I mean no offense, but sometimes I wonder about people definition of "no smell at all". I suspect there is some acclimation that accounts for some of it.
Most plants that give off scents based on sex (like sinsemilla) do so to attract insects to help them get pollinated, not as a defense mechanism. There are some plants that stink to high hell to not get eaten. There are also plants to smell strongly to encourage their fruit being eaten so animals can spread their speed via defecation.
I would want to see supporting evidence to the cannabis smelling as a way to say "ouch", I doubt it exists.
I would say that the increase in odor is not reactionary due to trauma, rather the physical trauma itself breaking and disturbing plant cells. Much like rubbing a stem or leaf.
I have my cab in an office/spare bedroom in my basement. I keep the door to the room shut and run a scrubber in my cab setup. I sometimes notice a slight smell of ganja upon entering the room for the first time. If I'm in the room for any period of time the smell is not noticeable even with the cab open, but if I leave the room and come back...bam, loud as can be. So I agree there is definitely some acclimation that lessens noticing of the smell.
Strain choice is probably the biggest factor though. Fruity and spicy aromas seem to blend better and are not as noticeable. While IMO most "skunks" are of the fruity variety, a good skunk or cheese can and will usually overpower a scrubber. A good example is the Big Buddha blue cheese I grew. She smelled loud as hell from week 3 till harvest. The 3 I have going now? Barely any smell. I couldn't grow without a scrubber being in a multi-unit apartment but they certainly choke your vent cfm's off.
You can definitely see the Skywalkers coming along nicely Jela! I picture them in the dense swamps of Dagobah, toting Yoda around in a backpack.