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Why weed's signature scent has changed over time

The District Cannabis grow facility in Hagerstown, Md.
Pien Huang/NPR
The District Cannabis grow facility in Hagerstown, Md.

The skunky smell of cannabis may be going out of style.

NPR's science correspondent Pien Huang visited the grow facility for District Cannabis, which sells weed in Washington D.C. and Maryland.

On her tour, she learned why cannabis smells the way it does. Plus, how many strains have been bred — to smells like lavender, citrus and even cookies.

Read more of science correspondent Pien Huang's reporting on this topic here, or check out the entire special series, "How safe is your weed?"


Questions about the science behind the mysteries, events and... smells... all around us? Email us at shortwave@npr.org – we'd love to hear your ideas!

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones and Pien Huang checked the facts and the audio engineer was Kwesi Lee.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Pien Huang is a health reporter on the Science desk. She was NPR's first Reflect America Fellow, working with shows, desks and podcasts to bring more diverse voices to air and online.
Regina G. Barber
Regina G. Barber is Short Wave's Scientist in Residence. She contributes original reporting on STEM and guest hosts the show.
Rachel Carlson
Rachel Carlson (she/her) is a production assistant at Short Wave, NPR's science podcast. She gets to do a bit of everything: researching, sourcing, writing, fact-checking and cutting episodes.
Rebecca Ramirez (she/her) is the founding producer of NPR's daily science podcast, Short Wave. It's a meditation in how to be a Swiss Army Knife, in that it involves a little of everything — background research, finding and booking sources, interviewing guests, writing, cutting the tape, editing, scoring ... you get the idea.