It is from high THC, the entourage effect is a thing but I don't think other cannabinoids/terpenes can mitigate a massive dose of THC. Going from sober to high THC can be unsettling at first, same as coming up off any drug. When I was in Cali I bought some papaya from lowell farms (sun grown, organic with like 20% THC and 1% CBD roughly, not sure about the other cannabinoids), it was beautiful and smelt like tropical juice, any way a big spliff of that increased anxiety at first.

I also used to smoke spliffs with a mix of regular dank with CBD flower usually 50:50, this could still increase anxiety if enough regular dank was consumed. If it's a gram spliff you've still consumed 0.5g of regular dank (for me that's enough to be very high). Past 0.5g and I won't be much higher, any extra weed consumed is a waste (until it wears off obviously).

Having consumed hours before consuming again is always less intense.

I enjoy getting high and having prangs sometimes, makes life interesting. It goes away quickly and then you feel chill.