On Tuesday, July 12 I will reach a marijuana review milestone. Having pen & published 150 marijuana reviews. That includes marijuana photo galleries too. The last two reviews published, Cindy Bubbles and DJ Short’s Blueberry were donation from cannabis growers I know. From their personal head stash. Review 150 is another personal grower donation. Their samples were awesome. l am developing an excellent nug network of people who want to show off their efforts. Always looking for more. You can send your product to be reviewed to 1161 St. Clair Ave West, Toronto, ON, M6E 1B2.
I always write my reviews under the influence of the marijuana being reviewed. Usually rocking out on Blip to get the beat of my words down. If I had it together I would return to my original career as a music critic and do cannabis and album reviews. Rock out to a album to be reviewed while vaporizing marijuana also being reviewed. My influence is to take a music critic approach to my weed reviews. With a bit of food critic thrown in. Note, the music critic is sent everything. Developing a pallet takes time. Publicists pester professional critics (not food ones), offer dinners, passes and the like to curry favor. If weed arrived around here at the pace music, movies and other culture sent to alt-weeklies like NOW I’d have to hire a staff.
It’s more difficult to be critical with weed because it’s generally all very, very, good. The people handing me buds are proud of their homegrown grass. They want to show someone who will appreciate it by photographing and blogging their senses. In other words I’m getting cream.
Rarely am I afforded an opportunity to review the same strain twice. I’ve had a few strains several times now. Especially my favorite Jean Guy. I can even identify her.
Then exactly what are we judging? The grower, the genetics or the bud. Or combination of all three. I believe all of the above. Some weed is well grown, but doesn’t do diddly for my health condition or have a solid marijuana high. Then there’s weed that works for me and isn’t well grown. Flush your plants! Breeders do produce strains that do just suck Cartman’s balls.
Marijuana grown by two different people will produce different results. Based on skill level, nutrients and soil. Presuming both received equal genetics. One growers seed maybe fresh and vibrant while another receives old tired beans.
A goal we have is to hold a grower competition involving the same strain. Everyone picks up their clone on the same day and returns 90 later with finished result. With the clone producer not allowed to compete as they grew the mother plant.
Posts Tagged ‘how to smoke weed’
30 Jul
What a Marijuana Judge Looks For When Reviewing A Strain
13 Jul
Can You Smoke Resin?
What is Resin and How to Smoke it Out of a Bowl
Resin is the byproduct of smoking marijuana and sticks to basically any surface that the marijuana is being smoked out of. The resin is composed of a lot of tar, ash, carbon, and cannabinoids that are inherently found in cannabis. Many people say that this is the unhealthiest way to smoke because of the immense amount of tar that you are inhaling. Unfortunately, sometimes there are difficult financial times or they maybe a drought in your neighborhood.
If this occurs, and you want to use your resin it is pretty easy to get medicated off the resin. You just have to put the flame that comes from your lighter and burn the resin that is in your bowl. A good circular motion makes sure your resin burns evenly.
Another way to hit your resin is scrape all of it from your bowl, in to a ball, and hit the ball. Very simple.
Now, we will get in to the different areas where you can find resin. Resin pretty much coats your bowl from top to bottom so you can hit the resin in many different ways. Put your thumb over your bowl; you are going to use your bowl as the shot gun. Now put your flame up to the shot gun and take a hit while keeping the flame lit. If you do this correctly the flame will light everything underneath and around your bowl. There are mass amounts of resin reserves in this area.
Now you can use the shotgun as a mouth piece. Keep your thumb on top of the bowl and put your flame by the mouth piece that you would normally use to hit the bowl. There is resin here too.
WARNING: Taking resin hits can heat up your bowl extremely quickly. The bowl can burn you, so let it cool if you are hitting it vigorously.
29 Jun
How To: Get A Medical Marijuana Card In Vermont
Vermont General Assembly legalized marijuana for medical use in 2004 when they passed S. 76, An Act Relating to Marijuana Use by Persons with Severe Illness. The law calls for the creation of a registry of eligible individuals.
Vermont Medical Marijuana Law: Eligible medical conditions
- Cancer
- Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
- Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- the treatment of these conditions if the disease or the treatment results in severe, persistent, and intractable symptoms
Or a disease, medical condition, or its treatment that is chronic, debilitating and produces severe, persistent, and one or more of the following intractable symptoms:
- Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
- Severe pain
- Nausea
- Seizures
Vermont Medical Marijuana Law: Registered Caregiver
Registered medical marijuana patients may choose a person, who must be at least 21 years old, to take responsibility for managing their (the patient’s) well being with respect to marijuana use. This Registered Caregiver must not have any history of being convicted of a drug related crime.
A registered caregiver agrees to undertake the responsibility of managing the well-being of a registered patient with respect to the use of “marijuana for symptom relief.” The use of “marijuana for symptom relief” means:
- Acquisition
- Possession
- Cultivation
- Use
- Transfer
- Transportation
of marijuana or paraphernalia relating to the administration of marijuana to alleviate the symptoms or effects of a registered patient’s debilitating medical condition which is in compliance with 18 V.S.A. Chapter 8. The definition of “transfer” is limited to the transfer of marijuana between the registered caregiver and the registered patient.
The nominated caregiver will need to complete and submit the Marijuana Caregiver Application Form, which includes a section authorizing the release of your criminal records. The completed and notarised form should be mailed, together with:
- A digital photograph (Make sure that your digital photograph is taken using .jpg format and have it copied to a floppy disk or CD. Label the disk or CD with your name and date of birth)
- A check or money order for $50 (non-refundable) made payable to the Department of Public Safety. The Registry cannot accept cash, credit cards, or instalment payments
-
Mail the application package to:
- Marijuana Registry, Department of Public Safety, 103 South Main Street, Waterbury, Vermont 05671
Vermont Medical Marijuana Law: Medical Marijuana Patient Registration
In order to become a “registered patient” with the Vermont Marijuana Registry you must
- Complete the Registered Patient Application Form
- Ask your doctor to sign and complete the Physicians Medical Verification Form. The doctor must be licensed to practice in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts or New York in order to complete the form
- When all sections of the form are completed you will need to have it notarized.
-
Enclose with the form:
- A digital photograph (Make sure that your digital photograph is taken using .jpg format and have it copied to a floppy disk or CD. Label the disk or CD with your name and date of birth)
- A check or money order for $50 (non-refundable) made payable to the Department of Public Safety. The Registry cannot accept cash, credit cards, or instalment payments
- A digital photograph (Make sure that your digital photograph is taken using .jpg format and have it copied to a floppy disk or CD. Label the disk or CD with your name and date of birth)
-
Mail the application package to:
- Marijuana Registry, Department of Public Safety, 103 South Main Street, Waterbury, Vermont 05671
The Registry will process your application within 30 days after your application is complete. If your application is approved you will be notified in writing and receive a Marijuana Registry Identification Card. If your application is denied you will be notified in writing and be advised of your right to appeal the denial.
Registrations are issued for one year and are renewable. A new application packet (forms, fee and photo) must be submitted for each renewal request. The Registry will notify you when it’s time to renew your registration.
Vermont Medical Marijuana Law: Medical Marijuana Allowable Amounts
The amount of marijuana that may be collectively possessed between the registered caregiver and the registered patient is limited to no more than:
- two mature marijuana plants
- seven immature plants
- two ounces of usable marijuana
A marijuana plant shall be considered mature when male or female flower buds are readily observed on the plant by unaided visual examination. Until this sexual differentiation has taken place, a marijuana plant will be considered immature.
Marijuana may only be grown in a single “secure indoor facility.” This is a building or room equipped with locks or other security devices that permit access only by the registered patient or the caregiver. The location of this secure indoor facility must be specified in your application.
You may only legally use marijuana for purposes of symptom relief within the state of Vermont. You may not use marijuana in public, while operating a motorized vehicle, in a workplace, while operating heavy machinery or handling a dangerous instrumentality or in a manner that endangers the health or well-being of another person.
From the medicalmarijuanablog.com
13 Jun
42 Ways To Tell If Someone May Be A Stoner
Stoner friends are the best. If you have no bud, they might have some and come and blaze with you. You laugh together, cry together, and cough up smoke together. Finding new smoking buddies makes me very excited but you have to be careful trying to find new friends who smoke because afterall, it is illegal and all.
Have you ever been suspicious of a co-worker or friend being a stoner but you weren’t sure? Here are 42.0 ways for you to find out if you potentially have a new smoking buddy or not. These are not all true for every smoker so they won’t always apply but many of them apply to many smokers.
Hopefully no cops are reading this. If you are a cop, leave my page immediately, but click on some ads before you go.
- They always have a lighter, but you never see them smoke
- They always smell like weed
- You go to their house and hailmaryjane.com is in their browsing history.
- You see them hop out of this van.
- If you ask them a question, every single response is “what? or “what did you say man?”
- If you are a stoner yourself, usually you can just tell. Sort of like a stoner 6th sense.
- If they are funny and usually calm.
- Sometimes you see them and their eyes are red as hell and others they aren’t.
- They are always “tired.”
- Check the bottom of their lighter. If it has black marks on the bottom of their lighter, you know they been using it to push down bowls / snub out joints.
- Their lighter has no safety
- If they smoke cigarettes, they hold it between their index and thumb, instead of between their middle find and index.
- Their DVD collection includes half baked, how high, pineapple express, or any number of the other movies on this list.
- They are always smiling.
- They walk, move and/or talk slowly.
- Half the cardboard has been ripped off their pack of papers
- They like it big…
- Burnt finger tips
- Burnt lips aka smokers lip.
- Their ipod contains songs from this list.
- They always take a break at work at 4:20 pm.
- Stoners usually have baggy eyes, whether they are high or not.
- If you have dreads you are probably a stoner, if you are white and have dreads you are almost certainly a stoner.
- If they own a long board. Where do you think they are riding? To go get stoned, duh!
- They use the term “dank for almost anything. (Dank food, dank drinks, dank bud, etc.)
- They wear sun glasses at night
- They are very good with fractions (1/8ths, 1/4ths, 1/2ths, etc.) and conversions (28.3 g=1 ounce and 16o= 1 pound)
- If they are wearing a Bob Marley, Kottonmouth Kings, or Cypress Hill tee,
- They use Rohto eye drops. Most people will just use visine but all real stoners know that Rohto is king.
- They are a graduate of Oaksterdam University.
- They are from California, Amsterdam or Jamaica. This isn’t a guarantee but I’ll usually put money on people from these places being stoners.
- You meet them at 3am at 7-11 buying two hot dogs, a bag of doritos, skittles, and a 2 liter bottle of pepsi; while you are buying the same thing.
- They always got some intellectual shit to say even though its usually irrelevant.
- Their favorite color is green, or purple.
- They wear clothes made out of hemp.
- You met them at Ziggy Marley concert.
- They haven’t shaven in weeks (sometimes, or they might just be grimey)
- They pull their cigarette like a blunt.
- They dress like a hippy.
- Even their pets know how to get it in.
- They can barely make it to the end of a list like this without getting distracted.
- Ask them. Most of the time it will be fine as long as you are not asking a cop, a teacher, or your boss.
Shout outs to my friends at grass city. This post inspired this post from me. Did I forget anything? Leave it in the comments people.
3 Jun
Worth Repeating: Over 50 Studies Show Cannabis is Medicine
Graphic: The Truth Source |
Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.
Photo: THC Finder |
NORML Foundation/Senior Policy Analyst“Cannabinoids possess … anticancer activity [and may] possibly represent a new class of anti-cancer drugs that retard cancer growth, inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and the metastatic spreading of cancer cells.” So concludes a comprehensive review published in the October 2005 issue of the scientific journal Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry.Not familiar with the emerging body of research touting cannabis’ ability to stave the spread of certain types of cancers? You’re not alone.For over 30 years, US politicians and bureaucrats have systematically turned a blind eye to scientific research indicating that marijuana may play a role in cancer prevention — a finding that was first documented in 1974. That year, a research team at the Medical College of Virginia (acting at the behest of the federal government) discovered that cannabis inhibited malignant tumor cell growth in culture and in mice. According to the study’s results, reported nationally in an Aug. 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, administration of marijuana’s primary cannabinoid THC, “slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent.”Despite these favorable preclinical findings, US government officials dismissed the study (which was eventually published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1975), and refused to fund any follow-up research until conducting a similar — though secret — clinical trial in the mid-1990s. That study, conducted by the US National Toxicology Program to the tune of $2 million concluded that mice and rats administered high doses of THC over long periods experienced greater protection against malignant tumors than untreated controls.Rather than publicize their findings, government researchers once again shelved the results, which only came to light after a draft copy of its findings were leaked in 1997 to a medical journal, which in turn forwarded the story to the national media.Nevertheless, in the decade since the completion of the National Toxicology trial, the U.S. government has yet to encourage or fund additional, follow up studies examining the cannabinoids’ potential to protect against the spread cancerous tumors.Fortunately, scientists overseas have generously picked up where US researchers so abruptly left off. In 1998, a research team at Madrid’s Complutense University discovered that THC can selectively induce apoptosis (program cell death) in brain tumor cells without negatively impacting the surrounding healthy cells. Then in 2000, they reported in the journal Nature Medicine that injections of synthetic THC eradicated malignant gliomas (brain tumors) in one-third of treated rats, and prolonged life in another third by six weeks.In 2003, researchers at the University of Milan in Naples, Italy, reported that non-psychoactive compounds in marijuana inhibited the growth of glioma cells in a dose dependent manner and selectively targeted and killed malignant cancer cells.The following year, researchers reported in the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research that marijuana’s constituents inhibited the spread of brain cancer in human tumor biopsies. In a related development, a research team from the University of South Florida further noted that THC can also selectively inhibit the activation and replication of gamma herpes viruses. The viruses, which can lie dormant for years within white blood cells before becoming active and spreading to other cells, are thought to increase one’s chances of developing cancers such as Karposis Sarcoma, Burkitts lymphoma, and Hodgkins disease.More recently, investigators published pre-clinical findings demonstrating that cannabinoids may play a role in inhibiting cell growth of colectoral cancer, skin carcinoma, breast cancer, and prostate cancer, among other conditions. When investigators compared the efficacy of natural cannabinoids to that of a synthetic agonist, THC proved far more beneficial – selectively decreasing the proliferation of malignant cells and inducing apoptosis more rapidly than its synthetic alternative while simultaneously leaving healthy cells unscathed.Nevertheless, US politicians have been little swayed by these results, and remain steadfastly opposed to the notion of sponsoring – or even acknowledging – this growing body clinical research, preferring instead to promote the unfounded notion that cannabis use causes cancer. Until this bias changes, expect the bulk of research investigating the use of cannabinoids as anticancer agents to remain overseas and, regrettably, overlooked in the public discourse.”
Gliomas/Brain Cancerby Paul ArmentanoNORML Foundation/Senior Policy AnalystGliomas (tumors in the brain) are especially aggressive malignant forms of cancer, often resulting in the death of affected patients within one to two years following diagnosis. There is no cure for gliomas and most available treatments provide only minor symptomatic relief.A review of the modern scientific literature reveals numerous preclinical studies and one pilot clinical study demonstrating cannabinoids’ ability to act as anti-neoplastic agents, particularly on glioma cell lines.Writing in the September 1998 issue of the journal FEBS Letters, investigators at Madrid’s Complutense University, School of Biology, first reported that delta-9-THC induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) in glioma cells in culture.[1] Investigators followed up their initial findings in 2000, reporting that the administration of both THC and the synthetic cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212-2 “induced a considerable regression of malignant gliomas” in animals.[2] Researchers again confirmed cannabinoids’ ability to inhibit tumor growth in animals in 2003.[3]That same year, Italian investigators at the University of Milan, Department of Pharmacology, Chemotherapy and Toxicology, reported that the non-psychoactive cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), inhibited the growth of various human glioma cell lines in vivo and in vitro in a dose dependent manner. Writing in the November 2003 issue of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Fast Forward, researchers concluded, “Non-psychoactive CBD … produce[s] a significant anti-tumor activity both in vitro and in vivo, thus suggesting a possible application of CBD as an anti neoplastic agent.”[4]In 2004, Guzman and colleagues reported that cannabinoids inhibited glioma tumor growth in animals and in human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumor samples by altering blood vessel morphology (e.g., VEGF pathways). Writing in the August 2004 issue of Cancer Research, investigators concluded, “The present laboratory and clinical findings provide a novel pharmacological target for cannabinoid-based therapies.”[5]
In addition to cannabinoids’ ability to moderate glioma cells, separate studies demonstrate that cannabinoids and endocannabinoids can also inhibit the proliferation of other various cancer cell lines, including breast carcinoma,[11-15] prostate carcinoma,[16-18] colorectal carcinoma,[19] gastric adenocarcinoma,[20] skin carcinoma,[21] leukemia cells,[22-23]neuroblastoma,[24] lung carcinoma,[25-26] uterus carcinoma,[27] thyroid epithelioma,[28] pancreatic adenocarcinoma,[29-30], cervical carcinoma,[31] oral cancer,[32] biliary tract cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)[33] and lymphoma.[34-35]Studies also indicate that the administration of cannabinoids, in conjunction with conventional anti-cancer therapies, can enhance the effectiveness of standard cancer treatments.[36] Most recently, investigators at the University of California, Pacific Medical Center reported that cannabinoids possess synergistic anti-cancer properties — finding that the administration of a combination of the plant’s constituents is superior to the administration of isolated compounds alone.[37]Consequently, many experts now believe that cannabinoids “may represent a new class of anticancer drugs that retard cancer growth, inhibit angiogenesis and the metastatic spreading of cancer cells.”[38-39]
5d. Natalya, Kogan. “Cannabinoids and cancer”. Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry 5 (10): 941-952.doi:10.2174/138955705774329555. PMID 16250836
[1] Guzman et al. 1998. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol induces apoptosis in C6 glioma cells. FEBS Letters 436: 6-10.
[2] Guzman et al. 2000. Anti-tumoral action of cannabinoids: involvement of sustained ceramide accumulation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation. Nature Medicine 6: 313-319.
3] Guzman et al. 2003. Inhibition of tumor angiogenesis by cannabinoids. The FASEB Journal 17: 529-531.
4] Massi et al. 2004. Antitumor effects of cannabidiol, a non-psychotropic cannabinoid, on human glioma cell lines.Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Fast Forward 308: 838-845.
5] Guzman et al. 2004. Cannabinoids inhibit the vascular endothelial growth factor pathways in gliomas (PDF). Cancer Research 64: 5617-5623.
[6] Allister et al. 2005. Cannabinoids selectively inhibit proliferation and induce death of cultured human glioblastoma multiforme cells. Journal of Neurooncology 74: 31-40.
[7] Guzman et al. 2006. A pilot clinical study of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. British Journal of Cancer (E-pub ahead of print).
8] Parolaro and Massi. 2008. Cannabinoids as a potential new drug therapy for the treatment of gliomas. Expert Reviews of Neurotherapeutics 8: 37-49
[9] Galanti et al. 2007. Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits cell cycle progression by downregulation of E2F1 in human glioblastoma multiforme cells. Acta Oncologica 12: 1-9.
[10] Calatozzolo et al. 2007. Expression of cannabinoid receptors and neurotrophins in human gliomas. Neurological Sciences 28: 304-310.
[11] Cafferal et al. 2006. Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits cell cycle progression in human breast cancer cells through Cdc2 regulation. Cancer Research 66: 6615-6621.
[12] Di Marzo et al. 2006. Anti-tumor activity of plant cannabinoids with emphasis on the effect of cannabidiol on human breast carcinoma. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Fast Forward 318: 1375-1387.
[13] De Petrocellis et al. 1998. The endogenous cannabinoid anandamide inhibits human breast cancer cell proliferation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 95: 8375-8380.
[14] McAllister et al. 2007. Cannabidiol as a novel inhibitor of Id-1 gene expression in aggressive breast cancer cells.Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 6: 2921-2927.
[15] Cafferal et al. 2010. Cannabinoids reduce ErbB2-driven breast cancer progression through Akt inhibition.Molecular Cancer 9: 196.
[16] Sarfaraz et al. 2005. Cannabinoid receptors as a novel target for the treatment of prostate cancer. Cancer Research 65: 1635-1641.
[17] Mimeault et al. 2003. Anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of anandamide in human prostatic cancer cell lines.Prostate 56: 1-12.
[18] Ruiz et al. 1999. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol induces apoptosis in human prostate PC-3 cells via a receptor-independent mechanism. FEBS Letters 458: 400-404.
[19] Pastos et al. 2005. The endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide, induces cell death in colorectal carcinoma cells: a possible role for cyclooxygenase-2. Gut 54: 1741-1750.
[20] Di Marzo et al. 2006. op. cit
[21] Casanova et al. Inhibition of skin tumor growth and angiogenesis in vivo by activation of cannabinoid receptors. 2003. Journal of Clinical Investigation 111: 43-50.
[22] Powles et al. 2005. Cannabis-induced cytotoxicity in leukemic cell lines. Blood 105: 1214-1221
[23] Jia et al 2006. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-induced apoptosis in Jurkat leukemic T cells in regulated by translocation of Bad to mitochondria. Molecular Cancer Research 4: 549-562.
[24] Manuel Guzman. 2003. Cannabinoids: potential anticancer agents (PDF). Nature Reviews Cancer 3: 745-755.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Preet et al. 2008. Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits epithelial growth factor-induced lung cancer cell migration in vitro as well as its growth and metastasis in vivo. Oncogene 10: 339-346.
[27] Manuel Guzman. 2003. Cannabinoids: potential anticancer agents (PDF). Nature Reviews Cancer 3: 745-755.
[28] Baek et al. 1998. Antitumor activity of cannabigerol against human oral epitheloid carcinoma cells. Archives of Pharmacal Research: 21: 353-356.
[29] Carracedo et al. 2006. Cannabinoids induce apoptosis of pancreatic tumor cells via endoplasmic reticulum stress-related genes. Cancer Research 66: 6748-6755.
[30] Michalski et al. 2008. Cannabinoids in pancreatic cancer: correlation with survival and pain. International Journal of Cancer 122: 742-750.
[31] Ramer and Hinz. 2008. Inhibition of cancer cell invasion by cannabinoids via increased cell expression of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 100: 59-69.
[32] Whyte et al. 2010. Cannabinoids inhibit cellular respiration of human oral cancer cells. Pharmacology 85: 328-335.
[33] Leelawat et al. 2010. The dual effects of delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol on cholangiocarcinoma cells: anti-invasion activity at low concentration and apoptosis induction at high concentration. Cancer Investigation 28: 357-363.
[34] Gustafsson et al. 2006. Cannabinoid receptor-mediated apoptosis induced by R(+)-methanandamide and Win55,212 is associated with ceramide accumulation and p38 activation in mantle cell lymphoma. Molecular Pharmacology 70: 1612-1620.
[35] Gustafsson et al. 2008. Expression of cannabinoid receptors type 1 and type 2 in non-Hodgkin lymphoma: Growth inhibition by receptor activation. International Journal of Cancer 123: 1025-1033.
[36] Liu et al. 2008. Enhancing the in vitro cytotoxic activity of Ä9-tetrahydrocannabinol in leukemic cells through a combinatorial approach. Leukemia and Lymphoma 49: 1800-1809.
[37] Marcu et al. 2010. Cannabidiol enhances the inhibitory effects of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol on human glioblastoma cell proliferation and survival. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 9: 180-189.
[38] Natalya Kogan. 2005. Cannabinoids and cancer. Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry 5: 941-952.
[39] Sarafaraz et al. 2008. Cannabinoids for cancer treatment: progress and promise. Cancer Research 68: 339-342.
Photo: Ron Marczyk |
Mr. Worth Repeating: former NYPD cop, former high school health teacher, the unstoppable Ron Marczyk, R.N., Toke of the Town columnist |
Editor’s note: Ron Marczyk is a retired high school health education teacher who taught Wellness and Disease Prevention, Drug and Sex Ed, and AIDS education to teens aged 13-17. He also taught a high school International Baccalaureate psychology course. He taught in a New York City public school as a Drug Prevention Specialist. He is a Registered Nurse with six years of ER/Critical Care experience in NYC hospitals, earned an M.S. in cardiac rehabilitation and exercise physiology, and worked as a New York City police officer for two years. Currently he is focused on how evolutionary psychology explains human behavior.
2 Jun
Patient Gets Two Years For Sharing Medical Marijuana
Graphic: The Pencil Method |
Photo: Cory Morse/Muskegon Chronicle |
1 Jun
How To: Make Alcohol-Free Cannabis Tincture
Alcohol-Free Cannabis Tincture
Recently, I was introduced to the recipe for a convenient cannabis-based medicine. This tincture doesn’t require smoking, vaporizing or even ingesting baked goods; simply apply a few drops of it under the tongue. It contains no harmful additives and, if made correctly using good bud, actually tastes quite pleasant.
Story by Subcool
Photos by Subcool and MzJill
I’d like to show you how to make this amazing cannabis preparation. It’s a vegetable-glycerin-based tincture that you can make with just a few inexpensive kitchen items. I’m specifying vegetable glycerin so that you don’t confuse it with the product used to make soap, which comes from animal fats and is definitely not the same thing. Vegetable glycerin is used in cough syrups and many other products and is safe for human consumption. However, I do recommend drinking extra water when you’re taking it, as it tends to dehydrate you when taken in larger amounts.
Glycerin – also known as glycerol – is easy to find. The company Now makes a very high-quality version that you should be able to get at your local health-food store. Then you simply soak some high-quality cannabis shake and kif in the glycerin for 60 days.
I like to take the high-quality shake and bud and grind them up well, then place them in a two-quart glass jar. Then I add five to seven grams of kif (i.e., unpressed trichomes) to the jar to increase the medicine’s potency. Remember that this preparation will be ingested, so keep all your tools sterile and use good-tasting shake, not waste leaf.
Once the jar is 90 percent filled with ground weed and kif, slowly add the glycerin until the weed is covered and the jar is full. (Step-by-step photos below) Make sure to rotate the jar for about three to five minutes per day, mixing the contents of jar well. (I like to flip my jar upside-down each day and let the weed float to the top of the glycerin.) After 60 full days, use a 190-micron Bubblebag to strain out the weed. At first I found this part of the process extremely difficult, and I think that using a French press or some type of fine kitchen screen to strain the shake from the tincture would work much better for most people.
Choosing Strains for the “Tinc”
Now here is where some knowledge of individual cannabis strains can be very helpful. For a medication that will provide relief for nausea and stomach pains as well as tremors and shakes, it seems that sativa hybrids work best. These varieties tend to provide a more “up” buzz that’s best for morning and daytime medication. You can even vary the harvest time and use a sativa that’s been harvested early for a tincture that’s even more energizing and upbeat.
Indica strains tend to provide better pain relief and make great medication for nighttime, especially for those folks having trouble sleeping. By making two different kinds of tincture using different types of cannabis harvested to suit the individual’s needs, we can provide effective long-term relief from many ailments both in the daytime and at night. I’m also very happy to use this preparation as ammo when the anti-cannabis people want to bring up the health drawbacks of smoked medicine.
A glycerin tincture is very easy to titrate, and a patient can use a few drops under the tongue to get just the relief needed and no more. Plus the tinc doesn’t seem to get most people super-high or even stoned, and many without serious ailments will not feel its effects unless they take a large amount, like 30 ml. Given the variations in individual metabolism, everyone will be different in this respect.
We’ve also seen incredible results with people using the tinc to treat migraines. When you’re suffering from a serious headache, taking a pill orally is a slow fix. With this preparation, you can brush your teeth vigorously and then apply a few drops into the mouth. The medicine passes across the mucous membrane and seems to have immediate effects.
Tincture Time
The first time I made tincture, I used two ounces of very “up” weed with a high THC and low CBD content. The medicine was incredibly potent, but it actually made you feel “tweaked” and was only good for daytime use. If I used it late at night for pain relief, it actually woke me up and gave me renewed energy.
In order to create a more relaxing and calming tincture, I used the following strains: Jack the Ripper, Space Queen, Purple Urkel and Jack’s Cleaner. All these plants were fully seeded, and the harvest times were past the 70-day mark. This insured that we would have a more sedative form of the medicine. Much of the weed used was either purple- or maroon- colored. I have seen the bubble water turn the color of grape juice when using these purple strains, and I wanted to see if the color and taste came through in the tinc. We also added a large pile of golden kif to the top of the jar before adding the glycerin.
I think it’s very important to fully decarboxylate the THC acids. To do this, we heat an oven to 170ºF (the lowest setting) and let the tincture sit there and warm up for about 45 minutes. At day 50, I also wash the jar well and place it in a bucket of hot water until it all cools down. These two steps ensure that the tincture is activated to its full potential. The plum-colored tinc is really impressive, and as we’d hoped, produced a much more calming effect than the first batch made with early-harvested sativas.
Dosage and Feedback
I take 15 ml of the tinc with unsweetened grape juice – it’s actually quite pleasant. We also gave small dropper bottles to anyone we knew with a medical card, and we’ve had some amazing feedback:
“I take the tincture on a fairly empty stomach and brush my teeth very well before taking it. I use one tablespoon of tincture and I take it in small sips, holding each sip and swishing it in my mouth for as long as I can. This allows for the most absorption of the tincture and provides the fastest relief for my migraine headaches, nausea and pain. It warms me from the inside and relaxes me so I can eat. If I take a tablespoon, I can do my housework and chores without ill effects. With one and a half tablespoons, I sleep all night without waking from pain, then get up in the morning feeling refreshed. For me, tinctures are the best method for migraine-pain control.” —Joymum
“This morning I didn’t take the tincture, and I’m beginning to feel shaky and nauseous. My non-cancerous fibroid (fatty) tumors are reminding me that they’re still there. All this is just after about 22 hours without my full med treatment. Two to three days more and I would be in my own unhappy world again because of the returning pain. But tonight I will be taking tincture and I’ll wake up feeling just fine. MzJill & Subcool told us when we received this treasure that not everybody feels the medicinal effects – perhaps it’s not the right method of delivery for them. I do not feel high or ‘druggy’ from tincture; I only feel relief from migraine-headache pain and a decrease in shaking. I do feel a warm, calm feeling of overall well-being.” —Anonymous
I’m not trying to make or present exaggerated claims here; I’m new to this myself, and I was just as surprised as you may be by these responses. I can tell you that these people reported a real improvement in their quality of life. I’m no scientist, but I’m also not stupid: Mainstream medical professionals need to open their eyes to what God has given us. It’s hard to ignore these results – and since we’re not smoking the cannabis, the prohibitionists’ No. 1 argument against medical cannabis is silenced thanks to this preparation.
Tincture is a great way to heal ourselves without ingesting dangerous toxic chemicals. I hope, by getting this information published in HIGH TIMES, that a large number of people will see it and can use it to help themselves or others. Thanks to Danny Danko for helping me get the word out. For more, head to tgagenetics.com
31 May
A Brief Overview of Concentrates
Concentrates are just that, the active ingredients (THC & Cannabinoids) that has been extracted from the marijuana plant material. There are several methods of extraction. The quality of the concentrate can range from poor to extremely high. Using different types of tools and methods yields different concentrates, viscosities and potencies
Concentrates can be extracted several ways with the three most common being: cold water, BHO (Butane hash oil) and CO2. Medical marijuana patients are using more and more concentrates today mostly because of their high THC and Cannabinoid content and that they are relatively easy to find in collectives at reasonable prices. Below is a brief introduction of the three more popular extraction methods and types of concentrates they produce. Hit the jump for more information on concentrates.
Cold water extraction produces a concentrate that ranges in color from light golden beige to black depending on the purity. Generally the lighter the color, the purer melt you will have (no residue). Cold water concentrates are better known as bubble hash and should be dry. It can come in different consistencies from a powder to putty like texture. The concentrate and process for cold water extraction is all organic because it only uses ice and cold water, which makes it great to use in any culinary dishes.
The second most popular extraction method is BHO or Butane Hash Oil extraction and the process uses butane to pass over the marijuana plant material. Neither the concentrate nor the process is considered organic. Although it’s not organic, BHO concentrates are used in many culinary dishes. It’s easily identified because it’s not oily like the cold water extractions. You may hear BHO’s go by other names such as: goo, earwax, wax, glass, shatter and moon rocks at collectives and dispensaries.
The last method of concentrate extraction mentioned here is CO2 extraction and it’s very similar to BHO extraction except that dry ice isn’t flammable. Dry ice is shaken over the marijuana plant material or added to a bubble hash process to knock off the gland heads from the buds. The heads stay intact because of the cold temperatures. The finished product is a fine crystal powder and must be kept frozen or very cold or else it will liquefy or turn into a big blob at room temperature. The concentrate is also known as Crystals, Gold Dust, 95%THC and Sugars.
Concentrates can vary in strength and completely depend on the quality of the strain used when making them. They can be consumed by either ingesting them, smoking them with flowers or by using any of the custom smoking devices that have been created such as skillets, globes, nails, smashers and vaporizers.