvesting.
Ditch Weed: Unattended, wild male or female cannabis that is native to many states.
Cannabis Bud: Flowering top of a female cannabis plant. The Bud may contain
seed. Most valuable portion of a cannabis plant to the illicit grower. Bud formation
occurs late in plant development.
Leaf: Cannabis leaf potency tends to correlate to position on the plant. The most
potent part of the plant is the new leaves at the top of the plant. As you move
downward on the plant potency decreases. The least potent leaves on the plant are the
large leaves at the bottom of the plant.
Mature Cannabis: Mature cannabis plants have a higher potency than immature
plants. Determination of plant maturity should be made using all available contextual
factors. For example, is the plant outdoors and it only June or July, if so, then the plant
is likely immature. However, if the growing season is near an end, such as September
or October, then the plant is probably mature. Note male cannabis plants are mature as
early as August when grown outdoors. It is more difficult to generalize regarding
maturity of indoor grows. “Spike” cannabis plants can mature in as little as 6-8 weeks
whereas an indoor grow with plants 3-4 feet in height may take 60-120 days to mature.
Already Harvested: Cannabis plant material recently dried or packaged. May be
either bud or leaf.
Average Plant Canopy Diameter: Record the diameter of a typical mature
cannabis plant at its broadest point through the center. Diameter data can be used to
predict usable yield with good accuracy.