Many in the pro-legalization camp have been using medicinal cannabis as a kind of trojan horse for full-scale legalization. This is a dangerous, disingenuous strategy, and makes them no better than those on the other side of the fence pushing 'reefer madness' type arguments.
As with all things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Other way around actually. Indica strains grow faster and are easier to grow. Most street cannabis strains are hybrid, where they are trying to get the high THC of sativa but with the favorable growing characteristics of indica.
I think the idea more generally (can't remember where I heard this, think it was one of the many documentaries focussing on dispensaries) was just that those growing 'street' weed aim for high THC and don't care all that much about CBD, while those growing it for legitimate medicinal purposes aim for high CBD with as little THC as possible.
People growing weed illegally for commercial purposes usually care more about weight and grow time than anything else. Of the actual breeders and geneticists who create the different strains, there are a variety of different factors that are optimized for. E.g. check out the webpage for apothecary genetics:
http://apothecary-genetics.spruz.com/
Most of the good breeders are in the Netherlands, but they are probably the top ones in the US.
"those growing it for legitimate medicinal purposes aim for high CBD with as little THC as possible."
That's definitely not true. The vast majority of medical marijuana is high THC. While many dispensaries are starting to carry high CBD weed and extracts, they'll usually only have one or at most two strains out of the 20+ they offer. In terms of actual medical use, different cannabinoids have different medical properties. So THC also has many medical uses, it's just not the only cannabinoid with medical uses.
Please do not generalize like this because it's actually harmful to active patients.
no problem, just smoke Kush which seems to be very popular nowadays.
The line between clinical and recreational is arbitrary and subjective. Even in a recreational setting, people are, in fact, often using drugs to self-medicate. If someone feels perfectly balanced then they will not crave anything. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with self-medicating - personally, I believe that people should be responsible for their own health instead of deferring it to a third party in the first place if they are so capable.
Anyway, nobody should be downvoted for their opinion. This kind of behaviour is endemic in social media sites where there is a voting mechanism. Give people an inch of power and they will take a mile, responsibility be damned.