Jack Herer (S-LAB and Tilray): sativa with myrcene and lineage revealed by the breeder
Jack Herer is one of the minority of pharmacy strains with lineage provided directly by the breeder. We gather the profile composition, the state of evidence for myrcene, and the only sibling of this strain present in Polish pharmacy circulation.
| Strain Card | Jack Herer |
|---|---|
| Producers | S-LAB, Tilray (2 pharmacy positions) |
| Medical Brand | same as producer |
| Alternative Names | none |
| Category by Sources | sativa |
| Leading Terpene | myrcene |
| Other Terpenes | caryophyllene nerolidol pinene |
| Lineage | established Haze × Northern Lights #5 × Shiva Skunk |
| Source Consistency | one source |
- Who supplies. 2 producers (S-LAB, Tilray) in 2 positions, which may differ in declaration and origin of the raw material.
- Profile. Leads with myrcene, alongside caryophyllene, nerolidol, pinene. We do not provide percentage shares, as sources calculate them against different totals.
- Origin. Established lineage, parents are Haze and Northern Lights #5 and Shiva Skunk.
- What is missing. The profile describes one source, so there is nothing to compare it with.
What is Jack Herer and where does this strain come from?
Jack Herer is a sativa strain, created by crossing three lines: haze, northern lights #5, and shiva skunk. The lineage is provided by the breeder, Sensi Seeds, so the strain falls into group 60 out of 85 cultivars in this compilation, for which the origin can be indicated without guessing based on the commercial name.
This trio of parents does not weigh the same. Haze is not a single strain, but a broad family of styles, under which lines from various breeders are hidden. Northern Lights #5 and Shiva Skunk are names of specific cultivars, and only they allow searching for kinship in the pedigree graph. This difference determines how many strains can be considered siblings of Jack Herer, and we return to it at the end of the text.
In Polish pharmacies, there are also two positions with the same name component: Red No 2 (Jack Haze) and Ultra Jack, both from Canopy Growth, the latter signed by the Spectrum Therapeutics brand. Neither of these two cases says anything about kinship with the strain described here. Commercial names of the flower are created in the marketing department, not in the genetic registry, so adding parents based solely on the sound of the name creates connections that no one has confirmed.
The sativa type annotation is carried by both pharmacy positions described in the source database and they do not differ from each other. This is a rare comfort in this cluster, as with many strains, the genetic description depends on which service is opened.
Which producers supply Jack Herer to Polish pharmacies?
Two: S-LAB and Tilray. Both positions are Cannabis flos flower issued by a doctor’s prescription in the Rpw category, both declare the same active substance content and the same set of terpenes, and differ primarily in the aroma description in the catalog from which the data for this text is derived.
| Producer | Aroma Descriptors in Source | Availability at Last Check |
|---|---|---|
| S-LAB | minty, peppery, spicy | not available |
| Tilray | spicy, minty, fruity, peppery | not available |
The declared THC content ranges from 16.2-19.8%, as the nominal value includes a tolerance of ten percent in both directions. One number from the description is therefore a shortcut: two batches of the same flower can fall at opposite ends of the range and both will remain compliant with the producer’s declaration.
Neither of the two versions was available at the time of data collection, and this is a short-term state. The pharmacy imports flower in batches, each batch requires release by the producer, so the strain can disappear from the price list for several months and return without any change in the raw material itself. We maintain an up-to-date list of what can be ordered in the list of available medical marijuana strains. Separately, we describe what is in the portfolio of S-LAB and what Tilray trades.
Available over the counter hemp flower with low THC content is a separate category of goods and does not fall under the issuance procedure described here. We are talking about two different things, even though in both cases it concerns dried cannabis flowers.
What does Jack Herer smell and taste like?
- caryophyllene caryophyllene
- myrcene myrcene (leading in the pharmacy list)
- nerolidol nerolidol
- pinene pinene
The catalog descriptions of both versions agree on minty and peppery notes, while the Tilray position additionally receives the descriptors spicy and fruity. These are descriptors from the commercial description, not results from sensory testing, so they speak more about what can be expected upon opening the package than anything measured.
In the profile of this strain, the source lists four terpenes: caryophyllene, myrcene, nerolidol, and pinene. We do not provide percentage shares for them, and this is not an excessive caution. The values from the table sum to a number clearly less than one hundred, so it is unknown to what total they are related, and comparing such shares between strains would yield comparisons without a common basis.
The terpene composition explains these impressions only roughly. Myrcene is associated with earthy and slightly musky notes, caryophyllene with pepper, and pinene with pine resin. However, the nose receives a mixture of several dozen volatile components, including those that no popular strain database measures. The fourth item on the list, nerolidol, is discussed in a separate text.
It is worth comparing both pharmacy versions. The source assigns them the same set of terpenes and the same share values, yet describes their aroma in different words: one has spicy and fruity notes, while the other does not. Since the analytical data is identical, the difference lies in the commercial description, not in the raw material, and this is a good measure of how much weight the catalog description of the scent carries.
How long does it take for Jack Herer to take effect and how long does the effect last?
There is no measurement made for this specific strain. The course is determined by the route through which the raw material enters the body, not the name on the package, so the ranges below describe two routes of administration: inhalation through a vaporizer and oral, when the flower has been previously processed into a form to be swallowed.
The route of administration determines the course more than the strain itself, and the ranges below describe it, not the cultivar, as pharmacokinetic studies for a single cultivar have not been published.
| Vaporization | After Swallowing | |
|---|---|---|
| First Feelings | after a few minutes | from half an hour to two |
| Onset | another dozen to thirty minutes | slow, over several hours |
| Total Duration | within two to four hours | after six, sometimes eight hours |
| Typical Error | none | taking a dose after thirty minutes, which gives both doses at once |
For this position, it has a quite practical dimension, as both pharmacy versions are unprocessed flower, thus material usually issued with vaporization in mind. The same bag used in a different way gives a completely different distribution over time, and this does not result from the properties of Jack Herer, but from where the raw material begins absorption.
What is known and what is not known about the effects of this strain?
Nothing is known about the strain itself that comes from clinical research. Available studies concern a single component, myrcene, and were conducted on mice. What is read in pharmacy descriptions about stimulating effects is a report and sales material, not a result of measurement in humans.
Three studies attributed to myrcene in the database of this cluster exist.
| Study | Model and Route of Administration | What Was Shown |
|---|---|---|
| Rao VS et al., 1990 Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology PMID:1983154 |
rodent (mouse) | Myrcene (10-40 mg/kg) reduced pain responses in mice in hot plate and writhing tests induced by acetic acid; the effect was abolished by naloxone and yohimbine, indicating involvement of alpha2-adrenergic receptors and release of endogenous opioids. |
| do Vale TG et al., 2002 Phytomedicine PMID:12587690 |
rodent (mouse, intraperitoneal administration) | Myrcene administered intraperitoneally (100-200 mg/kg) reduced mice’s locomotor activity in the open field test, prolonged sleep induced by pentobarbital (by about 2.6 times at 200 mg/kg), and reduced the number of entries into the open arms of the elevated plus maze, which the authors described as a weak anxiogenic effect, not anxiolytic. |
| Wagner JK et al., 2024 NeuroSci PMID:39728677 |
rodent (mouse, vapor inhalation) | With short puffs of vapor, mimicking inhalation in humans, beta-myrcene acted anxiolytically in the elevated plus maze in female mice, and in males only with a single puff. Unlike linalool, myrcene did not produce a synergistic effect with cannabidiol in either sex. |
In humans, it has not been shown that myrcene alone alleviates insomnia at doses typical for inhalation of flower. The direction of the effect in rodents depends on the route of administration and sex: after intraperitoneal injection in 2002, a slightly anxiogenic effect was described, while after inhalation in 2024, an anxiolytic effect was observed in females. These two results do not cancel each other out, but rather show that the conclusion depends on conditions that no popular strain database provides.
Another matter is what the composition description stands on. The terpene profile of this strain is provided by one source, budcare.pl, and there is nothing to compare it with. For most cultivars described by two Polish databases, the sets of terpenes differ, sometimes significantly; here, discrepancies are not visible at all, but this is due to the lack of a second description, not the consistency of two independent measurements.
What side effects have been reported from this strain?
None that could be attributed specifically to it. Public compilations do not go down to the level of strain name, and patient reports mix the influence of dosage with the influence of the time of day and route of administration, so from the description of one pharmacy position, its own safety profile cannot be derived.
Reports of side effects are collected for medicinal products with a batch number, not for strain names, so the following pertains to hemp flower as a group of raw materials. The most commonly reported are dry mouth, red eyes, and increased heart rate. Less frequently described are dizziness upon rapid standing, daytime drowsiness, and transient worsening of short-term memory, as well as anxiety increasing with dosage. A separate matter is medications taken concurrently, especially sedatives and those affecting coagulation: their assessment requires knowledge of the entire list of preparations, not just the description of the plant. We do not provide the frequency of these symptoms numerically, as public compilations for hemp flower in Poland do not separate them by individual products.
With this strain, there is one more layer. The same two words on the label denote two separate medicinal products, one produced by S-LAB, the other by Tilray, each with its own batches and documentation. If reports from both companies were counted under a common commercial name, a number would arise that cannot be related to either of these products individually.
How to vaporize Jack Herer?
There are no specific settings for the strain, and the boiling temperatures of the components in its profile vary widely: pinene boils at around 156 degrees, myrcene at 167, caryophyllene only above 250, and nerolidol even higher, around 275 degrees measured at atmospheric pressure.
These numbers describe pure substances in a laboratory flask, not the resin on the flower. The vaporizer setting is also not the temperature of the flower in the chamber, as the material heats unevenly and always with a delay compared to the heater. Additionally, popular terpene temperature tables can contradict each other by several dozen degrees, which has its explanation in the measurement method.
The practical consequence for the profile led by myrcene is that at low settings, primarily the most volatile components evaporate from the flower, while caryophyllene and nerolidol remain in the material almost until the end of the session. What evaporates at which moment is broken down in a separate text. The method of administration and portion size is determined by the attending physician, as the flower remains a prescription raw material.
The discrepancy between tables has a specific source. For caryophyllene, one of the registers notes boiling at 130 degrees, but under pressure reduced to 14 mmHg, while another gives over 250 degrees at normal pressure. Both numbers are correct and refer to the same substance; transcribed to the table without annotations about measurement conditions, they begin to look like a contradiction.
Which strains are related to Jack Herer?
| Strain | Common Parent | Leading Terpene | Producers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Berry | Northern Lights #5 | caryophyllene | S-LAB |
One of those that made it to Polish pharmacies: Northern Berry from S-LAB. The common ancestor of both is northern lights #5, the second parent of Jack Herer and one of the two parents of Northern Berry, so the kinship is based on the named cultivar, not on the similarity of name sounds.
The other two parents do not lead to anything more in this comparison. Haze is a family of styles and does not generate siblings by design, as under this name are lines of different origins. Shiva Skunk does not appear in the lineage of any other cultivar available today in Polish pharmacies, at least in the sources from which the pedigree graph of this cluster was built.
Siblings do not mean similarity. Northern Berry leads a different terpene, caryophyllene instead of myrcene, has a higher declared range of active substance content, and its genetics are described differently by two sources: once as a hybrid, once as a hybrid with an indica dominance. Jack Herer is described by one source and remains consistently a sativa in it. The profile of that strain is broken down in a separate text, along with what both positions have in common beyond one ancestor and one producer.
One more difference concerns not the plants, but the descriptions. For Northern Berry, databases list ten terpenes, for Jack Herer four, and such a discrepancy primarily speaks to how detailed someone described a given position. A shorter list does not mean a poorer composition, just a narrower range of what someone decided to include.
Frequently Asked Questions about Jack Herer Strain
Is Jack Herer available in Polish pharmacies?
The strain has been registered in Poland in two pharmacy versions, from S-LAB and from Tilray, but the availability of both fluctuates from week to week and at the last check, neither was in circulation. We maintain the current state in the list of available strains.
What is the lineage of Jack Herer?
The lineage is provided by the breeder, Sensi Seeds: haze, northern lights #5, and shiva skunk. It is one of those strains for which the origin does not need to be guessed based on the name.
What terpene leads in the profile of this strain?
Myrcene. Besides it, the source lists caryophyllene, nerolidol, and pinene. We do not provide percentage shares, as the source does not disclose what total they refer to.
What is the THC content of this strain?
The declaration of both pharmacy versions, after adding the producer’s tolerance, gives a range of 16.2-19.8%. A single number from the commercial description is a shortcut, as two batches of the same flower can fall at opposite ends of this range.
Does Jack Herer have a stimulating effect?
Yes, this strain is described as such in pharmacy catalogs and patient reports. No clinical research has been conducted to verify this for this cultivar, so it is a commercial description, not a measurement result.
Which strains are siblings of this strain?
In Polish pharmacies, one: Northern Berry. Both strains have northern lights #5 among their parents. The other two parents of Jack Herer do not lead to any other cultivar in this comparison.
At what temperature should this strain be vaporized?
There are no specific settings for the strain. The boiling temperatures of the terpenes in its profile range from about 156 to over 270 degrees, and the number on the vaporizer display is not the temperature of the flower in the chamber.
Informational text, without the character of therapeutic advice. Hemp flower is a pharmaceutical raw material issued by a doctor’s prescription in the Rpw category. Editor: ubucha.
