Here’s the chemistry behind marijuana’s skunky scent

Scientists have finally sniffed out the molecules behind marijuana’s skunky aroma.

The heady bouquet that wafts off of fresh weed is actually a cocktail of hundreds of fragrant compounds. The most prominent floral, citrusy and piney overtones come from a common class of molecules called terpenes, says analytical chemist Iain Oswald of Abstrax Tech, a private company in Tustin, Calif.,