Concentrates 101

The A, B, Cs of Powerful Rx

As “dabbing” builds in popularity, concentrates have become more widely available. Many patients find high potency medical cannabis concentrates particularly effective in treating chronic and debilitating conditions. One “dab”—or small glob of concentrate—vaporized in the morning can alleviate the symptoms of Crohn’s disease or multiple sclerosis, for example, for a good part of the day; whereas smoking flowers would be required much more frequently to achieve levels of relief.

Throw in the added benefit of a delivery method that offers folks fast, powerful relief without having to combust plant matter and it’s no wonder patients across the country are turning to these highly potent cannabis extracts instead of smoking flowers.

Concentrates are produced by separating the active ingredients, trichomes and resins, from the cannabis plant. Three common methods for doing so are dry sift, solvents and solvent-less methods.

TYPES

Dry sift methods have been used for thousands of years. Trichomes are extracted by filtering cannabis through silkscreens and collecting the crystals. This substance is called kief, which can be pressed together to form hash.

Bubble Hash (a solvent-less method) is made by churning or blending flowers, trimmings and leaves in a large container with ice and water. The cold temperature and vigorous mixing separates the cannabis resin from the plant. Then it’s filtered out, collected, dried and cured. Bubble hash can be vaporized, rolled into a joint or smoked out of a pipe.

Solvent extracts: Use of solvents such as alcohol, CO2 and butane to chemically extract cannabinoids.

Butane Honey Oil or BHO is one of the more widely available and popular solvent extracted concentrates. According to Dablife.com, BHO is a “concentrated cannabis extract made by pushing liquid butane (which liquefies easily) through a tube packed with frosty buds. The resulting solution is a mix of oils, waxes, cannabinoids, terpenes, and sometimes chlorophyll.”

(Note: this procedure is complex and we’re very much over simplifying, so please don’t try this at home without proper instruction and ventilation. Also, in some MMJ states, BHO is illegal to make, but not to possess)

BHO can be dried and whipped into “budder,” which is waxy and dry.

Wax is made using butane gas as the extraction solvent. Texture and color are key factors in determining the quality of the wax—the more golden and crumbly, the better. Wax that’s dark and contains liquid may contain leftover solvent and plant matter.

In CO2 extraction or Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) the solvent is pushed through the plant matter at a high pressure and separates the matter precisely, which isolates only the purest essence of the cannabis. The result is pure, transparent, amber oil.

DABBA DO

Once the concentrate is made, you can now “dab” which is the term used for dropping or dabbing small amounts of the concentrate onto an astronomically heated surface, and then inhaling the vapors.

The special glass pipes used for dabbing are known as oil rigs. The oil is dropped onto a nail (typically made of titanium) heated with a blow torch until it reaches the perfect temperature, then the concentrate is vaporized and smoked. You may also use a vaporizer pen (or vape pen) which is more convenient and easy to use than an oil rig, although both methods produce roughly the same effect.

Concentrates do carry some concerns such as: safety during processing; ensuring the product is tested and free of solvents; legality issues, but by taking proper precautions with ventilation while producing the concentrates, as well as ensuring the solvents are all removed from the material, the use of concentrates can provide health benefits and relief to the folks who need it most.