Your original statement was correct but they are different varieties of the same species Cannabis sativa. The psychoactive THC comes from the flowering tops and leaves of the plant.
'The key Cannabis species problem derives from the fact that there is no convenient species barrier between the varying types that would allow us to draw a clear line between them. In taxonomy, often the delineating line between species is that they cannot cross-breed. But disparate types of Cannabis can indeed produce fertile offspring, not sexually dysfunctional "mules." '
Recent analytical advances are leading many scientists to believe that a more accurate and satisfying way to differentiate the different forms of Cannabis would be by their biochemical composition.
Cannabis is the only plant genus in which can be found the unique class of molecules known as cannabinoids. Cannabis produces two major cannabinoids-THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol), and several other minor cannabinoid compounds.
THC is responsible for the psychoactive effect [11]. That was demonstrated conclusively in the 1960s. CBD, on the other hand, has recently been shown to block the effect of THC in the nervous system.
Cannabis strains of the type used for industrial purposes have relatively high levels of CBD versus THC. Drug strains are high in THC and low to intermediate in CBD [12]. Smoking hemp, high in CBD and very low in THC, actually has the effect of preventing the marijuana high [13]. Even when the amount of THC in a sample is as high as 2 percent, the psychological high is blocked by as little as 2 percent CBD [14].
Cannabis with THC below 1.0 percent and a CBD/THC ratio greater than one is therefore not capable of inducing a psychoactive effect. Hemp, it turns out, is not only not marijuana, it could be called "antimarijuana."
The balance of cannabinoids is determined by the genetics of the plant. That it is a stable characteristic of a given genotype (i.e., the individual's specific genetic complement)
Thus, using the chemotype approach, Cannabis variants can be classified on the basis of their THC-CBD balance. This is accepted by a growing number of scientists. Gabriel Nahas, M.D., Ph.D., writes, "One should still distinguish two principal large groups of varieties of Cannabis sativa, the drug type and the fiber type. In addition to this classical distinction of these two groups, botanists generally accept description consisting of three chemical types: (a) the pure drug type, high THC content (2-6 percent) and lacking CBD[cannabidiol]; (b) the "intermediate type" (predominantly THC); and (c) the fiber type (THC<0.25 percent)." [16]
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