Well you can tell your buddy the debate is over. There are a lot of other kinds of plants that have Sativa in their binomial name... like medicago Sativa (alfalfa) or Eruca sativa.. it just means domesticated. Indica means that it’s a wild growing plant.Chef, I've been having that debate with a buddy of mine for a long time. He's dead certain sativa = up and indica = down. I don't agree with him and it drives him nuts!
somehow we’ve equated these words to mean plants that grow in equatorial regions with very little variation in season, and plants that grow in high altitude mountainous regions with very cold winter seasons, respectively.
effects are 420% terpene driven, with earthy plants being more relaxing and narcotic, and herbal plants being more energetic. Fruit and gas have effects of their own (creativity enhancing and extreme tone change respectively). Of course we get combinations, so it helps novices to see things on a two sided scale (Sativa vs indica)