THE CANNABIS THREAD 101!!

[roots69]

The Extract Evolution of Concentrated Cannabis


The Cannabis industry is at an interesting time in its evolution. Technology and curiosity keep driving the limits of what is possible and creating a variety of new cannabis extracts. Hash, Shatter, wax, budder, BHO, cherry oil, distillates, live resin and pressed rosin are just a few examples of cannabis extracts that have distinct differences.

Cannabis has been used as a medicine throughout history by almost every culture. The Chinese documented cannabis as a medicine thousands of years ago so there is definitely something “special” about this plant. People have been trying to concentrate all of that “special” down to its purest form and when done correctly the results are impressive.

Hash

Hashish is probably easiest to make and the most common cannabis extract. Hash is a collection of trichomes (resin glands) pressed together. Solvents are not needed create hash. One can use ice cold water and micron filter bags to create an even higher quality product called full melt bubble hash. Some of the best hash I have ever smoked was made from high quality trim material and ice cold water.

Pressed Rosin

Another solvent free extraction method is to use pressure and heat. A recent trend is to use a hair straightener for pressing rosin however it is not a very effective technique. To do it right you need a hydraulic press and quality plant material. High pressure produces heat which seperates the essential oils from the plant matter creating a fine goo that is delicious for dabbing. Rosin is popular because it is all natural and includes most of the cannabinoids and terpenes.

Clear Oils and Opaque Budder



Cherry or Honey oil is the most common form of cannabis oil. Some oils are produced for powerful psychoactive effects while others are strictly for food infusion or topical applications.

Old-school cherry oil made with 99.9% isopropanol or acetone is very well known before people started making BHO. Cherry oil comes out with a golden / reddish tint giving it the signature cherry name. This oil averages between 50-70% THC and contains a high amount of cannabinoids and terpenes giving it a strong flavour with high medicinal value. Cherry oil is also known as RSO or Rick Simpson Oil but there is a wide range of different “cherry” oils one can produce depending on the filtration and starting material. Honey oil is a more refined version of cherry oil with THC of 75-85%. It can also be produced from isopropanol with a winterization process and more filtration. These cannabis oils can be smoked, dabbed or consumed orally. They can also be diluted with a carrier oil and be used directly on the skin as a topical ointment, applied onto foods, or put in gel caps.

BHO or butane hash oil is very popular even with its bad reputation for explosions and fires. Instead of isopropanol as the solvent butane is pressurized through glass or steel tubing filled with the plant material. It comes out golden, looking like honey and usually ends up with a higher THC percentage ranging from 80-90%. Whipped budder is produced the same way using butane but the only difference is how its finished or cooked off. Budder is produced with a special whipping technique that disturbs the crystals as they harden. This creates a more cookie dough like material. It’s then formed into pucks, balls or wafers to be dabbed or sprinkled into a joint.

Anyone who has experienced cooking down isopropanol or butane has probably lost an eyebrow or more! Do not try making concentrates at home without the proper ventilation, equipment and experience.

Shatter

Shatter is the first thing many people think of when extracts are mentioned. Shatter is golden goodness which comes in a range of colours, flavours and qualities depending on the plant material, the solvent and the chef cooking it down. You want to use a high quality starting material like sugar leaf trim or small buds. Some people only use quad tops of the best strains. The main difference to create shatter instead of oil is in the final cook down process. Shatter is high grade oil that has been purged in a vacuum oven to further pull out any remaining solvent. This process creates a solid material that resembles golden, translucent Swiss cheese. Shatter is stable it can be picked up and handled before it becomes sticky or soft. Shatter will snap like a brittle glass or sometimes it comes out gooey like taffy. Usually it is the terpene content in the shatter that determines if its a soft (soft shatter = higher terpenes) or hard shatter.

Waxes and Resins

The consistency or texture of the final product determines if its a wax, resin or shatter extract. Some factors that come into play are: physical agitation, changes in temperature, terpene content and moisture. They can affect the change from clear oil to opaque wax. I am talking about science when it comes to what is actually happening on a microscopic level. The final product has to do with how crystals form up and create glass or if they get smashed together to form a waxy budder substance.

CO2 Oil

When you have a big budget combined with good education the finer arts of cannabis extraction can be explored. CO2 oil usually doesn’t have higher cannabinoids then other oils. What is attractive about this method is that it’s non-flammable. Using carbon dioxide and high pressure (around 2000 PSI) the essential oils are removed and separated. The equipment required for this method of extraction is very expensive so usually its only high end labs or commercial operations that create C02 oil.

Distillate

Short path distillation also requires more equipment and technical expertise. This is the newest trend in cannabis concentrates and can produce almost 99% pure THC separating out all the other cannabinoids, molecules and contaminants. This final oil is so refined and pure that its called “The Clear” because it has almost no colour and is totally transparent. This also means there almost no terpene content which means zero taste. This is good for infusion into other products that you do not want a strong smell or flavor transferring over. To get the taste back, people are re-introducing custom terpenes and creating new flavours to enjoy, making distillate very popular for dabbing and vaping.

Live Resin

Most of the concentrates and extraction methods I have discussed are made from dry trim material. The fine sugar leaves and any unused plant material from cured cannabis can be made into extracts but what if you used the flowers while the plant was still alive? Using dry ice to quickly freeze the plant can eliminate the entire harvesting process. This keeps more of the trichomes intact when you run it with butane or isopropanol making more advanced cannabinoid and terpene profiles. When there is more diversity in the terpenes and cannabinoids there are different interactions that can enhance the psychoactive feelings. This enhancement is why live resin is so popular driving prices upwards of 100$ per gram for some brands depending on the strain and who the cook is.

All of these extracts I have mentioned have there own unique characteristics and techniques for creation. Terpenes of cannabis and cannabinoid content drive the evolution of cannabis. Some extracts have more flavor or higher THC content, others are specialized for purposes like edible infusion or dabbing. Some require expensive equipment and years of education to create. While others can be made in your backyard with simple gear and common sense.

As politics change and a new generation comes into power the stigma towards cannabis starts to crumble..

 

[DJCandle]

Right on, bruh!! I tried growing in soil once and I couldnt figure out how to PH the water and soil!! So I went back to my handy DWC hydro system.. But my question is, how do you PH ur water and nutes and soil??

It's fairly simple. Start with a good soil medium and get a pH test kit. They're about $6-7 and come with a small vile to check soil, water and runoff.

From there you can check each through the stages of your grow. Keep it anywhere from 6-6.5 pH and you're good to go. Good soil has pH regulators in it, so as long as your local tap water isn't laced with additives, you should be fine.

As far as nutes go, I don't add many during veg. I let it naturally grow out. Once I'm 2-3 weeks into flower, I start hitting it hard with nutes. Right now I'm about 4-6 weeks away from harvest on 6 of my plants, and I've been hitting them all with food. The pH kit keeps everything in check so I don't go to alkaline or acidic.

Definitely invest in the kit if pH is an issue in your own. It'll save alotta time and headache down the line for a few bucks.

 

[roots69]

CANNABIS 101
What Is Kief and How Can You Use It?

Ever wonder what to call all those tiny, sticky crystals that cover cannabis flower? They’re called kief, also known as dry sift or pollen.




Kief refers to the resin glands which contain the terpenes and cannabinoidsthat make cannabis so unique. While marijuana sans kief still contains cannabinoids, the resin glands that develop on flower buds pack the biggest punch.

Kief and Trichomes: Built-In Protection for Cannabis Plants

The white hairs covering this cannabis flower are trichomes, or resin glands.
While kief specifically refers to the bulbous, crystal formation on the tip of a gland, the substance itself is just one part of what is called a trichome, or a “hair.”

Many different plants and algae have external trichomes for specific evolutionary purposes. For example, some carnivorous plants rely on sticky trichomes to trap their prey. Other plants, like cannabis, use them as a deterrent to herbivores.




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What Are Trichomes and Why Do They Exist on Cannabis?

Trichomes on the marijuana plant keep away hungry herbivores by producing an intense psychoactive experience, theoretically disorienting the animal and preventing it from eating the rest of the plant. The resin’s strong, distinct odor also attracts pollinating insects and predators, which might keep herbivore populations at bay.

How to Separate Kief From the Cannabis Plant

Without a three-chamber herb grinder to sift and collect kief, the kief is wasted because it just sticks to the grinder itself.
If you like the experience of concentrates but don’t want to break the bank buying expensive wax or extraction equipment, sifting kief might be a great alternative. Due to the high concentration of terpenes and cannabinoids in resin glands, separating kief crystals from plant matter is a great way to consume cannabis while reducing the amount of charred material you take into your body.

Extracting kief is simple. Using a three-chamber herb grinder will help you finely grind your cannabis while letting kief crystals fall through a screen and collect into a small compartment. While two chamber grinders are nice, they often let potent kief go to waste since crystals fall off of the dried herb and just stick to the inside of the grinder.




RELATED STORY
What Is a Grinder and How Do You Use It for Cannabis?

For extracting larger quantities of kief, using simple silk screening materials will allow you to separate kief from plant matter with the ease of sifting flower.


Framed Speedball screen printing screens.
Many people create makeshift sifters using layered screens similar to the ones pictured above. Because kief tends to measure between 75 and 125 microns, it can be difficult to separate all of the resin from the plant materials. To make sure you’re collecting the cleanest kief without unwanted plant matter, stack three to four layers of fine mesh screen one on top of another.

For the best results, home extractors use consecutive sizes of screen and stack them in order from largest to smallest. When buying screens, the number of wires or threads per inch, or the LPI (lines per inch) number is an important thing to remember. The larger the screen, the smaller the LPI number. When it comes to sifting kief, mesh between 80 and 270 LPI tends to work best.




RELATED STORY
Explore the Diverse World of Cannabis Oil and Concentrates

When buying extracted kief at a dispensary or retail store, keep in mind that the purer the kief, the lighter the color will be. Kief that still looks fairly green means that there is still quite a bit of plant matter mixed in, whereas kief that has been cleaned well tends to be more of an off-white color.

What to Do With Kief

A compressed hash brick. This hash has a dark color because it has been heavily pressurized.
Now that you know what kief is and how to collect it, what should you do with it? There are many ways to make good use of your stockpile of unrefined cannabis concentrate. Here are a few suggestions that can amplify potency and refine consistency.

Sprinkle It Onto Your Packed Bowl of Cannabis
Also known as “crowning a bowl,” this is the first and most obvious use for kief. Overall potency can increase dramatically with a generous dusting of kief on top of your bowl. Corner your hits to get the most out of a kief-crowned bowl, corner your hits, which entails burning a quadrant of the bowl at a time so that you can enjoy multiple hits.




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How to Pack and Smoke a Bowl of Cannabis

Sprinkle Kief Into a Joint or Roll a Twax Joint
Freshly ground cannabis is just sticky enough to make rolling a joint fairly easy. Pepper your ground cannabis with a healthy pinch of kief and mix well. The extra trichomes should more or less stick to the ground leaves, adding potency to the interior of your joint.

For those of you who want a more advanced experience, dampen the outside of your joint with a lick or your preferred wax and then roll the top 1/3 of the joint in kief. This kief-coated joint is often call a “twaxed” joint.




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How to Roll a Joint

Make Hash
Hash is one of the oldest forms of refined cannabis. One of the first steps of making hash is extracting kief, as hash is basically just kief that has been heated and pressurized to form a soft, green ball. Applying heat and pressure to kief changes its composition by rupturing the resin glands. Once the kief ruptured, the overall taste and effects of the product are slightly different. Pressurizing kief also darkens its color; the more pressure you apply, the darker the hash becomes.




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What Is Hash and How Does It Relate to Cannabis?

Make Moonrocks
Moonrocks are top-quality nugs covered in oil and rolled in kief. These glorious glitter cannabis specimens are very high potency and can be considered a quick DIY concentrate. Moonrocks are relatively easy to make if you have the materials. Gently heat your oil of choice and liberally coat your buds. Sprinkle kief over still-warm buds, or dredge buds in a kief bath using tongs. Let harden, then enjoy them by breaking them up by hand and sprinkling them into your bowl (avoid using a grinder if possible, as a grinder will break them up too finely and defeat the purpose of creating your lovely moonrock).




RELATED STORY
What Is Charas Cannabis Concentrate?

Press Rosin
Rosin is a rising star in the world of cannabis concentrates for its solventless extraction methods and preservation of cannabinoids. This process is usually done with flower, but higher yields and potency can be achieved by pressing kief. The at-home method involves a hair straightener and a vice, while professional methods incorporate high-pressure presses.




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How to Make Rosin Dabs

Add Potency to Cannabutter
Cannabutter has so many great applications, and kief is an easy way to boost potency that doesn’t add any extra steps to the cannabutter creating process. Just remember, no matter if you decarboxylate your cannabis in the oven or in your crockpot, make sure your kief is intermixed with your flower for best results.




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Recipe: How To Make Basic Cannabis-Infused Butter

Try These Kief-Heavy Strains


A cross between a Brazilian sativa landrace and a resin-heavy South Indian indica, White Widow has blessed every Dutch coffee shop menu since its birth in the 1990s. Its buds are white with crystal resin, warning you of the potent effects to come. A powerful burst of euphoria and energy breaks through immediately, stimulating both conversation and creativity.



Hash Plant’s tight, resin-drenched flower clusters develop a brittle surface when dried and give off a deep, rich Afghani aroma that’s undercut with a hint of hashish. When consumed, her dominant flavor is the spicy-sharp bite of smouldering resin glands. The instant vaporization of those layers of sparkling trichomes accelerates Hash Plant’s rapid, blissful and breathtakingly powerful body-stone.



Between its mysterious origin, ambiguous genetics, and the plethora of successful crosses the strain has produced, Chemdawg has practically secured itself a permanent place in the cannabis hall of fame. The original source of powerhouse strains like Sour Diesel and OG Kush, Chemdawg is known for its distinct, diesel-like aroma. Pungent and sharp, you’ll be able to smell this hybrid from a mile away.

 

[roots69]

INDUSTRY
From Dry Sift to Pure Rosin in One Squash

SPONSORED BY SASQUASH ROSIN PRESS
October 18, 2017

In this four-part series, The Original Resinator and four partners discuss the equipment, support, and methods they use to produce pure and potent cannabis concentrates and extracts. Part 1 is sponsored by The Original Resinator, the largest capacity multi-use botanical extraction unit on the market, and Support the Roots, makers of the Sasquash Rosin Press.


For many cannabis users, concentrates like budder and shatter are a delicacy—something to be enjoyed on special occasions, and savored like a good meal. And just as with any good meal, ingredients matter, and you won’t find ingredients much finer than live resin, extracted directly from freshly harvested cannabis.

A batch of dry sift kief from a Resinator. (Courtesy of The Original Resinator)
The Original Resinator’s innovative freeze, fracture, and extraction process uses high-quality micron screens, powerful custom motors, and liquid CO2 to lower temperatures well below freezing, allowing users to harvest trichome-rich live resin quickly, efficiently, and without the use of solvents that many consumers aim to avoid. Sub-zero temperatures are great for any extraction, but especially helpful for extracting from live or uncured cannabis, where CBD and THC-A are at their highest levels. Frozen trichomesinstantly fracture and then fall through the micron screen, so that you get the good stuff and leave the rest behind.

With The Original Resinator, pulling a big batch of dry sift kief from some killer flower is satisfying in the extreme—but it’s not the end of the road by a long shot. You can send that material for a second spin, this time with the addition of water and ice for a “bubble while you tumble” experience. Filter the resulting water through a series of micron-sifting bags and you’ll separate the liquid and plant material from the resin, coming away with potent, resinous bubble hash or live ice resin.


The Original Resinator can extract both of these concentrates from up to 15 pounds of flower or sugarleaf in as little as 20 minutes from setup to teardown, without using any harsh chemical solvents—just the power of physics.

Those beautiful batches of pure, clean kief and bubble hash are sights to behold; but they’re also ingredients in their own right. Like turning coal into diamonds, the right amount of heat and pressure applied with a rosin press can bring out the best in these concentrates—literally.

“Hash rosin and sift rosin is the most exciting way to make rosin. When you press hash and sift rosin properly, a river of oil comes pouring out that smells and tastes just amazing,” says Matt Ilich, president of Support the Roots, which manufactures the Sasquash Rosin Press.

Under pressure, live resin gets transformed into concentrate. (Courtesy of Support the Roots)
While a big batch of sift is impressive to behold, you’re going to need some serious machinery to unlock its full potential by crushing out the oils as delicious, dabbable concentrates. That’s where the Sasquash comes in. Fabricated in California, these presses use precision-machined steel plates to apply heat and pressure—up to 20,000 pounds of it—to material, squeezing the good stuff out of flower, kief, and hash alike. They also come in a variety of sizes suitable to a wide variety of applications.

“Our plate sizing is designed around commercial and manufacturing use,” says Ilich. “That means you can process a lot of product at once, while also carefully controlling the pressure, temperature, and plate speed—all essential factors in getting a good squish from dry sift or hash.”

What kind of extract you end up with depends on how you treat your hash or sift during a press. Low temperature presses will take longer to melt the trichomes, resulting in an extract like budder or crumble. Higher temperature operations melt material more quickly, producing more stable extracts like shatter. And keep in mind—temperatures are all relative, and materials like sift and hash should be pressed at lower temperatures than flower, between 150 and 210 degrees Fahrenheit.

Post-press extract from a Sasquash Rosin Press. (Courtesy of Support the Roots)
Whatever temperature you’re pressing at, though, you’ll want to apply pressure nice and slowly to avoid blowing out the bags that enclose hash and sift during a press extraction. Nothing can spoil a batch of budder or shatter faster than exploding a bag into it.

If you’re looking to get those stunning streams of amber oil running strong from the Sasquash, though, you need to start with the cleanest sift or hash available.

“The yield you get from sift or hash all depends on the purity of what you’re putting in. The less plant material, the more of a yield you’re going to get,” says Ilich. “The Resinator is a great product to make really pure sift from, so it goes hand in hand with a rosin press like the Sasquash.”

 

[roots69]

INDUSTRY
In Photos: Watch Cannabis Diamonds Form at DabX


You may have noticed a new trend in concentrates as you view the options available at your local dispensary: diamonds.


These crystalline formations of isolated THCA (or CBDA) are the latest product craze to shake up the concentrate world. On top of being extremely potent, THCA diamonds are visually stunning and to see them form is truly enthralling.

Find Diamonds & More at Dispensaries Nearby
Commonly isolated from live resin extracts, these faceted formations can command top dollar. They often come soaked in a bath of native, strain-specific terpenes which makes serving up your own ratios of flavor and potency simple and enjoyable.

To get a sneak peek at how these diamonds form, I reached out to my friend Joshua Zeise, lead extractor at DabX in Oak Harbor, Washington. He invited me up to show off all the diamonds he’s been mining in their lab, so I tapped photographer Julia Sumpter to help me capture the beauty of these THCA diamonds as they form.

After a quick, scenic drive, we arrived in the small harbor town on Whidbey Island that hosts the DabX and Bad Ass Grass facility. Once inside, Josh showed us all the exciting creations he’s been producing. Take a peek for yourself!

Formations of THCA ‘diamonds’ stacking and covering the entire base of a jar. (Julia Sumpter for Leafly)

A large faceted formation standouts amongst a field of THCA crystals. These diamonds were formed from a Grease Monkey extraction. (Julia Sumpter for Leafly)


Find Grease Monkey Nearby

Small grains of THCA sit suspended in a live resin extract. (Julia Sumpter for Leafly)





Chunks of THCA crystallizing in a Live Resin extract

Here you see nucleation taking place, the very start of a THCA crystal beginning to form. (Julia Sumpter for Leafly)

A puck of crystalline THCA after it has been removed from the jar. (Julia Sumpter for Leafly)

THCA diamonds separated and forming within the liquid, high-terpene extract. (Julia Sumpter for Leafly)







THCA crystalizes into faceted formations as it is isolated.

Pouring off the high-terpene extract to expose the isolated THCA formations at the base of the jar. (Julia Sumpter for Leafly)

Crystalline THCA diamonds soaking a GG4 terpene bath. (Julia Sumpter for Leafly)


Find GG4 Nearby

Using subtle oxidization techniques DabX extractor Joshua Zeise is able to tint and manipulate the color of the THCA isolate. Here you see diamonds tinted with a pink hue. (Julia Sumpter for Leafly)

(Julia Sumpter for Leafly)
Find Scott’s OG Nearby

Elsewhere in the DabX laboratory, other extractions are taking place. This cannabis flower is being steam distilled for its strain-specific terpene profile. (Julia Sumpter for Leafly)

 

[roots69]

How to Top Cannabis Plants for Better Yields

Elysse Feigenblatt/Leafly



Topping your cannabis plants is an essential step to getting quality yields in your garden indoors or out. This technique involves cutting the very top of the plant to promote more lateral growth. This article will dive into topping as well as a similar training technique popularly called “FIMing” (short for “f**k I missed,” if you were wondering) or “fimming.”

Both techniques are simple and easy to perform, and can make a big difference in your final yield.

Why Is Topping Cannabis Necessary?
If left to grow on its own, a cannabis plant will focus most of its energy on one main stalk, called the cola. The result is one long dominant cola with smaller stalks surrounding it. These stalks produce small, “larfy” buds that impact the overall size and quality of your yield.

To make matters worse, when growing indoors, you’ll have to constantly adjust your lights to distance them from the tallest colas in the canopy. Meanwhile, the lower stalks will be much too far away from the lights, further harming your final yield.


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How to Grow Bigger Cannabis Buds Outdoors and Indoors
However, topping can fix these problems.

This process is done during the vegetative cycle to help to redistribute growth hormones from the main stalk to new offshoots and stalks further down the plant. Topping (or FIMing) will create an even canopy as the growth hormones are distributed to all the developing stalks and colas.

Topping vs. FIMing
Topping is the tried-and-true method preferred by outdoor and large commercial farmers. Outdoor growers will often top plants multiple times to get a large bushy structure. Topped plants remain more stable, thus require less support than plants trained with FIM.

The FIMing technique works great for growers in small spaces who are trying to get maximum yields. With so many new stalks generated, you can easily fill out a canopy in a sea of green grow with a short vegetative cycle. However, your plants will need more support, so take extra care in trellising your garden.

Whichever technique you choose, you’ll no doubt see a substantial increase in yield. If you aren’t sure what method works best for you, try both and see which you prefer. Growing is a continual learning experiment and cannabis plants are resilient, so don’t be afraid to conduct research and learn from mistakes.

How to Top (or FIM) Cannabis Plants

(Elysse Feigenblatt/Leafly)
Topping or FIMing cannabis plants is a high-stress training (HST) method that works best when the plants are developed and ready for drastic changes. As a rule of thumb, most gardeners will wait until a plant grows 4-5 nodes with healthy, vibrant coloration.

Step 1: Get your tools & disinfect.

To start, you’ll need nothing more than a sharp razor blade or a pair of scissors. The tool should be sterilized with rubbing alcohol to help prevent any infections in the plant. (While this is very rare, it doesn’t hurt to be safe).

Step 2: Decide where to make your cut.

The difference between topping and FIMing is nothing more than the location of where you cut the plant. With topping, you remove the newest growth on the main stem, but with FIMing, you cut off the upper half of the new growth (which is why the technique is called “F**k I Missed).

When you top your cannabis plants, you will see two new stalks emerge from where you cut whereas when you FIM, you might see 3-8 new stalks emerge.

Step 3: Monitor your results.

With both techniques, you’ll see more energy directed to lower branches on your plants, and they’ll begin to catch up with the newly trained dominant stalk. It takes a few weeks before your plants fully recover—then they can be trained again if you so choose.

 

[roots69]

Differences in Growing Sativa, Indica and Hybrid Cannabis

A primary joy that comes from growing cannabis yourself is that you get to pick the genetics that interest you. However, not all strains are created equal and depending on the genetics, the plant you want to grow could be a poor choice for your garden. Indicas, sativas, and the many hybrid strains in between all grow differently, take varying times to flower, and produce a different end product.

We’ve already covered the main differences in cannabis types, so what’s there to know about growing each?

Growing Indica Cannabis Strains

Traits of a typical indica cannabis plant:

• Shorter flowering time
• High yields
• Effects: Sedating, relaxing
• Symptom Relief: Anxiety, insomnia, pain, muscle spasms
• Morphology: Short, bushy, broader leaves

Because of indica’s shorter flowering periods and higher yields, they have always been popular amongst growers. Shorter flowering periods mean plants mature and finish growing sooner than sativa strains. This allows outdoor gardens to exist in climates where fall turns to winter quickly. For indoor gardeners, this means more cycles annually. The higher yields also incentivize growers to work with indicas to increase profit margins. Additionally, a benefit of growing indicas is their short stature which is ideal for most gardens indoors and out where space is limited and direct sunlight is a top priority.





Growing Sativa Cannabis Strains

Closeup of Marijuana plant
Traits of a typical sativa cannabis plant:

• Longer flowering time
• Low yields
• Effects: Uplifting, creative, cerebral
• Symptom Relief: Depression, ADD/ADHD, fatigue, mood disorders
• Morphology: Tall, lanky, thin leaves

Sativa genetics come from near the equator, where the summers are long and the winters are mild. Sativas grow long, lanky, and take their time to finish. Generally, they are not a first pick for gardeners as their height is difficult indoors while their lower yields make for a reduced profit. However, if you are more interested growing as a connoisseur you might take great pleasure from exploring the sativa strains and the varying effects.





Sativas do offer some good qualities when it comes to growing. The period of time it takes for a sativa to complete its flower cycle can be offset by faster vegetative growth. Additionally, some purebred sativas have been developed to have faster flowering times and increased yields. Coming from the equator, sativa strains handle heat better than most indicas, which is good for indoor gardens where temperature control is difficult or costly in the summer months.

Growing Hybrid Cannabis Strains

Traits of hybrid cannabis plants:

• Flowering time varies
• Many are high-yielding
• Effects: Blend of sativa and indica traits
• Symptom Relief: Varies based on genetics
• Morphology: wide range of growth patterns

Hybrids blend the best of both worlds of the cannabis plant. Most cannabis these days tends to be a hybrid mix of different indica and sativa strains. More often than not, they lean toward one side of the spectrum with either indica- or sativa-dominant traits.





Hybrids may inherit the shorter flowering time of indicas while retaining the cerebral high offered by sativas. They can also have the quality yields of indicas while taking on the fast vegetative growth of a sativa. Because hybrids can blend attributes of each, it’s no wonder they make up most of the market.

 

[roots69]

A Guide to Growing Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds

When you decide to start growing cannabis, you might find yourself looking at online seed catalogs. Here you’ll see companies offering strains that are dubbed “autoflowering,” but what does this mean and why might a grower choose autoflowering varieties of cannabis?


What Is Autoflowering Cannabis?
The concept of autoflowering strains is simple: in time, they will automatically flower as opposed to waiting for a specifically timed light cycle. In other words, the plants begin to flower all on their own after a relatively short vegetative period of 2-4 weeks.

This unique process is created when breeders fold in genetics from Cannabis ruderalis, a subspecies of the cannabis plant that is known for its autoflowering attributes and short stature.



Crossing the autoflowering ruderalis with indica and sativa varieties results in a plant that doesn’t rely on photoperiods to flower, but rather grows and flowers on its own time.

The Pros and Cons of Growing Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds
There are a number of reasons to consider autoflowering varieties for both indoor and outdoor cannabis:

• When grown outdoors, autoflowering plants will start producing buds no matter how many hours of sunlight you are receiving; this means you don’t have to worry about running a light deprivation system or supplementing light if you are trying to achieve multiple harvests in the season.
• When growing indoors, autoflowering strains allow you to rapidly grow strains from start to finish as they generally complete maturation after three months.
• Autoflowering plants can receive more than 12 hours of sunlight a day and create bigger buds in less time than many regular cannabis plants.
• Autoflowering plants are small and stealthy; they are perfect for closet grows or growing outdoors where you don’t want your neighbors to see what you’re up to.

There are, however, reasons why autoflowering plants are not as popular as regular cannabis indica and sativa plants. Autoflowering strains are small in stature and do not produce large yields. Other issues with autoflowering strains include higher electricity bills and an inability to really train your plants to make the most of your grow space.

Since the introduction of original autoflowering strains in decades past, significant improvements have been made to these genetics. First, potency in autoflowering varieties has increased significantly since their initial introduction. Also, there are now hundreds of types of autoflowering seeds being sold, giving you a large selection to choose from. Because of these improvements, autoflowering seeds are worth a shot for any curious gardener looking to try something new.

How to Grow Autoflowering Cannabis Strains
Autoflowering strains require some preparation, as they will grow quickly and start to flower whether or not you’re ready for them. However, follow these steps and you should find success in your autoflowering garden.

1. Training Your Plants
Generally speaking, you’ll want to train your plants while they are in vegetative growth. For autoflowering plants, this period could be as short as two weeks which means time is limited.



To start, consider topping your plant after it has developed three nodes to promote a more even canopy. Another LST (low-stress training) method involves training your plant by pulling it down sideways to create new upward growth. Once your plants do begin to flower, you should not top them. Prune your plants conservatively for no more than one week into flowering.

2. Climate Considerations
When you are growing autoflowering plants, you’re allowing plants to flower when they should be in a vegetative growth. Because you don’t need to follow photoperiod light cycles, many people start autoflowering plants early in the season (e.g. March) or late in the season (e.g. September). For this time of year, it’s important to remember that the plants still need warmth to grow, and there also might be considerable rain putting the buds at risk of rot. To combat these issues, consider growing in a greenhouse to provide protection from the elements.



3. Go Easy on Feeding
Autoflowering strains do not need to be heavily fed due to their small size and the short amount of time they spend in the vegetative cycle. Feed very lightly and understand that they don’t need as many vegetative growth nutrients such as nitrogen. Also note that these vegetative nutrients are best put to use if they are readily available for the plant to utilize quickly.



4. Harvest Gradually
Autoflowering plants often do not have time to develop a canopy, which means you will be keeping buds that are lower down on the plant. Because of this, it’s a great idea to harvest your plants sequentially. First take the colas, then allow more time for the lower buds to dense up before they are harvested next.



5. Prepare Your Next Crop
To get the most out of autoflowering seeds, it’s a good idea to prepare your next batch of plants as you are harvesting. This means popping seeds before you harvest your current plants so that your room is continually producing. Because the plants autoflower, you can have plants that are just starting out in the same room as those that are finishing without worrying about the lighting.



How to Find Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds
Autoflowering cannabis seeds are most easily found through seed banks and seed banks online (note: just be sure to read and understand the legal fine print about purchasing seeds online). Seeds may also be purchased at some local dispensaries, though depending on where you are, they can be difficult to track down at retail outlets.

 

[roots69]

5 Things You Should Do When Stoned and Need to Come Down Fast

Whether you didn’t know your limits, your edible kicked in a few hours late, or you took a huge bong rip just before getting called into work, we’ve all experienced the agony of being way too stoned and needing to come down fast.

The important thing to remember in times like these: While an intense high can feel uncomfortable, it’s not a life or death situation. No

deaths from overdose of marijuana have ever been reported. Most symptoms of “greening out” fade within a few minutes to a couple of hours. Which, of course, can feel like a lifetime when you’re baked out of your mind.

Luckily, there are a few tactics you can try in the meantime to reduce the effects of THC and start to feel normal again. Here are five things to do when you’re too high and need to come down fast.

1. Take really deep breaths

Giphy

If you get too high, it’s natural to start freaking out. Unfortunately, stressing only makes things worse. Deep belly breathing, also called diaphragmatic breathing, instantly activates the “relaxation response” of your parasympathetic nervous system. This causes your blood pressure, heart rate, and adrenaline and cortisol levels to return to normal.

When diaphragmatic breathing, visualize filling up the lower part of your lungs and abdomen with air, then exhaling slowly. Try inhaling through your nose and exhaling through pursed lips, like you’re blowing out a candle. Repeat as necessary.

2. Hydrate

One of the worst things about getting too high is the dry mouth that makes you feel like you’re chewing on a cotton ball. Drinking plenty of cold water can alleviate this unpleasant sensation and help you come down faster.

The science behind it is pretty straightforward. When you smoke, eat an edible, or otherwise consume marijuana, the THC surges through your bloodstream and makes its way to the brain. Since our blood is largely made of water, upping your water intake can help flush the THC from your body and make you come down faster.

3. Consume CBD

Giphy

You’re probably aware that CBD is an active compound in cannabis that can help reduce anxiety and inflammation without making you feel stoned. What you might not know is that CBD can also balance your buzz and soften the psychoactive effectsof THC when you’ve smoked too much.

If you’re too high and need to come down fast, reach for a CBD tincture or oil and put a few drops under your tongue. Hold it there for 60 to 90 seconds before swallowing. A tincture is the fastest way to reap the benefits of CBD because the capillaries in your mouth absorb the ingredients quickly and send them straight to your bloodstream.

4. Reach for a lemon

Photo by Nathan Lemon on Unsplash

Lemons have long been used as an antidote to cannabis, and can lessen the psychoactive effects of THC. The citrus fruit contains a terpene called limonene that is rapidly absorbed by the body and is known for its medicinal properties. It is thought that the anti-anxiety effects of limonene help relieve the uncomfortable feelings associated with being too stoned.

To use lemons as a marijuana antidote, make some lemonade from scratch. Squeeze the juice from a lemon into a glass of water and add a little bit of zest from the peel. The outer rind has the highest concentration of limonene and will help counteract your buzz.

5. Chew on black peppercorns

Similar to lemons, there is a terpene in black pepper called beta-caryophyllene that can help you cope with the anxiety that comes with being too high. Beta-caryophyllene binds to the same cannabinoid receptors in the brain as THC, producing a calming effect on the mind and body.

Chewing on two or three black peppercorns — or smelling ground peppercorns — will block your THC receptors and help you come down quickly.

 

[roots69]

How to Make Cannabis Tea

Don’t waste your stems and shake. Learn how to make cannabis tea!




These days there are so many ways to get high, so you might wonder why you would want to learn how to make cannabis tea. Well, cannabis tea has numerous advantages over other forms of cannabis use and other edibles. Like other edibles and oils, cannabis tea allows you to make the most of your stems and shake. It also offers a discrete means of consumption and it's delicious. Another advantage of cannabis tea is that, as a liquid, you can very easily adjust your dose to have the exact experience you want. Not only can you adjust your dose, but because THC is not water soluble, once you know how to make cannabis tea, you can choose to make your tea in several different ways that will affect just how psychoactive your brew ends up being.

Cannabis tea also has several therapeutic benefits over other means of marijuana ingestion. Like other edibles, the effects of cannabis tea are less immediate and take longer to build. The milder effects and longer build time make it much easier to avoid becoming intoxicated. Cannabis tea is also a traditional remedy for stress, nausea, and muscle pain. Some even recommend it for treating morning sickness, although medical opinions are mixed. Finally, cannabis tea is an excellent alternative to smoking, especially if you need to give your lungs a break.

Getting Started

I mentioned that there are several ways of learning how to make cannabis tea. Let's just talk about them in terms of THC-soluble teas, and non-soluble teas. If you want a less psychoactive high, then brewing your stems and shake in water will give you just that. However, if you want the full effects of your strain you'll need to put your cannabis through a decarboxylation process. This process converts the plant's THCA to THC. While this happens naturally when you smoke or cook your weed with butter and other fats in a recipe, it doesn't happen in a tea brewed with only water. If you want to make a THC-soluble tea you'll need to use fats from butter, milk or cream, or water and alcohol such as a tincture.

Try it Out!

Non-Soluble Cannabis Tea

Making a non-soluble tea is relatively simple. You'll need to grind your stems and shake then either boil them directly in water or place them inside a teabag. If you want to put your mix into a teabag you can open most teabags easily. Once you've opened a regular tea bag, you'll find that it unfolds into a tube of cheesecloth. Place your mix in the center of the tube and add your favorite tea if you like. Now fold the edges of the cheesecloth tube up together and close the bag in the same way you opened it. This is often just a little staple that you can replace. You're pretty much set at this point. Experiment carefully with how long you boil or steep your tea and flavor it with sweeter and cream or milk as you like. Try starting off with this simple recipe.

Take 1 or 2 grams of ground stems, shake, and/or leaves and add them to 1 and a half cups of simmering water for 30 minutes. You may have to adjust the proportions here depending on whether you're using mostly leaves, shake, or stems. This is something you'll figure out as you learn how to make cannabis tea. Strain it through some cheesecloth and enjoy.

Soluble Cannabis Tea Using Dairy

Learning how to make cannabis tea with dairy is not that much more difficult than making a non-soluble tea. You're going to need to use a dairy product, or some other fat or oil to create a binder to allow the decarboxylation to take place. Many people like using butter for its high fat content and efficiency. However, others don't like the taste it can leave behind in their tea. In those cases, you might try milk or heavy cream. If you're going to use milk, you'll need to use a milk with a high fat content. Skim milk is not going to cut it. You're also going to need to use more milk than cream and more cream than butter. This is just about getting enough fat into the process. If you're unsure of how to decide, you should think about what kind of drink you plan on making with your tea. If you're going to drink your tea plain, either with nothing in it, or only a little sweetener and milk, then you might want to use the butter. Otherwise your tea is going to end up being too creamy for your taste. On the other hand, if you want to end up making a London Fog or Chai Tea Latte, then plenty of milk or cream up front shouldn't be a problem. In fact, you don't even need water depending on what you're planning to make. Keep in mind, however, that if you plan to make a batch of tea and store it for a little while then the butter and water cannabis tea is going to keep a lot better than the alternatives. Ok, made up your mind? Here's a few recipes to get you started with this option.

Cannabis Green Tea

• 3 cups of water
  
• 2 tablespoons of butter
  
• 1/2 gram of ground marijuana (use more if you're using stems and leaves)

Bring the three cups of water to a boil. Add the 2 tablespoons of butter. Stir this in until it melts away then add the half gram of cannabis. Boil this mixture for around 40 minutes, being sure to add water to replace the water that will be evaporating away. Pour this mixture through a cheesecloth or coffee filter into a large measuring cup or other means of storage. Let it cool for five minutes. Now flavor to your liking and enjoy.

Cannabis Chai Tea Latte

• 1/2 cup of water
  
• 1/2 gram of ground marijuana (use more if you're using stems and leaves)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon butter (this is optional and can be replaced by extra cream or milk)
  
• 1 chai tea bag
  
• 1 cup whole milk or cream
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Add your ground marijuana, vanilla, cream or milk, and butter to a blender. Blend these until you have a smooth mixture. Let this mixture sit for around an hour then add it and your water to a pot. Bring this to a boil for 30 minutes. Again, if you're seeing a lot of evaporation be sure to add water as needed. Remove your tea from the heat and add your chai tea bag. Steep the bag for around fivr minutes then strain everything through some cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Add sugar, honey, or any other sweetener as you see fit and enjoy a relaxing cannabis chai tea latte.

Final Thoughts

Cannabis teas made with alcohol tend to be less popular than other varieties. This may be because they tend to overly flavor the tea. I haven't covered any recipes for them, however they're straightforward and work like the other soluble tea recipes. You should be able to find a good recipe if you want to experiment in the future.

Now that you know how to make cannabis tea you can try all kinds of variations on this theme. You can try making a cannabis infused milk to add to a regular tea or you can use any of these recipes to make an ice tea. Try out some different options and don't afraid to experiment. However, be very careful. Cannabis tea can be much more powerful than you would expect and is very easy to overdo it. Start with less and build to a high that you're comfortable with. Many people recommending trying your first batch of cannabis tea a couple hours before bed. Always be safe and enjoy!

 

[roots69]

The Ultimate High: Hash vs Weed

What's the best high?

Both hash and weed are the most popular cannabis derived products around the world. But what are the number one differences between each of them? And what are the similarities? Which one is better? For people that have never truly been exposed to both at the same time, these can be common questions. In the next mini guide, I'll go through the top characteristics of hash and weed and then it’s up to you to decide which one sounds better!

Main Difference and Appearance
First, we need to understand what the main difference between hash and weed is. Both come from the female cannabis plant; weed is the unprocessed flowers and hash is the resin. In terms of appearance, weed looks like the green buds we all know and love and hash is like a sticky, brownish paste. In case you mix cannabis with tobacco, remember this: hash burns best with cigarette tobacco whilst rolling tobacco is fine for weed. You can even mix it with herbal plants like they do in some coffee shops in Amsterdam. Although that feels like you’re smoking tea to me.

Smell and Taste
I have to admit, I much prefer the smell of hash. Not that I don’t like the smell, or taste, of weed. But depending on the strain, weed can get quite stinky. On the other hand, hash only smells if you burn it first. And when you do, it gives out this beautiful, potent, woody, and refreshing fragrance. And for me personally, it reminds me when I first started smoking hash as a teenager. I’d be sharing with my friends at a festival I wasn’t supposed to be at in the first place, convinced I was in paradise. But I digress, taste and smell are both very subjective and difficult to rate. You might much prefer something that makes your whole room smell earthy. Or you might enjoy the difference in smell in different strains. And, after having said all this, I really can’t forget about the time I got the best smelling weed strain ever. The beautiful ‘strawberry,’ that really smelled of wild strawberries, originally from Holland. That’s a smell I have never found smoking hash before.

Potency
Perhaps the most important difference for many smokers is the potency. Hash is known to have a higher concentration of THC. Forty percent on average compared to 10-20 percent of the bud. Furthermore, the purest forms of hashish have been reported to contain 90 percent of THC. The usual hash high is very mental and similar to a sativa high. Euphoria and time distortion are incredibly common which is something that I personally prefer. And of course, since hash is stronger, a smaller quantity is needed to get the same level of high as weed. However, you might want to have the choice of an indica strain from time to time.

Cost and Availability
Next on the list is availability. Weed is much more widely available in most parts of the world compared to hash. This could be because there’s basically no hash without weed, so it makes sense that weed is easier to get your hands on. Besides, plenty of countries all over the world are popular for growing their homegrown, grade A weed. However, hash is most commonly produced only in Morocco and Afghanistan, which makes it harder to export internationally. And potentially, more expensive. It is important to note that I’m talking about countries where cannabis has not yet been legalised. Although hash is readily available in countries close to Morocco and Afghanistan. This doesn’t apply to countries where cannabis is legal, of course. Cost and availability are pretty much the same.

So which one is better? It really depends on what high you’re after and what you can afford. In case you couldn’t already tell, I am pretty biased towards hash and I much prefer smoking it. I feel like even though the high is more potent, I feel more motivated to do stuff. But the truth is, the joint I’m smoking right now has weed in it. So I’ll let you decide for yourselves.

 

[roots69]

More Things Weed Smokers Should Know

Get a ganjacation from some more things every weed smoker should know.

So, your a bonafide stoner now. You've studied the things every weed smoker should know, and you're feeling confident. You are the master blunt-roller. An expert bowl-packer, and maybe even a novice dabber— but something is missing. Maybe when your friends break out the bud you can't quite tell what strain it is. Or you tried to grow your own stash and accidentally gave your sweet little baby plants heat stroke from messing with your lamps and bulbs. You've learned a lot, young Padawan, but there is always room to learn more. Tune in and turn on as we cover even MORE things weed smokers should know.

Q: I still don’t get the difference between Sativa and Indica. It seems like all strains are variations of Sativa.

A: There is always a bit of controversy concerning the botany of cannabis. Some feel that all marijuana varieties are simple variations of Cannabis Sativa, while another group feels just as strongly that there are as many as three distinct species: Cannabis Sativa (mainly of Mexican and South American origin). Cannabis Indica (Indian and Near Eastern origin) and Cannabis Ruderalis (the rare wild variety originating in Siberia and Afghanistan). Since only Cannabis Sativa is mentioned in the law, in the early days of the legalization movement some creative individuals used the "botanical defense” to try and get out of an arrest. There are in point of fact distinct variations of cannabis.

My grandpa thinks pot seeds grown in 100% hog manure, grow twice as tall as ones grown in black soil? I love my Grandpa, and he does have good pot, but the hog manure thing sounds far fetched.

Marijuana doesn't like muddy soil, so it's got to be either somewhat sandy or elevated in some way to permit drainage. The height of the plant is largely dependent on the species, not the soil, although chicken shit and composted horse manure add a lot of good nitrates. More to the point, who is going to harvest on a hill of hog shit anyway?

I recently went three weeks without pot. It was like a withdrawal. I was nervous, irritable and very bitchy. Is this a physical or psychological effect?

It is both. Although marijuana is a fairly weak drug, it is, nonetheless, a form of stimulant. The body adapts quickly to constant stimulation, and a tolerance develops after a short while. The same applies to coffee, which is why those who constantly drink more than four cups a day may also experience the same effects you mention when they get up in the morning before they have their first cup. You were suffering from a mild depression, both physical and mental, which is the standard effect of withdrawal from constant use of a mild stimulant.

Does the curing method of pot affect its potency or aroma? Should I just bake the leaves for a few minutes in an oven?

If you are going to cure your marijuana with an artificial heat source, it's good to keep a careful eye on the temperature. THC is a fairly delicate chemical, and it can be destroyed by temperatures Over 250 F. A little heat is good to dry out the weed so that it can be stored without getting moldy; mild heat may even help convert a small amount of THC to its active form. The oxygen in your oven, however, will eventually not only attack the THC in the dope, but it will also oxidize the delicate aromatics which give marijuana its distinctive taste and smell. Keep the temperature below 200 F, and take it out as soon as it's dry. If this is too complicated, sun drying has been the Standard method for centuries, and it is considerably gentler to the bud.

I have been told by different people how to make hash out of the stems of my plants. Is that a real thing?

All methods of trying to make hash out of plant stems are essentially worthless. The stems of the marijuana plant contain so little THC that it's simply not worth the effort.

What color is Nigerian black grass?

The final product is actually dark brown. Fresh marijuana ranges from light green to dark reddish-green the final color depends a great deal on how it is dried and cured. Home-grown can come out a bit emerald. Some South American varieties are reddish brown, and Acapulco Gold is indeed, yellow-gold. For marijuana to be black however, it would have to be carbonized; even the most wretched curing process would not turn green to black.

Does Jamaican Marijuana make you more active?

Marijuana is a stimulant, but when the stimulation effect wears off, it leaves one sleepy. On the other hand, it does tend to make dull and repetitious work more interesting. Laborers in many countries smoke it for this reason; the owner of a construction company in Colombia reported that he always kept his workers supplied with marijuana, even though it was patently illegal be cause they worked better when they were stoned. In a now-famous study done by The Institute for the Study of Man on Jamaican sugarcane workers intensive research was done on a group of these workers who would often smoke as many as ten spliffs per day. The study showed that although these workers were more active, they only accomplished 95% as much work as the straight workers. Apparently, they slashed away more actively, but missed more often. The other finding was that, as a group, they were happier and better adjusted than their non-smoking co-workers.

Does a person get higher eating marijuana than smoking it?

When a person eats hash or marijuana (which has to be cooked first), the active ingredients enter the body through the gastrointestinal tract. Technically, the same amount of marijuana will cause the same effects. However, since one gets stoned rather quickly when smoking. the tendency is to stop smoking at a certain point. However, it may take as much as two to three hours for effects to occur after eating, and since there is no immediate feedback, there is often a tendency to consume a considerably greater quantity when eating. When it hits later, it packs a real wallop. The chemicals will, naturally, tend to seep into the bloodstream for a longer period of time. Because of the unpredictability of the effects gained by eating, it should be practiced with care; naive users who eat it the first few times because they do not smoke are likely to get such a heavy effect that they may freak and never try it again.

Why whenever I get stoned, do my eyes get really red?

There are two causes for this. Because of its stimulant effect, all the small sphincters in the body constrict, considerably lessening both the flow of saliva and tears. For this reason, one can cut onions without tearing when stoned and experience the famous dry-mouth effect. Since the eye is not as well lubricated, it will become irritated after a while. The major cause of the bloodshot eye, however, is related to the fact that after the stimulation occurs, a relaxation of smooth muscles follows. Since the capillaries in the eye, like all capillaries, are formed of smooth muscle, they relax and become engorged, thus causing the bloodshot appearance. This capillary relaxation is also the cause of bloodshot eyes among those who have drunk too much alcohol.

Why is it so hard to get somebody stoned for the first time?

There are two reasons for this very common effect. The first is purely psychological; a person who has never gotten “high” on marijuana before will, naturally, tend to think of “high” as a variety of the "highs he has already experienced from alcohol and a high from a stimulant is quite different. Keeping one's eyes peeled for an alcohol-like high can make it difficult for a person to recognize that he is, indeed, stoned. The fact that the first few times may not be so dramatic is currently the source of some speculation among scientists. Apparently, THC is changed by an enzyme in the liver into the metabolite 11-hydroxy delta 9 THC, and many professionals feel that it is this metabolite which is the active form of THC. Since this enzyme is normally present in only small quantities, it may take several sessions to get the liver to start producing more, and thus be able to make use of the THC which is being ingested. The combination of this enzyme effect and the psychological unpreparedness is the chief cause of the “reverse tolerance so often noted among marijuana users.

One sure way to get positive effects is to use an ice-filled water pipe, making sure the initiate has indeed, gotten plenty of smoke in, and held it down long enough (fifteen to eighteen seconds). Then have him hyperventilate for about eight rapid deep breaths and on the final inhale, jam the pipe in his mouth. When he finally dislodges his head from the ceiling, he will have no doubts at all. P.S. For God's sake, don't do this unless you have thoroughly acquainted the person with what being stoned is all about. It's quite dramatic and you don't want to end up with your buddy gaily freaking about you apartment. Be gentle.

Why do I get the munchies when I get high?

Despite rumors to the contrary, scientific studies show that marijuana has no detectable effect on the blood sugar level in the bloodstream. However other studies have indicated marijuana is definitely an appetite stimulant. Because brain stimulant such a marijuana raises the awareness of all physical stimulation one would be on aware of hunger pains a considerably lower level than when one was straight. On you begin to eat, moreover, the increased sensitivity will make anything seen more tasty, or will make the texture more fascinating, which will lead one to wolf down a quart of ice cream or gobble a bag of potato chips with abandon. Dr. Andrew Weil, coauthor of the first controlled marijuana tests, - studied this effect in the late sixties. His findings were that people high on marijuana weren't suffering from increased hunger-just “hyperphagia” a complicated term best translated as “fascination with eating.”

Is it true that there is a poison used in cultivating marijuana?

During the second world war, extensive tests were undertaken to discover a better hemp (marijuana) since our supplies were in the hands of the Japanese. One of these studies involved the use of a chemical called colchicine. Applied to the immature female buds, it caused the next generation to become a diploid variant with considerably higher potency. Colchicine itself is poisonous which is why the mother plant should not be smoked. The word has gotten out by means of The Marijuana Cultivator’s Handbook, but it's not that easy to find colchicine on if you found a source, it’s not easy to obtain. a fascinating idea, but personally I have never heard of anyone actually doing it. Like that business of grafting hops to marijuana bottoms, it may be an elaborate hype. If anyone has succeeded in he colchicine connection, I'd love to hear from them.

Have scientists been able to synthesize the different kinds of THC?

There are about thirty other chemicals in marijuana besides THC, including cannabidiol, cannabinol, cannabigerol, and cannabichromene. The makeup from one plant to another varies considerably—from species to species, it's all over the map. Not only that, but depending on the time of day, your mood, and a host of other variables your head is also different from moment to moment. You're playing brain Ping-Pong with about fifty variables; and nobody will ever be able to make a prediction about the more subtle aspects of the high from one variety to another at a certain time. So perhaps there will be synthetic variants, but nothing to compare to the original.

 

[roots69]

Why Marijuana Is Illegal in the First Place

Discrimination, religious groups, and money all play a part in why marijuana is illegal after all these years.

Marijuana has countless medicinal applications (including juicing!) and has lead to plenty of good times. Nonetheless, marijuana is illegal for reasons that seemingly make no sense. Marijuana is not associated with overdoses like opioids are, people's behavior under the influence of marijuana is not as reckless as their behavior when under the influence of alcohol, and the criminal associations with marijuana is a direct consequence of it being framed as criminal. Unfortunately, like too many of the laws and social mores in America, the criminalization has more to do with maintaining existing power structures than with protecting the public's general interest.

The Mexican Revolution

After the Mexican Revolution, America saw an increase in Mexican Americans. That meant a lot more exposure to Mexican culture, customs, and language. As is often the case, Americans were scared by this change and the media played up those fears for profit. That included playing up the “dangers” of cannabis, even though cannabis was something Americans were comfortable with at the time (it was used for medicinal and recreational purposes).

Sensationalist Media
How did the media make Americans afraid of something they were already comfortable with? Simple: they started calling cannabis what Mexicans were calling it! And, just like that, cannabis became “marijuana.” And the Mexicans that Americans were already interacting with on a regular basis? The media started calling them “disruptive.” Suddenly Americans had images of dangerous outsiders under the influence of an unpredictable substance causing all sorts of damage to their communities. Those cultural changes are in large part why marijuana is illegal. It's the same logic that explains how ICE abuses undocumented immigrants under the guidance of the federal government.

Criminalizing Marijuana
So what happened next? The city of El Paso, Texas decided to tamp down on the presence of Mexicans in the same way that San Francisco tamped down on the presence of Chinese Americans: by passing laws against their leisure activities. For the Chinese that meant making opium against the law, and for Mexicans that meant making marijuana against the law. Once a new criminal class was created, the US federal government was able to do with Mexicans whatever they pleased. Search them, detain them, and even detain them. Sound familiar? It should. America does it a lot!

Reefer Madness
Marijuana panic continued throughout the early 20th century. A church group financed the famed anti-cannabis propaganda film Reefer Madness. Within the world of the movie, cannabis consumption inspires several deaths, including ones caused by a hit-and-run, a brutal beating, and a handgun. If anyone was suffering from marijuana inspired madness it was the companies funding films with such hysterical titles as Assassin of Youth (1937), and Devil’s Harvest (1942).

The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937
In the 30s, people started saying the men of color were becoming violent and aggressively sexual toward white women as a result of marijuana usage. It was behavior that played into pre-existing biases held toward men of color, so it wasn’t too hard to spread more bigoted lies. The uproar that followed inspired the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which passed so that the commercial sale of hemp and cannabis could be taxed. Sound familiar? It should! It's exactly what happened to Mexican Americans only decades earlier. Once again, discrimination is in large part why marijuana is illegal.

The Controlled Substances Act
Deemed unconstitutional decades later, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was replaced by the Controlled Substances Act. Substances were ranked using “schedules,” which indicated how addictive and dangerous drugs were. Marijuana, which just decades ago was valued for its medicinal uses, was placed in the most dangerous category—Schedule I drug. Even though a commission had advised the Nixon administration to change the classification of marijuana, the President had decided against it. That’s the category that marijuana remains in to this day—but not everywhere!

The Many Uses of Marijuana

There are many reasons why you should drink cannabis tea. It reduces the likelihood of Alzheimer's, heart disease, or sleepless nights. And as the Washington Post reported, a study published in Health Affairs found that the number of painkillers prescribed in states in which medical cannabis is legal is drastically less. So, as you can imagine, pharmaceutical companies take numerous steps to oppose the legalization of marijuana.

As reported by The Nation, groups like Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America and the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids get a lot of their funding from pharmaceutical companies, which has shaped their approaches to both opioid abuse and marijuana use. And, as noted by The Guardian, in Arizona, Insys, a major pharmaceutical company, helped finance a successful campaign to stop the passage of a law to legalize recreational marijuana use.

Private Prisons
As reported by Project Uncensored, Human Rights Watch observed 574,641 arrests in 2015 for small amounts of cannabis intended for personal use. That's over 50% of drug arrests. In 2016, the Obama administration tried to curtail the use of private prisons, but once Trump took office, that rollback was quickly ceased. As noted by The Hill, private prisons donated $500,000 to Trump's campaign. And while The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) may state that they don't intend to influence legislation one way or the other, it's certainly on their minds. The CCA listed legalization of marijuana as a potential adverse factor on future profits as part of a SEC filing.

Police Unions
Business Insider took note that law enforcement unions were among the groups fighting against decriminalization of marijuana in Maine. And, as reported by The Intercept, when California had a vote on the decriminalization of marijuana, police and prison guard groups had as much as 50% of the funds against the legislation. Law enforcement officials did the same in Florida in 2014.

Decriminalization of Marijuana

Since 1996, the United States has been slowly approving the use of marijuana for medicinal and even recreational use. Today, 30 states plus DC have made medical marijuana usage legal, and many of those states have allowed for recreational use as well. A 2018 study by the Pew Research center revealed that 61% of Americans support marijuana legalization, so it's just a matter of time until toking up is legal everywhere. And when that time comes, we better all remember the reasons marijuana is illegal because America has a history of passing discriminatory laws.

 

[roots69]

How to grow the world's most potent marijuana indoors at an affordable price.

There are two ways to grow cannabis sativa indoors. You guessed it—a right way and a wrong way. The wrong way is to throw a handful of seeds into a garbage can full of local dirt in a foil-lined closet with a desk lamp over it for twenty-four hours a day. The probable result will be plants that look like mutant bean sprouts, taste like the stuff between your toes, and give you a head like the morning after the night before. At least they're already in the garbage can.

The right way is to spend a little money and follow a planned scientific approach. With quality seeds, proper materials, and sufficient light, the result will be a constant supply of lush connoisseur-quality cannabis as potent as any Thai stick. After a year of production, the cost of this surprising herb comes to under $7.00 an ounce, all inclusive. The yield is at least one and three-fourths ounces per square foot of growing area.

Cultivation Technique
Cannabis can be cultivated with equal success in any region, providing its needs for nutrition, water, heat, and light are met. In nature, these forces combine in different proportions in different parts of the world. This accounts for the numerous varieties of pot on the market. The best pot comes from areas of the world which provide a superior balance of these forces. Still, there are natural drawbacks in every region, although they are minimized in certain areas of Southeast Asia, Central America, and Africa. And as long as they do, the best pot has yet to be grown. You can grow that pot at home by following the procedures outlined in this article.

Before you begin, you’ll have to forget all that hocus-pocus about “perfect Mother Nature.” We think she's more arbitrary than perfect. Processes governing plant life are determined by very predictable electrochemical reactions that take place within the plant's tissues. Such reactions are not only predictable, but controllable. Man, not nature, has deliberately developed superior strains of tomatoes. Man can deliberately grow better pot—especially indoors in a highly controlled environment. The following is the most sophisticated, yet foolproof method ever developed for growing marijuana indoors.

Environmental Conditions

1. Temperature. The ideal room temperatures are 70°–80°F during light periods, and 60°–70° during dark periods. Assume that fluorescent lights alone will raise the temperature of your growing area about 5° when they’re turned on.
   
2. Humidity. Cannabis tolerates a wide range of humidity. Moderately dry rooms are just fine; unlike with popular varieties of tropical houseplants, misting will be neither necessary nor desirable unless the humidity is near zero. High humidity is fine, too, provided there is plenty of ventilation and a decent amount of space between plants. The higher the humidity, the greater the need for ventilation and spacing. In general 40-60 percent humidity is ideal.
   
3. Location. Come out of the closets, folks! Closets are wonderful places for storing shoes, hats, garments, dirty laundry, alter egos, and general brica-brac. They’re lousy places to grow pot. Healthy cannabis plants are exceptionally beautiful and merit prominent placement in the living room, bedroom, pool area, etc.

Aside from aesthetic considerations, cannabis needs more ventilation than it can get in the closet. Stagnant air frequently induces fungus problems. More important, in a tightly enclosed space, the plants are likely to deplete the supply of carbon dioxide (CO2) normally present in the atmosphere.

Image via Daily Public


All the Right Lighting
Cannabis needs loads of high quality light. Remember, it's a plant that grows best in nature where full sun is beating directly down on it all day long Don't confuse cannabis with your “houseplants,” as they’re worlds apart in their light requirements. Insufficient and poor quality lighting has been the number one destroyer of otherwise intelligently-grown indoor crops. By following the guidelines suggested here, you can easily avoid this pitfall.

If you're starting plants indoors anytime after June, you might as well grow them under artificial light from the beginning. They'll grow faster and stronger, and won't have to undergo any transition from sunlight to fluorescent light in the fall.

If artificial light is to be used, it should be fluorescent lighting only. Fluorescent lighting costs a bit more initially, but is much cheaper in the long run. Fluorescents last much longer, and will reduce your electric bill nearly 70 percent. Since their heat output is minimal, they can be placed very close to plants without burning them.

Results will be as good with a combination of “daylight” and “natural white” or with a combination of “cool white” and "warm white." The important thing is to place the tubes alternately in a one-to-one ratio.

If standard output equipment is used, parallel tubes should be spaced six inches apart, and about six inches above plant tops. This will supply the plants with eighteen to 22 watts per square foot of growing area, or a minimum of 450 one-foot candles. Any less light will be insufficient.

The spacing of tubes is important. If tubes are farther apart, or farther above plant tops, the result is totally inadequate light. If tubes are placed closer together, a good deal of light energy is transferred into heat energy. The result is excess heat, reduced light output per tube, and a non-uniformity of both light intensity and spectral quality.

Light should remain on constantly from the day seeds are initially planted to the first few days after germination. After that, lights should be kept on sixteen to seventeen hours a day. It is important to be consistent, and the easiest way is to spend a few dollars on an electric timer. Female cannabis is photoperiodic–it goes into flower in response to a reduction in the hours of light received a day (photoperiod). They will begin to flower six to eight weeks after reducing the photoperiod to twelve or thirteen hours a day. Male plants are not photoperiodic. They will flower twelve to fifteen weeks after germination, regardless of the photoperiod.

During dark periods, the room should be pitch dark. This is especially imperative once the photoperiod is reduced in order to induce female flowering. At this stage, even a small amount of light from a distant street light can adversely interfere with the plants' photoperiodic processes. By controlling the photoperiod, you can decide when females will flower. You can reduce the lights as early as three months after germination, or as late as a year after. In general, the older a plant grows, the more potent the plant becomes. However, plants over nine or ten months old tend to become disease-prone and may die of natural causes. We suggest planning to harvest crops between five and seven months old. Keep all tubes in use spotlessly clean at all times, as dirt severely reduces light output.

A single square foot of lit area will hold nine well-spaced plants two weeks old. Five months later, each plant will require at least two square feet of growing area. So plan accordingly. Most people start out with one or two tubes, and add more tubes gradually as the plants demand more space. Plants should not be crowded together to fit under a limited light area. The leaves of one plant should never touch the leaves of another plant. If you find your plants cramped for space, either harvest a couple of plants, add more lights, or give a plant to a friend.

Don't Soil Your Plants
Do not use any soil whatsoever. Instead, use a prepackaged “soil-less mix.” Three good brands commonly available are Pro-Mix B, Metro-Mix, and Jiffy-Mix, along with many other good brands sold in different parts of the country. The package should say “soil-less mix,” “peat-lite mix,” or “Cornell-Mix.” The package should not say “potting soil,” “top soil,” “humus,” etcetera.

What’s the difference? Soil contains humus, whereas soil-less mediums do not. Humus is great in the outdoor garden, but unnecessary in the indoor pot. Humus releases essential nutrients to plants at a rate which is highly unpredictable, and even less controllable. We can easily bypass this anarchic factor by combining a soilless medium with a controlled nutrient feeding program using the fertilizers discussed later. In doing so, the plants are assured of receiving the optimum level of nutrients at every stage of development.

As it comes from the bag, most soil-less mediums don't drain quite well enough for cannabis, and are slightly more acid than cannabis prefers. Consequently, the following ingredients should be mixed in thoroughly before using the soilless mix:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons dolomitic lime per quart soil-less mix.
  
• 1 quart perlite or coarse sand per 4 quarts soil-less mix.

These ingredients will probably be available from the same outlet which stocks the soil-less mix. We suggest regular grade agricultural perlite for plants under two months old, and sand or some combination of sand and perlite for older plants. Any coarse (e.g., construction) sand will do, as long as it isn't beach sand Never use fine sand. The label on the lime package should give its neutralizing value in terms of its total calcium carbonate (CaCO) equivalent. The figure is typically about 100 percent. If the listed figure is higher, use proportionately less lime; if the figure is lower, use proportionately more lime. Make sure to get dolomitic lime, which is sometimes called simply dolomite.

In the rest of this article, we will use the word "soil" solely for the sake of convenience. We will actually be referring to the soil-less growing medium described above.

Germination Expectations
Forget all those charts and drawings you may have seen describing elaborate germination chambers. They're not only unnecessary, but they require later transplanting, which is fairly tricky in the case of very young cannabis seedlings. Choose good seeds. keep them moist, allow for four inches of root depth, and supply loads of constant light. That's all it really takes.

Don't choose solid pale green or creamy white seeds; and don't choose the dark crusty-looking ones. The large, slightly spotty-looking seeds have the best chances of germinating. Before planting any seeds, soak them in a small amount of distilled water for about twenty-four hours. The water should be room temperature, or slightly warmer.

We strongly recommend Jiffy-7 pellets as the best possible germinating medium. These pellets are available at most nurseries and garden centers for less than ten cents each. Before planting any seeds in these pellets, the pellets should first be soaked in water mixed with plenty of dolomitic lime. Otherwise, the salesman will explain how to use these pellets for seed germination.

If you don't use the Jiffy-7 pellets, the best alternative is simply to fill plastic pots four inches in depth and diameter with the soil-less mix discussed earlier. Insert several seeds one-quarter inch deep in each pot. Gently add water, until the soil is thoroughly moistened, but not wringing wet. Cover the tops of the pots tightly with clear plastic. There should be a space of about one-half inch between the soil line and the plastic Place any type of fluorescent tube two inches above the pots (or Jiffy 7 pellets). The plastic will prevent the medium from drying out from the light. Keep the light on twentyfour hours a day for the next two weeks. As seeds begin to germinate, remove the plastic. Once the seedlings have several leaves per plant, the lights should be raised to six inches above the plant tops, and a sixteen to seventeen hour photoperiod should be started.

Whenever more than one plant per pot (or pellet) germinates, allow only the healthiest-looking plant to grow. Extra plants should be destroyed by cutting their stems with a scissors at the soil line. Never allow two or more plants to grow in the same container. If no seeds germinate within two weeks after planting, use seeds from a different source.

Contain Your Excitement, and Your Bud
Use plastic pots only. Yes, clay pots do “breathe" better, but the suggested growing medium will breathe more than adequately on its own in plastic. The medium will dry out too quickly in clay pots.

Start out with the plants in pots four inches in depth and diameter. When they’re five or six weeks old, they should be re-potted into pots six to seven inches in depth and diameter. When they’re three to four months old, re-pot them into containers eight to ten inches in depth and diameter. If you plan to keep them growing for more than six months before harvesting, re-pot them into containers ten to fourteen inches in depth and diameter when they reach about six months. You won't need anything larger.

Always re-pot in dim light, as roots exposed to bright light may suffer damage. Before re-potting, thoroughly moisten the fresh soil in the larger pot, as well as the old soil in the smaller pot. Hold the plant upside down, supporting the main stem at the base with one hand. Squeeze and tap on the upside-down pot until the soil just falls out of the pot with roots and all in one big clump. Put this clump in the larger pot, with as much of the old soil as possible still clinging to the roots. Fill in around the edges with the new soil. Then water the plant thoroughly.

Make It Rain
Let the plants tell you when to water. If you think a plant may need water, stick your finger a third of the way down from the top of the soil. If you feel any moisture, don’t water the plant. If it's all dry, then water the plant. Water thoroughly. You haven't finished watering the plant until some water drips out of the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot. If there are no holes at the bottom of your container, either switch to a container that has holes, or punch some out in the existing container.

The frequency of watering will vary between every day to once every ten days, depending on root development in relation to the pot size. Newly re-potted plants will normally take a week or more before they need water. Plants sitting in the same pot for a couple of months may beg you for water every day. If any plants are drying out every day or two, then it's time to re-pot them into a slightly larger container, even if it doesn't fit in with the schedule described above.

Water should always be room temperature.

Chart via Head Magazine


Fertilizer Formulas
How much fertilizer to use depends on the makeup and quality of the fertilizer being used, and the stage of growth of the plant. Choose your fertilizers carefully according to the criteria below:

N-P-K Ratios: By law, every fertilizer must list three digits specifying each of the percentages contained of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, always in that order. A 4-1-3 fertilizer, for example, contains 4 percent nitrogen, 1 percent phosphorous, and 3 percent potassium, or a total of 8 percent active fertilizer and 92 percent inert material. Quadruple each figure to 16-4-12, and you have the identical N-P-K ratio, but in a form four times as concentrated. Identical results would be obtained using the 4-1-3 formula at four times the dosage of the 16-4-12 formula. Two fertilizers with N-P-K ratios of 4-13 and 2-4-2 would both contain 8 percent active fertilizer, but would have radically different effects on plant growth if used in identical concentrations.

Your cannabis plants will go through three distinct phases. Phase one begins about ten days after germination. Phase two begins when you reduce the photoperiod six to eight weeks before flowering. Phase three begins with first flowering. Different concentrations of fertilizer with different N-P-K ratios should be administered at each stage. The above chart suggests maximum dosages (in teaspoons per gallon of water) of the proper fertilizer for each phase. “N” in this chart stands for nitrogen, and refers to the first digit of the N-P-K ratio of the fertilizer you are using.

You will probably have some difficulty finding the fertilizers with N-P-K ratios corresponding precisely to the three in the chart above. If ratios you do find are fairly close, then they should work well enough.

The maximum dosages shown in this chart should only be used if your growing area meets the environmental conditions already discussed, and if your fertilizers meet the following additional criteria.

Chemical Fertilizers: Use chemical fertilizers only. These are sold at most nurseries and garden centers in the form of water soluble powders. They are much better suited for use with soil-less mediums than are “organic” fertilizers. Despite ill-informed myths to the contrary, "organic” fertilizers are not healthier, either for you or for the plants.

Quick Release: The principal advantage of chemical fertilizers over "organic” fertilizers is one of greater control. Nutrients from chemical fertilizers are immediately available to plants, whereas nutrients from organic fertilizers become available over an unpredictable period of time. Choose fertilizers that state “0.00 percent water insoluble nitrogen” on the label. Definitely do not use any fertilizers which claim to be effective over an extended time span.

Low Acidity: Fertilizers used in the first two phases should have a potential acidity of no greater than 5 percent or 100 pounds calcium carbonate per ton equivalent. This information should be on the label. If the label says anything about potential basicity, then it's just fine. The high phosphorous formula used in phase three will necessarily have a much higher potential acidity. Don't worry about this, although here again, the less acid the better.

High Solubility: The best chemical fertilizers usually come in the form of water-soluble powders. The more highly soluble, the better and safer. You can test a fertilizer's solubility by mixing the fertilizer with water at twenty-five times the concentration recommended on the label. This should be done in a clear jar. After mixing thoroughly, let the mixture sit undisturbed for a few days. Then check to see if any particles have settled to the bottom. If any settlement is visible, it is not a highly-soluble fertilizer, and may cause serious difficulties.

If your growing environment is in balance, and your fertilizers meet all specifications, you can safely ignore the dosages recommended on the label, and follow our chart alone. If any element of the environment or of the fertilizers is substandard, then the safest bet is to use no more fertilizer than is suggested on its label.

For maximum effectiveness and safety, plants should be fertilized every time they are watered, with the following exceptions:

Never fertilize plants less than ten days old.

Never fertilize plants within ten days after re-potting.

Never fertilize a completely dry growing medium.

Never fertilize where new leaves emerge with brown or distorted tips.

If you should accidentally allow the soil to dry out completely, first water thoroughly with clear water. Then fertilize about twenty minutes later.

If new leaf tips emerge with brown or distorted tips, water with ten or twelve times the normal amount of water in order to leach out excess fertilizer salts which may have built up. Then wait a couple of weeks before adding any additional fertilizer, and reduce the fertilizer concentration by about 25 percent. Occasional brown tips on older leaves will appear from time to time, and should not be a cause for alarm.

Harvesting
For three months you've been paying careful attention to the plants' needs. Probably you've clipped back the main stems in places a few times, in order to encourage branching. The leaves are dense, large, and deep green. Stems are strong, but not especially thick. The plants have been growing like males begin to flower. Should you harvest them?

Definitely not. They're potent all right, but not nearly as potent as they will become in the next few weeks. You keep the photoperiod at around twelve or thirteen hours, and you switch to the high-phosphorous fertilizer. Then you break nearly every rule you've been following.

You raise the temperature to between 90° and 110°. You do everything possible to lower the humidity to near zero. You let the soil get nearly bone dry between waterings. And you bombard the plants with light . . . more fluorescent light especially "warm white tubes, incandescent lights scattered about, (especially around the sides of plants), even sunlamps a couple of feet from the plants for a couple of hours a day.

The plants are awed by this bombardment of energy. They must flower profusely, and they must protect the flowers against all this. Resin is manufactured and sent up to protect leaves and flowers from the heat, light, and dryness. The resin is loaded with THC. The flowers await pollination from male flowers, Instead, vou pick the flowers for your harvest. The plants keep trying... flowers and more flowers appear; resin and more resin is produced. The potency keeps going up. You make sure that no flowers receive any male pollen. You watch the flowers carefully, making sure that none of the plants begins to produce some male flowers. If it happens, you harvest that entire plant at once.

More resin, greater potency. You're watching very carefully for signs of spider mites. You know that in this dry heat, mites could ravage the crop in a few days, and you don't want to spray. If you see signs of mites, you harvest the whole crop immediately. If not. you let the plants flower unpollinated for about a month before they begin to weaken, getting more potent all the time. Meanwhile, you've been trimming off a few leaves and flowers here and there, getting more and more stoned. About a month after they've begun to flower, you harvest the entire crop. It's sinsemilla, but much better than the commercial stuff. In fact, it's probably the world's best grass.

 

[roots69]

Marijuana Stocks You Should Be Watching Right Now

These marijuana stocks are poised to make big returns once the Green Rush goes into full swing.

The Green Rush, which is what people are calling the wave of states currently legalizing marijuana, has heralded in a new era of commerce. Cannabis has become a major commercial sector that gives states massive amounts of revenue.

There are now cannabis dispensaries making bank, cannabis marketing firms, and even cannabis-specific vaporizer companies all making huge amounts of money, thanks to the legalization wave. What most people don't know—or perhaps, don't realize—is that you can also invest in marijuana via the stock market.

The cannabis industry is big business. If you're looking to see a slice of the delicious cannabis market pie, here are some marijuana stocks you can search up right now!

(Note: Please do your own due diligence before investing in any stocks. Stocks are a gamble and there's no guarantee that they will increase in value in coming years.)

Insys Therapeutics (INSY)
One of the more notorious marijuana stocks on the NASDAQ market right now belongs to Insys Therapeutics, one of the leading medical marijuana companies based out of Arizona. Their specialties include Syndros, a synthetic THC element that's been proven to alleviate symptoms in cancer patients, HIV sufferers, and anorexia sufferers.

That being said, they are also pretty famous for Subsys, a spray form of fentanyl. The owners have come under legal fire for preventing the legalization of marijuana in the past. So, people who may be concerned about the heroin epidemic may want to invest in another company—if only for ethical reasons.

Zynerba Pharmaceuticals (ZYNE)
Zynerba Pharmaceuticals holds one of the more interesting marijuana stocks on the NASDAQ right now. Their entire focus is creating transdermal treatments that are infused with cannabinoids—all to help patients whose needs aren't being met through other options.

If you're looking for a company that believes in the benefits of medical marijuana, Pennsylvania-based Zynerba is it. They've created treatments for Fragile X sufferers, epileptics, and more. So, seeing their stock rising definitely puts a smile on many peoples' faces.

Kush Bottles (KSHB)
If you are perusing the OTCQB market based out of New York, keep an eye out for marijuana stocks, too. Kush Bottles, which has been on that particular finance exchange for years, has been recognized by Inc.'s 2016 list of the "5000 Fastest Growing Companies in the America."

Their specialty: helping other entrepreneurs enter the cannabis industry by removing red tape, improving marketing, and teaching them how to navigate the rapidly-changing world of medical marijuana.

Cannabis Science Inc. (CBIS)
Cannabis Science is another OTCQB stock that focuses on marijuana. It's also one of the only companies that's bold enough to put the word "Cannabis" in its name. So, it's safe to say that as far as marijuana stocks go, this one is one of the most THC-friendly.

This biotech firm specializes in, you guessed it, medical marijuana. That being said, this is one of the smallest stocks on the market right now. An ideal penny stock, investing in them shows a belief in the underdog, a fandom for cannabis stocks, and a love for Mary Jane.

Terra Tech Corp. (TRTC)
Terra Tech is one of those marijuana stocks that will make every pothead squeal with joy—primarily because they are bent on growing the most high-quality medical marijuana money can buy. Their slogan is "Changing the world, one seed at a time." And so far, they've definitely been leaving an impact on the cannabis world.

Currently Terra Tech has three subsidiaries—Blum, IVXX, and Edible Gardens. Considering how new the medical cannabis industry is, it's safe to say they're going to be growing in coming years. Currently, they're on the OTCQB market with a pretty affordable price.

Cannabis Sativa (CBDS)
Another one of the many marijuana stocks on the OTCQB market is Cannabis Sativa. Much like Terra Tech, they have quite a few subsidiaries under their belt. Their focus is basically anything cannabis and hemp-based.

If you like iBudtender, Kush Inc, or Wild Earth Naturals, you've seen a couple of their companies at work. Cannabis Sativa is all about growing high-quality cannabis and distributing awesome cannabis products to stores wherever legal cannabis is sold.

CV Sciences (CVSI)
Another favorite on the OTCQB board is CV Sciences, a company that sets itself apart from other marijuana stocks by focusing solely on CBD products. Since CBD oil is legal in 49 states, that makes CV Sciences one of the safer stocks to invest in—at least in one way.

Their specialty is using CBD oil as a way to treat nicotine addiction. If you're a fan of quality cannabidiol, this might be a company you want to keep an eye on.

Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR)
Perhaps one of the most surprising stocks to join the ranks among marijuana stocks is Innovative Industrial Properties. This NYSE-based stock belongs to a major real estate investment company that only recently started to snag medical marijuana properties and growth farms.

Simply put, if you love REITs, then you're going to adore investing in IIPR. Long-term, triple-net leases are what makes IIPR profitable—and what will increase their value long-term.

AmeriCann (ACAN)
Alright, let's get back to the OTCQB world, this time with an all-American company by the name of AmeriCann. (See what we did there?) AmeriCann Inc. is a company that's focused on designing and developing state-of-the-art cannabis properties.

So, this is part tech company and part agriculture company. If you're into sustainable practices, then AmeriCann will be one company that you want to look into.

Players Network (PNTV)
Finishing off this list is another one of the many marijuana stocks on the OTCQB. This time around, it's a 20-plus-year veteran of the business world, Players Network. This company has holdings in two separate areas: marijuana growth and media.

They are the guys who own Weed TV and Green Leaf Farms. Needless to say, it's a popular company that has proven itself to have a lot of staying power in the always evolving medical marijuana world.

 

[roots69]

Turn Weed Ash into Potent Edibles in Less Than an Hour

How to Make Cannash Butter

I remember in college hanging out in a dorm with a bunch of broke, pot smokers. At the time I was a prudish non-smoker, completely anti-pot for myself, but with no judgement for others who used it. Their giddiness and fun was infectious, and all I had to do was fill their constant need for food to munch on. Those were fun times, but I never realized how much I would use what I learned from a bunch of "potheads."

More than once, I recall a group of people sitting around a table just knock-knock-knocking their little pipes, and scraping until they got every little bit of black gunk to come out. At first, I thought they were obsessed with cleaning their precious treasures, it seemed they might do better with a bit of dish soap, until I realized they were actually going to r-smoke the black tar they managed to extract along with some ash they had saved.

That wasn't the only time I heard of people re-smoking their ash or pipe tar. It seems to have become a popular thing to do if you can't get your hands on fresh weed.

Since I started using weed for my own medicinal purposes, good-bye colon-crushing painkillers, I have had my own moments of desperation. I can't get through a night of solid sleep without the help of THC, so I came up with a solution that has made sure I never run out.

Cannibutter Instant Coffee Technique

I got involved in a sort of edible cooking class MeetUp with some home growers several years back. We worked together to develop recipes to help patients with chronic illness integrate cannabis into their cooking naturally. I taught some cooking basics through my degree as a chef, and learned a lot about growing and cooking with pot. It was through that experience that I learned and redeveloped a method for instant cannibutter that has saved me from a few nights of insomnia.

This isn't the absolute best technique, there are much more complicated ways of making cannibutter that will give you higher potency. But it is the FASTEST and cheapest way to make an effective pot butter and edibles, which is great in a pinch.

The idea is that pot butter can be made similar to coffee, by brewing pot grounds in hot clarified butter like coffee grounds in hot water. If you are using unsmoked weed, you will need to de-carb and grind it fine before brewing it, that's a different recipe. But using ash will still give you a perfectly potent result.

Sometime later, I was watching a cooking documentary in which a chef was using different plant ash in cooking. The ash of the plants was thought to still contain some minerals and nutrients, and it added another element to his dishes. I had heard of other food healers using ash as a way to build calcium, or calm an unsettled tummy and immediately had a thought, "I wonder if I can do something like this with pot ash."

I was inspired enough to ask my husband to start saving the pot ash from the bong and pipe, so we began collecting it after every smoke until I could decide how I wanted to use it. Then one day we were completely out of smokable and edible anything, and payday was a few days out, so I decided to try using pot ash in my instant cannibutter recipe - and Cannash was born.

Cannash Butter Tools and Ingredients

Use your pot ash just like coffee grounds.

You will need the following tools and ingredients:

1. Some sort of instant coffee or espresso making device that you are willing to dedicate solely to cooking pot butter. I have an old fashioned espresso maker that was gifted by a friend who got it for a few dollars at a thrift store.
   
2. Two sticks of butter, melted and clarified. You can use the microwave, 30 seconds at a time to melt the butter, until a layer of foam and milk solids gathers on top. This layer can be scooped off (save it for your toast) and it will leave you with clear liquid, oil-like butter, called clarified butter.
   
3. Two tablespoons of water.
   
4. Two tablespoons of pot ash, just the leftovers from your bong or pipe.
   
5. Additional keef, which is the fine powder in the bottom of your grinder if you use one. This is optional, I've done with or without, but a pinch or two of keef does add to the potency, of course.
   
6. An instant cookie or brownie mix that requires the use of butter or oil.

Cannash Stove Top Espresso Maker Directions

Again, if you don't have a stove top espresso maker, you can just as simply heat up your butter and water in a pan and pour it over the ash in a strainer or French Press, single cup coffee maker, or anything like that.

Just make sure your butter gets boiling level hot, or you may want to put through two or three pours to get a good potency.

1. Put the clarified butter and water in the bottom of the espresso maker.
   
2. Insert the coffee basket, and add the pot ash.
   
3. Don't forget to put the filter on, it makes a huge mess if you leave it off.
   
4. Twist on the top of the carafe as tight as you possible can.
   
5. Push in the button on the side.
   
6. Put the espresso maker on the stove with medium high heat and watch it closely. Be careful not to burn yourself as it will get really hot.
   
7. When the button pops, or you see that the butter has all come out of the spout into the top of the carafe, take it off the stove and let it cool for a few minutes.
   
8. Pour the butter into a container, and it's ready for immediate use!

Cannash will look dark and sludgy. If you use clarified butter as recommended, it will not solidify unless put in the freezer, making it a perfect cooking oil. It looks funky, and it tastes funky, but it will make you feel great.

Turning Cannash into Edibles

My favorite instant cannash recipe is the Betty Crocker fudge cookie mix. Sometimes these go on sale for around $1 and I grab a few up to keep on hand. The butter works perfectly as a replacement for the oil, and the ash goes well with the chocolate.

I also like to roll these cookies in powdered sugar before I bake them, for an additional way to mask the pot flavor. To do that you have to add a step of chilling the completed mix in a freezer for about ten minutes before you'll be able to roll it.

Feel free to use cannash in any recipe from scratch, or even spread on your toast. I've used it to baste a steak before, too. The options are endless really, just know that the cannash recipe does have an ashy aftertaste, so you'll want to find ways to counter that bitterness with salt, acid or sweetness. Flavors like peppermint or lemon are great for that as well.

As far as potency goes, two to three cookies usually does a nice buzz for me. It takes more than your typical infused edible. My husband will eat about five cookies and feel great. It's not something I'd recommend as a healthy option all the time, but it's perfect for us poor people in a pinch. And it's so much better than re-smoking ash or tar.

Have a good high!

Keef

Cannash Butter

 

[roots69]

The Costs and Revenues of Growing Marijuana

Homegrown cannabis is easier and cheaper than you would expect.

The Costs And Revenues Of Growing Marijuana - Image powered by Greenrushdaily.com


There are a lot of good reasons to decide, or at least consider, to grow marijuana. Some medical marijuana patients grow it so that they can get the exact quantity, quality, and strain that they need for their medicine. Others get sick of buying it because of expensive prices or low quality. When you grow your own, you know exactly how much time and care was put in.

The good news is that growing marijuana is easy – as long as you really try your best. In this case, trying your best involves dedicating the time and energy to truly care for your plants. It also means planning in advance, being highly consistent, and spending money on good quality seeds.

Growing marijuana is time and cost effective if you’re just growing for yourself and therefore don’t need a huge operation. A basic starter kit can be bought for less than a hundred dollars, so if you’re just looking for a basic and effective growth, that could be a perfect choice. Of course, it won’t make sense for everyone.

Growing outdoors
The least expensive growths are done by growers who are just looking to use the marijuana for themselves or a few select family members or friends. To make things even cheaper, growing outdoors is best. After all, so many of the elements are free: wind, air, light, sometimes nutrients, sometimes rain, and so on.

You might not get the biggest yields this way, but the ease of purchasing a couple seeds, planting them outside, then waiting to see what happens makes it worth it. Marijuana plants are hardy and will surely find a way to succeed. Despite how easy it can be, people like to give their marijuana plants the most perfect conditions possible because that can make the harvest exponentially more successful. So, if you’re going for the best cost-effectiveness, then spending the time and money babying your plants a little bit can really pay off.

Yields
If things go really well during your growing season, your plants could yield 18 ounces of usable weed per plant. This is when all the proper conditions are met: there is plenty of space between plants for ventilation (at least 6 feet between every plant), lots of water and nutrients, and no pest or disease issues.

Some growers like to germinate their plants early indoors, where they have full control of the growing environment. This can ensure a healthy growing season for your outdoor plants since they’ll have a stronger foundation behind them. If you’re growing in a container, use a 15-gallon container.

Growing indoors

Growing indoors doesn’t have to automatically be expensive, especially if you plan it right. You can use regular CFL lights on your plants so they don’t use extra energy (and therefore won’t cost you extra money). The key is to keep your growth operation small since that will take away the necessity of installing a carbon filter (since the smell won’t get out of hand with just a couple plants) and other pieces of equipment.

Altogether it shouldn’t cost you more than about $80 to get CFL lights, a small fan, some pots, soil, and the seeds. Some people especially good at DIY projects could even reduce that cost further. Even if you want to “level up” and use a more professional grow system, it should only cost around $350.

Yields
Of course, everyone wants to know the return they could get from investing their time and money into this project. In the marijuana growing world, this “return” is simply the yield. If you’re spending a lot of effort keeping your plants happy and healthy, how much weed will you get from it?

The main thing (besides the seeds themselves) that you’re going to want to think about is the grow lights. This makes the most significant difference in the yields and growing patterns of your indoor marijuana plants. If you’re an experienced grower, you may be able to expect a gram of weed per every watt of light you are using. So, if you have a 400-watt HPS light, you could get around 400 grams of marijuana (which is about 14 ounces).

If you’re a newer grower, the yields will most likely be a little lower. Still, in a grow closet or cabinet of 3.5 by 1.5 by 6.5 feet, you could get 1.5-2.0 ounces with 200-watt CFL lamps and 3.0-5.0 ounces with 250-watt HPS lamps. In a small grow room (3.5 by 3.5 by 7 feet) with a 400-watt HPS lamp, you could expect 4.5-9.0 ounces. In a “medium” grow room (4 by 4 by 8 feet), you could get between 5.0 and 10 ounces with a 600-watt HPS lamp, and in a larger grow up (5 by 5 by 8 feet) with a 1000-watt HPS lamp you will get between 9.0 and 18 ounces of marijuana.

 

[roots69]

Hemp, the Next Super Crop?

Hemp is the cousin to the well known marijuana. It is also potentially one of the most useful crops we have access to, so what's stopping us?

Imagine a set of fraternal twins one of them is Mary and the other is named Henry, Mary is a popular girl in school and loves to go to parties and Henry is more reserved and focuses on his work but still gets in trouble with his parents because of Mary’s actions. Now what if I told you that Mary and Henry were actually Hemp and Marijuana? Hemp aka Cannabis Sativa is the lesser known cousin to Marijuana aka Cannabis indica. Hemp is an extremely useful crop but has been through controversy due to its relation to marijuana.

So What is the difference between weed and hemp? Let’s start with their appearance. According to the ministry of hemp, hemp is skinnier leaves that are concentrated at the top with few on the lower part of the plant, and can reach up to 20ft tall. Marijuana is broad leaved and grows in a short bush. The major difference between Marijuana and Hemp is their THC value. According to dictionary.com THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the “the psychoactive component in cannabis preparations” aka the thing that actually gives you a high in marijuana. Weed’s THC value can range anywhere from 10-20% according to nbc the average in Colorado is 18.7% with a max of 30% versus the 0.3% in hemp. Not only is Hemp’s THC value so minimal but it also contains CBD (cannabidiol) which according to ministry of hemp acts as THC’s “antagonist” and leaves the minimal amount of THC in hemp useless. As stated by the ministry of hemp, “Your lungs will fail before your brain attains any high from smoking industrial hemp.”

Times are a changing, so should we. Prior to the civil war, many southern politicians and authors coined to phrase “Cotton is king” to describe its many uses and economic benefits. The crown has been stolen and there’s a new king in town and its name is hemp. While cotton has its uses, as a crop it is very high maintenance. Leafly states that cotton accounts for only 2.5% of the world’s cropland but uses 16% of the pesticides which are extremely harmful to the environment and severely impact the ecosystems that receive farm runoff and may decrease freshwater biodiversity. Cotton uses twice as much land for the same amount of production as well as almost 5 times the amount of water. Hemp requires much less water than cotton and when dried on the land will return 60% of its nutrients to the land which allows it to be grown on the same land for many years without soil depletion or crop reduction. Hemp is also just as useful as cotton if not more. Hemp can be used for cloth, fiber, food, cosmetics, animal feed and bedding, building materials, and even made into fiberglass like structure and made into cars that can then be biodegradable. Hemp would also lessen dependence on foreign oil as it can be made into an ethanol like liquid and uses to power machines

Why is hemp still so uncommon if its so useful? During his time in office president Richard Nixon passed the war on drugs that looped hemp as illegal along with other drugs like marijuana. Since then there has been a stigma surrounding hemp. Now there are some 27 states that have passed laws favoring hemp and nearly 30 countries have legalized hemp. According to Robert Weiner, spokesperson for white house drug policy, “From a plane, it's very difficult to distinguish between marijuana and hemp, so the enforcement side of this would be extraordinarily difficult.”

Though we have made it far in the hemp world there is still a ways to go before we can truly reach the full potential of hemp growing. Hemp is an extremely useful crop but is unfortunately linked with its cousin marijuana making it surrounded in controversy but in the near future we all could be wearing, eating, or even driving hemp.

 

[roots69]

Cannabis: The Miracle Plant

The many, many ways CBD can help you (without getting high)...

CBD or Cannabidiol is made from high-CBD, low-THC hemp; it's unlike medical marijuana products, which usually have a high concentration of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. Although CBD may not make you "trippy," it's beneficial for the human body in other ways and is drastically more helpful than many of today's harsh, addiction fueling over the counter pills. A huge reason why CBD bonds so well with the body is because our bodies are already equipped with cannabis receptors.

The body has many receptors, and each is in charge of their specific chemical groups. While the receptor for both CBD and THC is in the endocannabiniod system, other chemicals are handled and regulated by the testosterone, insulin, opiate and estrogen receptors to name a few.

While other receptors are crucial as well, the cannabis receptors are especially unique because they're pretty much in EVERYTHING, and because they're in control of many important organs and brain functions. Just to lay it out for you, the cannabinoid receptors are found in the liver, nerve tissue, spleen, intestines, lung, lymphatic tissue which is "part of the circulatory system that cleans your blood and has many other function), and even the kidney. If you thought that was enough it's also effective in cognitive memory, anxiety, motor behavior, sensory automatic neuroendocrine responses, glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, inflammatory effects, control of vomiting reflex, hunger and appetite control.

CBD helps a wide variety of bodily issues from things as small as acne to much more dramatic concerns like cancer - and many many more in between. The way in which CBD battles something as intense as cancer is quoted from Dennis Hill on Cure Your Own Cancer,

"In every cell, there's a family of interconvertible sphingolipids that specifically manage the life and death of that specific cell. This profile of factors is called the "sphingolipid rheostat."
If endogenous ceramide is high, then cell death is imminent. If ceramide is low, the cell is strong in its vitality.

To simplify:

"When THC grabs onto the CB1 or CB2 receptor site on the cancer cell, it causes an increase in ceramide synthesis which forces cell death. A normal, uninfected cell doesn't produce ceramide in the presence of THC, thus it is not infected by the cannabinoid."
CBD can also combat PTSD, anxiety, high blood pressure and depression with its non-psychoactive effects. So it can be used as an non-high approach to treating these issues. Post traumatic stress disorder is a condition that is triggered by many things like car accidents, tornados, serving in a war zone, sexual abuse or really any type of dramatic event and effects over 24.4 million Americans a year. PTSD elicits severe anxiety, depression, nightmares, uncontrollable flashbacks and panic attacks. CBD drastically reduces anxiety, cognitive impairment and antisocial phobias. This is linked to CBD's interaction with 5-HT1A receptors that are found in the central nervous system.

In similar ways, CBD is also a great solution for acne, fibromyalgia, eczema, psoriasis, joint pain, anti-aging, stretch marks for pregnancy, and arthritis. CBD nurtures these problems with its anti-inflammatory attributes. With acne, the hemp oil that comes from the seeds of the cannabis sativa strains is high in the essential fatty acid omega-3 and omega-6. These acids can do wonders for your skin, including helping to moisturize, reduce inflammation and redness as well as slow the aging process when combined with natural plants like aloe very or honey (aloe vera contains Glucomannan which is a type of sugar that reduces acne and helps acne to heal and avoid acne scars or get rid of existing acne scars). These fatty acids are effective because they maintain your skin's lipids, which works as a water barrier and helps to maintain moisture balance. The cannabis plant is also rich in vitamin D, promoting calcium absorption and thus, ridiculously soft skin.

For psoriasis, fibromyalgia, eczema and arthritis, CBD binds to microglial cells, thereby enacting a reduced cytokine count and subsequently reducing pain and inflammation.

Last but probably most interesting; CBD tampons. For reduction in menstrual pain, the CBD in the product maximizes the muscle-relaxing and pain-relieving properties of cannabis without the psychotropic high.

This is merely a soft touch of the tip on the true potential of cannabidiol. Cannabis is truly a miracle plant.

 

[roots69]

Weed vs. Wax

What's the huge difference between kush and concentrated cannabis?

Once you have started smoking for a while, your tolerance for regular old marijuana starts to rise. Then you come across the wonders of concentrated cannabis, or wax dabs, that seems to bring you to a whole other stoner level you didn't even think was imaginable. Over the last few years, I have learned to see the differences in how wax smokes, makes you feel, and the different high it gives you than smoking on kush.

Form and Price
Weed: while marijuana comes in many different varieties and color tones depending on the quality, it all generally holds the same form of the flowery bud it comes in. It can be grown either indoor or outdoor. Prices can range anywhere from $5 a gram for some not so good outdoor grown, up to $20 a gram for high end top shelf stuff. Edible candies, foods, and drinks are more associated with kush also, which come in milligrams of THC, and range in price from $5 to $50

Wax: Wax comes in many different forms and packaging. Concentrated cannabis used for dabbing can be bought in generally three forms; including but not limited to shatter (thin, hard sheets), butter (softer, not as sticky and stable), sugar, oil, hash, and rosin (almost like a liquid). They are normally bought in half or full grams ranging from $10 a half gram to $40 a half gram. Wax and oil also come in cartridges to be smoked on like a vape, and cost between $20 a half gram to $60 a half gram.

What to Smoke With

Weed: Regular bud can be smoked out of many many things, and the tools you need are generally minimal. One can use a pipe, a water bong, joint papers, blunt wraps, or even a dab rig with a regular bowl piece put into it. Other than the actual device you are smoking out of, you really only need your lighter and your kush.

Wax: The downfall to wax is that dabbing is a little more inconvenient and takes a couple more steps. While you can put a "nail" (part the dab is actually placed in) in a regular bong, many people get smaller versions of water bongs called dab rigs. You also need a torch to heat up the nail, because a lighter will not get it hot enough to melt the wax and create smoke. A "tool" is also needed to scrape the wax into a smaller portion, often a skinny metal or glass piece, as well as a "cap" to place over the nail to hold as much heat in and burn as much of the wax as possible. You're also going to need some butane for when your torch runs out.

Taste and Smell:

Weed: We all know how strongly weed smells even when it's in a container. Typically, the better the weed, the better the smell and even taste when you actually take the bong rip. In saying this, a lot of times straight weed can give a smokey, ashy after taste.

Wax: On the other hand, wax (especially shatter) barely smells at all. I can totally have it just in my bag in the container it comes in or even have it out on the table and be totally fine. The smell and taste to wax is very hard to describe, but it's like all the good parts of a weed smell/taste intensified. Opposite of weed, you often won't be able to sense really good wax unless you are directly smelling it.


The High:

Weed: Both flower and wax come in sativa, indica, or hybrid strains. In general, straight marijuana is more sedative overall, despite which strain you get. People also often report getting more consistent body highs from smoking on kush than wax. Tolerance for weed is generally higher, because it is less concentrated.

Wax: Dabs tend to give stronger head highs and more dominant sativa highs than bud does. Due to its concentration, tolerance starts out incredibly low and is built up over time. This creates a much more extreme high that kicks in faster and lasts much longer than a kush high does. Wax tends to last longer, because of the fact you need to use less of it.

Conclusion
While there are many differences between marijuana flower and marijuana wax, which is more convenient and beneficial is completely up to the smokers themselves and is entirely dependent on personal opinion. In my personal opinion, I prefer taking dabs and think the extra cost is worth it, but I always have some bud on me because there is nothing like a dank bong rip.

 

[roots69]

Why You Should Say Cannabis Instead of Marijuana

No, really, you should say cannabis instead of marijuana. Here's why it makes such a huge difference.

Orwell's 1984 was one of the first books to really point out how much words tend to define our reality. Though it may have been a science fiction book, there was a lot of fact to it—and you can see it in a lot of political dialogues currently going on in the American landscape.

As people start to fight for legalization of cannabis, people are getting increasingly aware of the words they use. "Medical marijuana" was the ideal term to use for a long time, but these days, many experts are believing that we should be saying cannabis instead of marijuana.

They have a point, if you think about it. Here's why you might want to switch up your word of choice a bit when talking to those who want to keep it banned.

The word "marijuana" is actually a racist term for the plant, if you consider the history of cannabis's prohibition.

Believe it or not, people used cannabis for a very long time prior to its illegalization. People were proud cannabis farmers for centuries, but when prohibition came into play, politicians were quick to point out that "marijuana" was what minorities were smoking.

Using that term remains an ugly, racist way to call Mary Jane. It's a term that's tied to decades, if not centuries, of racist policies. Racism is still a major factor in why cannabis is still illegal.

By saying cannabis instead of marijuana, you subtly guide the conversation away from prohibition's ugly roots and put cannabis on an even playing ground.

"Cannabis" is also a more proper term for the plant.
Let's focus in on the scientific side of the reason why we should say cannabis instead of marijuana. Marijuana is not the proper name for cannabis, at least when it comes to the actual scientific name for it.

It's cannabis, as in cannabis sativa or cannabis sativa indica. If you look at Wikipedia, those are the official scientific names for each plant. So, out of respect to science, you should be calling it "cannabis."

Marijuana, pot, weed, and sticky icky aren't names that inspire confidence in you.

Here's the issue most people who are pro-legalization tend to find when they're trying to open up a discussion: they get cast aside by others because of the "stupid stoner" stereotype. To be taken seriously, you need to show them that you're not stupid and that you're not just a drug addict.

When you use street names for cannabis, you're not helping yourself combat that bad image. If anything, you should say cannabis instead of marijuana to prove that you're educated on the subject.

It's also a subtle way to get people thinking of it in a medical sense.
Hearing "medical marijuana" makes many people think of potheads who are just using an issue as an excuse to get high and wasted. Obviously, this isn't the truth, but that's the kind of thing that people tend to think.

When you say the term "cannabis," there's a slightly medical and scientific connotation to it—even when you're not using the scientific name of the plant in full. People respond to these subtle nudges, and it can help them open up to the medically beneficial perks of its use.

The choice to use one term over another is a classic political trick that helps you control the dialogue.

Choosing to use the term cannabis instead of marijuana is actually taking a page from classic political discourse. By packaging it in a way that makes it more respectable or by using a term with different connotations, people end up controlling the dialogue.

This tactic may seem cheap, but it works far better than you'd expect. It's the same reason why people say they are either "pro-choice" or "pro-life," rather than "pro-choice" or "anti-choice." One sounds better than the other.

We still tend to think of "marijuana" as illegal.
Truthfully, marijuana is getting legalized in a number of states and we all know this. However, there's something kind of grimy about calling cannabis marijuana—simply because it's been hammered into our minds that it's illegal for so long.

You never really hear law enforcement talk about cannabis being illegal while using the term "cannabis." This small switch can help us see it as a potentially legal and destigmatized material.

The propaganda against cannabis always uses the term "marijuana," and sadly, a lot of people are still brainwashed that way.

We all know that marijuana is a Spanish word for cannabis. We also all tend to have the same knee-jerk reaction to the word marijuana, and associate it with being illegal. Big surprise, right? Not really.

Propaganda against cannabis has been around since the 1930s, and sad to say, it's worked. You can thank Harry Anslinger for making sure people didn't know that cannabis can cure chronic pain and a slew of different medical conditions.

A scary amount of individuals still have an instant reaction when they hear the word "marijuana" throughout much of the country, and when you've been that brainwashed, it's hard to break through years of indoctrination.

That small tweak of just saying cannabis instead of marijuana can be enough to help nudge them away from the brainwashing and let them think for themselves.

Advocates and industry members are already starting to use this term.
The green boom has led to a lot of new businesses, and way more industries than we ever imagined. Part of the establishment of any new sector is having the right lingo and establishing the right kind of buzzwords.

Industry specialists are starting to use cannabis instead of marijuana when discussing their products and legalization. If you want to get a job in the cannabis world, you'll do the same.

We need people to wake up to the benefits of medical cannabis before they get into the idea of recreational cannabis.

Getting rid of prohibition-style practices will take a step by step approach. By chipping away at laws banning the use of cannabis as a whole, we will come closer and closer to making it work.

Cannabis, as a term, connotes a medical, scientific, and therefore pharmaceutical plant. People are okay with legalizing medicine because medicine is good for you, right? Right now, we have to work on that first.

If we want to see recreational use legalized, we have to get people onboard with medical use first. Using the term cannabis instead of marijuana is a good way to start that conversation.

Lastly, it's time to change.
The United States has a lot of problems and hangups when it comes to the way we talk about cannabis—and I mean a lot. Using the term cannabis instead of marijuana is one of the easiest ways to make sure that we see the change we want to see, even if it's a slight one.

So, maybe it's time we drop the m-word, after all.

 

[roots69]

Relationship Between Weed and Music

Everyone knows that weed has a special relationship with certain types of music, but have you ever wondered why?

Getting stoned and putting on some songs may be a stoner stereotype, but the observant cannabis user will know that there’s just something different about music when you’re high. So what’s the relationship between weed and music? Thankfully there have been a number of studies that have explored this dynamic, allowing us to present you with the best theories about how weed affects our perception of music and why some types of music sound better after you've smoked weed. We look at some of the different ways weed makes you perceive music, as well as the way it affects your brain generally. Join us to explore the relationship between weed and music.

Altered Perceptions

The notion that marijuana alters your perception is not new news. However, considering just how it alters your perceptions can be an important clue into the different ways that our interpretation of music is specifically effected by marijuana. Two aspects of sound perceptions that are affected by the consumption of marijuana are frequency and intensity.

Sounds that are higher in pitch have a higher frequency, and lower bass sounds have a low frequency. One study in the 1970s found that marijuana enhanced the ability to perceive sounds at the very top of our hearing range, around 6000Hz. Not only do individuals under the influence hear these sounds better, but they also reported enjoying higher pitched sounds more.

This makes sense when one considers the type of music characteristically associated with “stoner culture.” The high screaming guitar solos on a Phish or Grateful Dead song are perceived as being richer and more full, making them even more enjoyable than they would be otherwise. Additionally this may explain why jazz music has such a focus on playing rapid series of different high pitched notes. These genres of music show how the relationship between weed and music has influenced the vast majority of the music that we listen to today, sober or not.

Intensity is another element of the perception of sound that can be altered by marijuana use. Those who have consumed cannabis seem to have a higher sensitivity to the intensity of sound. Specifically, they are more sensitive to sound intensity thresholds. As a result sounds are clearer and thus more meaningful. Researchers also found that cannabis users have a greater speech perception. This means that they are able to distinguish words from background noise much better than when they were not under the influence of marijuana.

Tinkering with Time

Another study found that marijuana use can make it harder to perceive time as a continuous stream of past into present leading to the future. A result of this is that people who are high are more intently focusing on the present moment, and experience the present with a greater intensity. Theories argue that this explains why marijuana users prefer music that contains soundscapes, full of echoes and reverberations. These effects introduce unique qualities of time and space into music and create new and variable patterns that are appealing to the parts of our brain that seek out new experiences, forging an incredibly strong relationship between weed and music.

The musical quality most intimately related to time is rhythm. One article argues that marijuana users are able to hear more music between the notes. This sounds like hippie dippie nonsense, but if you think about the way your brain works while viewing a cartoon it makes some sense. Just like a cartoon is a series of individual pictures that your brain constructions transitions between to give the illusion of movement, the difference between different notes also creates a space for your brain to fill in sounds. As a result marijuana causes users to experience new and different patterns between the notes of music that might not be perceived if the individual were sober.

Hard Science

These ideas aren’t idle speculation. There have been a number of studies that produced important data describing how marijuana affects the way the brain processes music and which shed some light on the relationship between weed and music. One brain mapping study looked at the brains of individuals while listening to the same music before and after they smoked marijuana. The results were telling in that they indicated an increase of activity in the parietal area of the brain. These parts of the brain had previously been identified as playing an important role in problem solving by gifted individuals and are thought to point to an incredibly efficient information processing method. What this means is that weed makes you comprehend music with a higher level of thought than you would normally have access to.

Another aspect of the study found that marijuana and music cause an increase in activity in the brain’s right hemisphere, which is associated with emotional, intuitive, and imaginative functions. This may influence the way people who are high experience music by making it seem more emotionally significant or making them feel more creatively liberated. As a result, music is more enjoyable because of the weed, and the weed is more enjoyable because of the music.

As you can see, there are a number of different ways that weed can influence how you perceive music. It’s important to note that these studies are still theories and that no one explanation has been shown to be substantially better than any other. The relationship between weed and music is a complicated one, and one that will require much more study than is currently taking place. However, regardless of the reason why weed makes music sound so much better, you can still take advantage of the fact that weed does in fact enhance music. So settle in, light up, and put on your favorite album, you’ve earned it.

 

[roots69]

Best Weed Strains You Can Buy in 2018

It's that time of the year again! Let's look at the best weed strains on the market, as ranked by the pros.

2018 has been one of the best years for cannabis enthusiasts yet—and not just because more states are looking into cannabis legalization, either. With medical marijuana's benefits being touted at every corner, cannabis farms are now becoming more popular than ever before.

With more farms comes better strains, and these days, farmers know how to get you sky high. Every year, cannabis gets bred to be better than before. This year, the cannabis industry has outdone itself.

High Times recently hosted its Cannabis Cup for the year, and the strains are delicious. Check out what experts are now calling the best weed strains you can buy for 2018.

GMO Cookies

GMO Cookies is one of the best weed strains for people who have no sense of smell. It was a phenotype discovered in a pack of D-Cookies, and has become really well-known for being high yield, high potency, and having structure that makes critics' jaws drop.

Its smell is what would make many people think twice about it, though. GMO Cookies's pungent aroma has been described as "garlic, halitosis, DMT and dry socket." Icky.

Durban Poison

Durban Poison may not have won a Cannabis Cup this year, but it's definitely a noteworthy plant that should be called one of the best weed strains of 2018. This was recently recognized for its sweet smell, excellent flavor, and for having a very potent hit of around 23 percent THC content.

Its golden honey nuggets don't look too shabby, either.

Grease Monkey

Grease Monkey is one of the best weed strains to feature a CBD-rich hybridization. This is a powerful cross between Gorilla Glue #4 and Cookies & Cream, and as you can imagine, it'll have you glued to your seat.

I want to emphasize that this is a cannabis strain that is made from one of the strongest hybrid strains on Earth: Gorilla Glue #4. Gorilla Glue has around 33 percent THC, and that means that this baby is quite possibly even stronger.

Sour Girl

Not to be mistaken with the classic song by Stone Temple Pilots, Sour Girl is a hybrid mix between Sour Diesel and Girl Scout Cookies. It combines two of the best weed strains into one.

Girl Scout Cookies, as you might remember, is one of the most uplifting strains to be made in recent years. Sour Diesel, on the other hand, is one of the best CBD strains for people who want to mellow out.

That being said, this is one of the cannabis strains people with anxiety should avoid. It could make you a little bit more jittery than you might want to be, if you're THC-sensitive.

I-95

I-95 is one of the most famous highways in the United States, and now, it's also the name of one of the best weed stains of the year. This light green plant has been created by Top Dawg Seeds and is a multi-strain hybrid featuring a cross between Triangle Kush, Legend OG, and Star Dawg.

If you're looking for epic pain relief coupled with a cerebral high, hit I-95 a couple of times.

Purple Punch

If you're a fan of Purple Haze and similar strands, you might want to give this one a whirl. Purple Punch is one of the best weed strains to involve a taste of Grand Daddy Purp.

This hybrid stems from a female Grand Daddy Purp and a male Larry OG. Or, so the saying goes. Roots are a bit hazy, but one thing we do know that this strain got its fame on Instagram—and why wouldn't it? It's beautiful!

Snoop's Dream

Blue Dream and Master Kush were hybridized together to make Snoop's Dream, one of the most potent new weed strains of the year. The indica-heavy strain has a pretty, vibrant green hue that makes it really noticeable, but that's not all it has.

Named after Snoop Dogg, this insanely powerful strain offers a jaw-dropping 25 percent THC content rating. (Hey, hey, hey, hey... smoke weed every day.)

Note: I don't think Snoop actually had anything to do with the making of this plant, but I'm sure he'll definitely approve.

Motorbreath #15

Motorbreath #15 is the work of cannabis cultivist Sticky_Icky_O.G, and it's really a work of art. This guy meshed Chem D with a little SFV OG, took the best 20 seeds, and chose Motorbreath #15 as his finest strain yet.

If you're looking for one of the best weed strains in terms of flavor and THC content, then you're going to need to give Motorbreath a try.

Wedding Cake

Speaking of white-looking weed strains, let's look at Wedding Cake. Currently hailing as one of the most decadent strains to come out of California in a long time, Wedding Cake is a mix between Triangle Kush and Animal Mints.

Excellent oil production, great yields, and potency that could stun a yak make this the kind of herb that will make most people want to grab a packet of seeds. That being said, it might be one of the best weed strains around.

Over the Moon Kush

With a name like Over the Moon Kush, a body high that's out of this world is guaranteed. This is a mix between Blue Power and Headband—two of the Midwest's most potent strains. This mix regularly clocks in with THC content ratings over 30 percent.

The terpenes in this strain are super potent, and that's what makes it one of the best weed strains to hit Detroit in a long while. If you can get your hands on these seeds, by all means, do.

Remo Chemo

Made as a collaboration between Dinafem Seeds and the world-famous cannabis cultivator Remo, Remo Chemo is one of the best weed strains to be purposefully designed with cancer sufferers in mind.

This strain offers pain relief, appetite improvement, and side effect curbing perks to those who are undergoing chemotherapy. Cannabis for a cause? You betcha, and if you ask us, that makes Remo Chemo even more epic.

Sundae Driver

Sundae Driver is one of those hybrids that really stands out in a crowd, mostly due to its dark colorations and beautiful crystalline appearance. That could be due to the strain's unique pedigree. (It's a feminized hybrid form of Fruity Pebbles and Grape Pie.)

As the pedigree suggests, this is one of the best weed strains for people who love a more fruity flavor. If you love grape kush of any sorts, Sundae Driver will be a seriously heady treat.

 

[roots69]

It's fairly simple. Start with a good soil medium and get a pH test kit. They're about $6-7 and come with a small vile to check soil, water and runoff.

From there you can check each through the stages of your grow. Keep it anywhere from 6-6.5 pH and you're good to go. Good soil has pH regulators in it, so as long as your local tap water isn't laced with additives, you should be fine.

As far as nutes go, I don't add many during veg. I let it naturally grow out. Once I'm 2-3 weeks into flower, I start hitting it hard with nutes. Right now I'm about 4-6 weeks away from harvest on 6 of my plants, and I've been hitting them all with food. The pH kit keeps everything in check so I don't go to alkaline or acidic.

Definitely invest in the kit if pH is an issue in your own. It'll save alotta time and headache down the line for a few bucks.

Thanks for the info, bruh. My nexxt batch of flowers will be in the soil and Ill let you know how things turn out.. Good luck with your ladies!!

 

[roots69]

Stuff That You Really Didn’t Know About Weed!

At least one thing you didn't know, guaranteed!!!

The Beautiful Microscopic World of Weed




Lists promise a lot sometimes. The majority of smokers have a wide knowledge of their bud in the modern era. A connoisseur can tell the difference between Blueberry, Blue Cheese, and Triple Cheese with just the smallest of nasal inhalations while others pretend to. It’s always good to expand your knowledge about a beloved subject. The problem is simply that everybody knows George Washington grew weed and we’re all aware of the psychoactive nature of THC. It’s not secret that CBD is good for you and no one will be surprised when you tell them that cannabis used to be weaker in the past. So what can I possibly tell you that you probably don’t already know? Let me have a go! I promise you at least 1 thing that you didn't know before about the world of weed.

Cannabinoid Temperatures
As a delivery method, we need to heat Cannabis to produce vapour or smoke. In doing so, the different cannabinoids will become activated and will be absorbed by your lungs. Within 10 seconds the chemicals have made it to your blood system and they begin to enter into the receptors at the back of your brain. However, not all cannabinoids evaporate at the same temperature. If you set your vaporiser to 195 degrees Celsius then the THC will be utilised but the CBD will not be fully touched. CBD evaporates at around 210-230 degrees Celsius which means that your "already vaped bud" will still contain CBD. Chuck it in a cake or stick it in a chicken and cook it as CBD is the most medicinally important constituent of cannabis. So if you know someone who doesn’t want an overly psychoactive experience but desires its medicinal qualities, then this will allow them to benefit from the wonders of CBD without the wobbly knees.

Dravet Syndrome and Epilepsy
If you have a child with Dravet Syndrome life will be hard without some CBD to help relieve the symptoms. The famous Charlotte's Web strain was designed to increase the CBD levels to up to 22% and reduce THC to a bareminimum. Just a very small tincture of oil daily reduces the weekly epileptic fits in children with Dravet Syndrome from hundreds to manageable levels. CBD is an anti-convulsant which helps relieve seizures brought on by many different maladies and is also effective as an antipsychotic. In many countries, the evidence of the potential for CBD in treating epilepsy is being purposely ignored. Many industrialisedcountries that offer their citizens universal health care seem to find it difficult to accept the medicinal quality of cannabis. They may fear the swing from the war on drugs to acceptable medicinal use will mean supplying their population with some stinky Mary Jane.

Only Five Main Terpenoids
Wiki defines Terpenes as "hydrocarbons resulting from the condensation of several 5-carbon isoprene units." Terpenoids contribute to the scent of eucalyptus, the flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, the yellow colourin sunflowers, and the red colour in tomatoes, but also the scent and flavour of your bud. You have Pinene which is found in alpha and beta forms and has a pine scent. Pinene is good for asthma and has also been used as an antiseptic. You will find it in stains like Pineapple Express, Chemdawg, and Jack Herer but also in such other plants as basil, parsley, dill, and rosemary. Myrcene has a musky, earthy aroma with citrus likequalities. It’s known to cause couch-lock and has a wide range of medical uses. It helps relieve muscle tension, sleeplessness, pain, inflammation, depression, and works as an antioxidant. Its scent is of mango and lemongrass with undertones of a working brewery. You find Myrcene in Skunk #1, White Widow, and El Nino. Limonene is also found in fruit rinds, juniper berries, peppermint, and is, as it’s title suggests, citrus in flavour. If you’ve ever smoked Lemon Haze, Lemon Skunk, or OG Kush then you will already be aware of its fruitiness. Limonene also helps to dissolve gallstones, can be a mood-enhancer; may treat gastrointestinal complications, heartburn, and depression. Limonene is an anti-fungal, antibacterial and an anti-carcinogenic.

Caryophyllene is spicy and peppery. It is a gastroprotective anti-inflammatory that is good for arthritis, ulcers, and autoimmune disorders. Other than in cannabis plant, Caryophyllene is found in cloves, cotton, black pepper, and gives Hash Plant her flavour. Finally, Linalool is also found in lavender and has a floral, citrusy aroma. Amnesia Haze, LA Confidential, and G13 all contain Linalool and it’s known to help anxiety and epilepsy.

Terpenoids are found in different quantities in all strains giving us a variety of flavours and smells.

Big Green Balls
Finally, the UK chef Keith Floyd was a heavy drinker and a total legend. He was the first British Chef on UK television to make a dish with cannabis. However, he did have to film it in Africa and the recipe was also a little bizarre. Bullock testicles sprinkled with fresh marijuana is not every human's favourite breakfast but Keith Floyd never cared for taboos. Keith Floyd was one of the many humans who utilised cannabis before it had been accepted by the masses. It may seem like a small gesture, but it took balls to cook balls with bud.

I hope that you've learnt something new.

 

[roots69]

Ultimate Guide to Edibles Dosage

Edibles dosage can be pretty hard to figure out if you're new to weed. Here's how to get it right the first time.

I remember the last time I tried a high-dosage edible. This moment was a long string of extremely poor judgment mistakes on my part, all of which eventually worked to teach me important lessons which I would later throw out the window—because, let's face it, I am not very wise.

I was at work (Mistake #1) and decided to chow down on the edible. It literally came with a warning against eating the entire package. I took the edibles dosage advice in stride, and ate half of the brownie bar (Mistake #2).

The total amount of THC I ate ended up being around 300 milligrams, without me having smoked a bowl in as long as months. I started to work when the high hit, and I started to realize that I probably shouldn't be at work. I pretended that I was okay (Mistake #3), I then realized I was too high to move.

Then, I tried to deal with a meeting with my higher-ups, which I willingly went to (Mistake #4). By the time the day was over, I couldn't do much more than try to breathe, rock back and forth, and do my damnedest to avoid sprawling my vibrating body across the concrete floor.

It was also about the time that I realized I have a cannabis allergy, since I also broke out in a rash around my neck (Mistake #5). I did nothing about it but blink. It was not a fun experience, even if no one seemed to notice that I was high off my ass I couldn't even drive for another six hours.

I ended up having to book a hotel room nearby because I couldn't really move. So, there I was, after work... slinking off into the sunset like the shot-out, red-eyed bozo I was. I pretty much humiliated myself.

I then learned that dosing my edibles is just as important to hard drug users as it is to newbies. That's why I decided to make a guide on dosing your edibles the right way. May you learn from my mistakes.

Is this your first time doing an edible?

If this is the first time that you're eating THC-loaded brownies, then you definitely have to be careful about edibles dosage. It's best to take a very small portion at first—smaller than what's even recommended by the package.

The reason why is because you never know how you will react to edibles. The ways you ingest THC will have different effects in terms of strength and power. Small doses are best.

Moreover, it's important to remember that edibles can take some time to kick in. In fact, it can take as long as two hours for the THC in edibles to start working their magic. So, don't keep eating if you don't feel anything right away.

Remember that your tolerance does matter, even if THC is being taken in through a different venue.
If you pull a Snoop Dogg and smoke weed every day, then you will be able to handle edibles more than someone who has never touched a blunt before. A high tolerance will drastically reduce the effects of THC during your food session.

THC is still THC, so if you've smoked a lot of it, then you probably will have less of an issue than if you were totally new. Tolerance can make the difference between a heavy high and a nice mellow buzz.

Shoot for a mild buzz, and build your way up.
I'd suggest starting at around 5 to 10 mg of THC if you're new to cannabis, 10 to 15 if you smoke occasionally, and 15 to 20 mg of cannabis if you smoke regularly. Heavy users can usually get a decent buzz going on at 25 mg.

Truth be told, most people should probably start at 10 mg, even if they are veterans to cannabis use. It's simply a good starting point and allows you to get a good buzz without it being overboard.

To ramp up the effects, add another 10 milligrams of potency to your meal. It's often best not to go much higher than 30 milligrams of additional THC in your session unless you really know what you're doing.

It's important to understand your metabolism, too.
Your metabolism will have a huge impact on how you enjoy edibles, not to mention the edibles dosage you should shoot from. Larger people will need larger doses to feel the same way due to the way your metabolism works.

The best cannabis edibles on the market will often work to be long-lasting, but if you have a fast metabolism, it may not last as long as you'd hoped. Slower metabolisms may take a lot longer to enact, and will also last longer.

What I'm saying is that everyone has their own dosage "sweet spot."
What works for one person won't work for another, which is why it's hard to fully offer up some edibles dosage advice that works with everyone. The best way to figure out what works for you is to start at the basic level of dosage and then undergo a process of "trial and error."

I'll also point out that different brands will have different consistencies, and yes, different effects. If you want to curb anxiety and paranoia, it's best to get an edible with both THC and CBD.

If you're worried about the edibles dosage affecting you too heavily, don't eat the edible on an empty stomach.
A good way to ensure that you don't get the "OMG TOO HIGH" vibe I got is to eat your edibles alongside other goods. Carbs, for some reason, tend to work well for this.

So, if you're having Burnie Brownies, make sure to eat some pasta beforehand. If you want fully loaded Pot Baked Potatoes, then you should grab some soup, too.

Regardless of your dosage, you need to time it out.

Even if you are going for a low dosage of edible THC, you need to be aware of the time and place that you're doing it. A typical edible will take effect 45 to 120 minutes after it's been ingested, with some slow metabolisms possibly taking longer.

You also have to be aware of how long the high will take. A typical trip will last anywhere from four to six hours. The higher your dose, the longer your edibles will last. My trip lasted around 16 hours, I think.

No, seriously, set aside time for yourself when you're toking.
The thing most people don't realize about edibles is that it isn't the same kind of high as a regular smoke session. Sure, you might be able to drive after a spliff, but on edibles? Probably not likely.

Eating a special brownie isn't the same as smoking. It's a different high, and it's a lot more disorienting. There's also a deeper "body high" that tends to happen. You should only eat when you've got crash space or an Uber.

Also, keep hydrated.
This may sound like generic drug use advice, but it really makes a huge difference when you're talking about edibles dosage. Certain people (myself included) get serious dry mouth when they partake in THC-infused foods.

A little bit of water makes the entire experience more comfortable.

Finally, if you do overdo your edibles dosage, remember it's not that bad.

When I reached the peak of my dose, I really thought that I was going to die. I was thisclose to acting a fool and just crawling under my desk. But, then I took a deep breath. Then, I took another one.

Part of being a good drug user is knowing when to talk yourself out of a freakout. If you took too much, remember the following:

1. No, you're not dying. It feels like you are, but you're not. At most, you might upchuck the edibles that you took in. That's actually somewhat common in ultra-high doses.
   
2. Deep breaths help. Inhale, exhale. Focus on your breath. You will feel better the more you concentrate on your breath.
3. This will pass. As much as it feels permanent, this will pass. It will most likely pass within a couple of hours.

If you're still not feeling like you can prevent a freakout, reach out to a friend for help. Chances are that you really don't need to go to an emergency room over an edible, especially if you got one from a dispensary. You'll make it through, I promise.

 

[roots69]

Indoor Marijuana Growing Advice

Do not use any soil whatsoever. Instead, follow our indoor marijuana growing advice to optimize your germination success.

Do not use any soil whatsoever. Instead, use a prepackaged soil-less mix. Three good brands commonly available are Premier Pro-Mix BX BioFungicide, Sun Gro Metro Mix, and Roots Organics, along with many other good brands sold in different parts of the country. The package should say "soil-less mix," "peat-lite mix," or "cornell-mix." The package should not say "potting soil," "top soil," "humus," etcetera.

What's the difference? Soil contains humus, whereas soilless mediums do not. Humus is great in the outdoor garden, but unnecessary in the indoor pot. Humus releases essential nutrients to plants at a rate which is highly unpredictable, and even less controllable. We can easily bypass this anarchic factor by combining a soilless medium with a controlled nutrient feeding program using fertilizers. In doing so, the plants are assured of receiving the optimum level of nutrients at every stage of development.

As it comes from the bag, most soilless mediums don't drain quite well enough for cannabis and are slightly more acidic than cannabis prefers. Consequently, the following ingredients should be mixed in thoroughly before using the soil-less mix:

• 1/2 teaspoon dolomitic lime per quart soil-less mix
  
• 1 quart perlite or coarse sand per 4 quarts soil-less mix

These ingredients will probably be available from the same outlet which stocks the soilless mix. We suggest regular grade agricultural perlite for plants under two months old, and sand or some combination of sand and perlite for older plants. Any coarse (e.g., construction) sand will do, as long as it isn't beach sand. Never use fine sand.

In the rest of this article, we will use the word "soil" solely for the sake of convenience. We will actually be referring to the soilless growing medium described above.

Germination

Forget all those charts and drawings you may have seen describing elaborate germination chambers. They're not only unnecessary, but they require later transplanting, which is fairly tricky in the case of very young cannabis seedlings. Choose good seeds, keep them moist, allow for 4" of root depth, and supply loads of constant light. That's all it really takes.

Don't choose solid pale green or creamy white seeds, and don't choose the dark crusty-looking ones. The large, slightly spotty-looking seeds have the best chances of germinating.

Before planting any seeds, soak them in a small amount of distilled water for about 24 hours. The water should be room temperature or slightly warmer.

We strongly recommend Jiffy-7 pellets as the best possible germinating medium. These pellets are available at most nurseries and garden centers. Before planting any seeds in these pellets, the pellets should first be soaked in water mixed with plenty of dolomitic lime. Otherwise, the salesman will explain how to use these pellets for seed germination.

If you don't use the Jiffy-7 pellets, the best alternative is simply to fill plastic pots 4" in depth and diameter with the soilless mix discussed earlier. Insert several seeds 1/4" deep in each pot. Gently add water until the soil is thoroughly moistened, but not wringing wet. Cover the tops of the pots tightly with clear plastic. There should be a space of about 1/2" between the soil line and the plastic. Place any type of fluorescent tube 2" above the pots (or Jiffy-7 pellets). The plastic will prevent the medium from drying out from the light. Keep the light on 24 hours a day for the next two weeks. As seeds begin to germinate, remove the plastic. Once the seedlings have several leaves per plant, the lights should be raised to 6" above the plant tops, and a 16 to 17 hour photo period should be started.

Whenever more than one plant per pot (or pellet) germinates, allow only the healthiest-looking plant to grow. Extra plants should be destroyed by cutting their stems with a scissors at the soil line. Never allow two or more plants to grow in the same container.

If no seeds germinate within two weeks after planting, use seeds from a different source.

Containers

Use plastic pots only. Yes, clay pots do "breathe" better, but the suggested growing medium will breathe more than adequately on its own in plastic. The medium will dry out too quickly in clay pots.

Start out with the plants in pots 4" in depth and diameter. When they're five or six weeks old, they should be re-potted into pots 6 to 7" in depth and diameter.

Always re-pot in dim light, as roots exposed to bright light may suffer damage. Before re-potting, thoroughly moisten the fresh soil in the larger pot, as well as the old soil in the smaller pot. Hold the plant upside down, supporting the main stem at the base with one hand. Squeeze and tap on the upside down pot until the soil just falls out of the pot with roots and all in one big clump. Put this clump in the larger pot, with as much of the old soil as possible still clinging to the roots. Fill in around the edges with the new soil. Then water the plant thoroughly.

Watering

Let the plants tell you when to water. If you think a plant may need water, stick your finger a third of the way down from the top of the soil. If you feel any moisture, don't water the plant. If it's all dry, then water the plant. Water thoroughly. You haven't finished watering the plant until some water drips out of the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot. If there are no holes in the bottom of your container, either switch to a container that has holes, or punch some out in the existing container.

The frequency of watering will vary between every day to once every 10 days, depending on root development in relation to pot size. Newly repotted plants will normally take a week or more before they need water. Plants sitting in the same pot for a couple of months may beg you for water every day. If any plants are drying out every day or two, then it's time to re-pot them into a slightly larger container, even if it doesn't fit in with the schedule described above.

Water should always be room temperature.

 

[roots69]

War on Marijuana

The Recreational Legalization of Marijuana in New Jersey and the Cities Trying to Prevent It

The state of New Jersey, now under the control of a new Governor, Phil Murphy, is facing a difficul decision regarding the legalization of recreational marijuana. Before I talk about marijuana becoming legal, I would like to explain why marijuana is illegal.

It all started in 1929, when a man named Harry Anslinger began leading the Department of Prohibition in Washington, DC. With alcohol prohibition ending in 1933, Anslinger found himself controlling a useless department, and while he had expressed previously that Marijuana was not a problem and was not harmful, he changed his mind.

Harry Anslinger, commissioner of the Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics

On October 16, 1933, a 20-year-old man named Victor Licata murdered five members of his family with an axe while they slept. Anslinger used this story to demonize Marijuana. The press began printing that the man was an "axe-murdering marijuana addict," evoking fear from the general public. He explained, "the demon weed" caused Licata to murder his family, thus creating a false terror regarding Marijuana.

Victor Licata was charged with first-degree murder, but was declared mentally unfit to stand trial after being examined by psychiatrists eleven days after the murders. On November 3, 1933, Licata was committed to the Florida Hospital for the Insane. He was never prosecuted for the murders, and died of suicide by hanging on December 4, 1950.

Licata had a pre-existing history of mental-illness-induced psychosis, and marijuana was never referenced in his psychiatry reports or records from the hospital. Nevertheless, the anti-marijuana propaganda continued.

Other than the fictional tale Anslinger told about Licata, did Anslinger have any further evidence to prove that marijuana was a dangerous drug? Anslinger wrote to 30 scientists asking if they believed marijuana was a dangerous drug and if it should be banned.

29 of the scientists wrote back and said no. The single scientist who disagreed provided a story for Anslinger to publicize. Due to the information provided by the single scientist, paired with the story of Victor Licata, the parents of the United States were terrified.

As panic gripped American citizens, marijuana was banned. The United States urged other countries to ban marijuana as well, and many refused with their doctors claiming the drug was not harmful, which outraged the United States.

In today's society, marijuana is widely viewed as harmless, yet in 2016 more people were arrested for pot than for murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery combined. In fact in 2012, one week before Colorado, Oregon, and Washington were about to vote on the recreational legalization of marijuana, the FBI released a report stating that police in the United States arrest someone for marijuana every 42 seconds.

With possession of marijuana under 50 grams being a disorderly persons offense in New Jersey, often dismissed for traffic stop or Miranda Rights errors, or dismissed by way of a diversion program called a conditional discharge, the police will do anything in their power to charge a person with a more serious crime during a stop. Individuals carrying small amounts of marijuana in more than one bag or while in possession of a scale are often charged incorrectly and unfairly with distribution offenses, sending their case to superior court on a crime, the equivalent to a felony in other states.

I have lived in New Jersey since birth, experienced extreme unfairness on a marijuana charge, and have worked as a legal assistant for the past year in a criminal defense law firm. I am completely supportive of the recreational legalization of marijuana in the state of New Jersey. It is time we stop this major injustice that I have witnessed constantly through personal experience and employment.

New Jersey towns like Toms River, Point Pleasant Beach, Seaside Heights, Berkeley, and Ocean City all have plans to potentially ban the retail sale of marijuana independently. Nearly 100 municipalities have passed ordinances within the last two months disallowing retail marijuana businesses within their jurisdictions, with other municipalities discussing the possibility of following their lead.

I grew up in Ocean City, a quaint shore town in South Jersey currently tabling the idea of banning recreational marijuana retailers in the event of state-wide legalization. The city prides itself on being a 'dry' town, where there are no bars aside from those with restricted memberships such as the VFW. Restaurants are prohibited from selling alcohol, and BYOB is not allowed. The city and many locals and frequent tourists are passing around ideas that marijuana should be no different.

Unfortunately, Ocean City being a 'dry' town passes off nothing but a false image of a town where adults and teens are safe from the dangers of alcohol, which is difficult to access. This is a common, false belief. Nearly every home in Ocean City is stocked with liquor, and the closest liquor stores are just a short drive or Uber ride over the 9th street or 34th street bridges.

Directly at the end of the 9th street bridge that connects Ocean City and Somers Point, a store called Circle Liquor operates. No car and looking to get alcohol in Ocean City? No problem. Call up Circle Liquor in Somers Point and they will deliver directly to your front door.

The city and some residents might believe that if alcohol sale is banned, why should marijuana be any different? My question is; if alcohol is still easily obtainable and used in Ocean City, why will marijuana be any different? Therefore, why should there even be a ban?

It's time to fight the nonsense. Cities are attempting to protect their reputations but are damaging their loyalty to their residents, and banning the sale of marijuana will certainly not mean that there will be any less of it in any of these cities.

The legalization of marijuana will include a high tax placed on marijuana sales, which will contribute to a large boost in economy for New Jersey. Here's to hoping the cities banning the sale will be unable to benefit from those taxes.

It is the year 2018 and marijuana has been proven to be safe, and sometimes even beneficial. Why are we continuing the war on marijuana as independent cities?

 

[roots69]

Books About Cannabis Legalization

As stigma fades, the spotlight on marijuana shines ever brighter. These essential books about cannabis legalization will tell you everything you need to know about the debate today.

Progress towards legalization may seem steady and certain, but the history of pot in the United States indicates a much more complicated issue. To best understand the debate, and join the argument, check out these books about cannabis legalization.

Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana - Medical, Recreational, and Scientific by Martin A. Lee
Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana - Medical, Recreational and Scientific
High in both passion and detail, Smoke Signals is perhaps the most popular recent publication on marijuana. Though thoroughly researched and highly detailed, this book does not lack in humor and intensity either. It covers everything you may need to know about marijuana, from its origins to practical uses to its role in society in a 21st century United States. Lee's book is considered in many circles to be the gold standard with regards to books about cannabis legalization.

Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition Politics by Rudolph J. Gerber
Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition Politics
Weed is often likened to alcohol in discussions of harm, benefit, and legality. Rudolph J. Gerber explores this analogy in Legalizing Marijuana, harkening the age of illegality to the age of prohibition in the '20s. He discusses public policy, changes in social attitudes, and the various factors that lead to prohibitionist laws about substances such as alcohol and marijuana. He then makes a case for legalization, through well-researched facts about its medical uses and benefits.

Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know by J.P. Caulkins, Beau Kilmer, and Mark A.R. Kleiman, and Angela Hawken
Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Including Angela Hawken, credited on the first edition of this book, these four writers are some of the leading minds in public policy. As such, this book is perhaps one of the most well-trusted, well-sourced, and fairly-distributed portrayals of marijuana in the United States and its road to legalization.

Regardless of which side of the debate you are on, this book contains important information, and will give you new facts and new arguments to consider.

Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know by Kleiman, Caulkins, and Hawken
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Another co-authored book by Hawken, Kilmer, and Kleiman, this book gets beyond the marijuana debate and into the state of drug policy in the United States on a larger scale.

If you want a well-rounded, clear view of drug policy in United States, and where marijuana fits into it, you may want to do more than read books about cannabis legalization alone. This book is a font of information relevant to the debate, and will provide a much deeper understanding of the political setting in which the debate occurs.

Marijuana Nation: One Man's Chronicle of America Getting High: From Vietnam to Legalization by Roger Roffman
Marijuana Nation: One Man's Chronicle of America Getting High: From Vietnam to Legalization
Roger Roffman uses his own experiences to craft an engaging and informative tale of the history and state of marijuana in the United States. He grew from a young activist to a University researcher and professor, doing particular research regarding the behavior or adults with marijuana dependency.

With an entertaining first-person account and a well-rounded understanding of drug policy in America, Marijuana Nation is a must-read for everyone.

Legalizing Marijuana: Promises and Pitfalls by Margaret J. Goldstein
Legalizing Marijuana: Promises and Pitfalls
Catered largely to high school students, Goldstein's book provides a clear, concise history of marijuana in the United States from cultivation to public policy and attitude today. She also elucidates a number of obstacles to legalization, in order to explain how the movement has slowly progressed over the last few decades.

Because it was written largely for school-aged students, this volume is one of the best books about cannabis legalization for younger readers, as well as those who are new to the debate.

Weed the People: The Future of Legal Marijuana in America by Bruce Barcott
Weed the People: The Future of Legal Marijuana in America
Bruce Barcott, a professional journalist, went from being staunchly anti-legalization to a dedicated supporter of the movement over the course of his life and career. In Weed the People, he uses both parts of his life to elucidate the pros and cons of marijuana legalization and use.

His based-on-experience, personal approach makes this book both informative and approachable. The first-person narrative provides entertainment and background on the author, but does not detract from the important information put forth by a serious journalist. A great read for all levels.

After Legalization: Understanding the Future of Marijuana Policy by Jon Walker
After Legalization: Understanding the Future of Marijuana Policy
While many books about cannabis legalization focus on arguments for or against it, Walker instead focuses on how best to implement it moving forward. The end of the 'prohibition' era for marijuana may be looming, but we will first need guidance and agreement on its role in society. He discusses regulations and taxes, as well as practical concerns to be addressed.

Lauded as an insightful benefit to the argument for legalization, this book gives us a way forward through changing drug policy and removing marijuana from its misguided place in the war on drugs.

Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America by Emily Dufton
Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America
In Grass Roots, Dufton focuses on how changes in public attitude have shaped changes in drug policy over the years. This is a great read for a refreshing take on the evolution of marijuana legalization, how we got to where we are now, and how we may move forward.

Especially interesting is Dufton's analysis of the history of drug policy in comparison to the state of it today: while it may seem that progress towards legalization has been steady and forward, if slow, it in fact is only now coming back from a period of backwards movement.

Legalizing Marijuana (Essential Viewpoints) by Kayla Morgan
Legalizing Marijuana (Essential Viewpoints)
For a quick crash course in public policy and medical and economic benefits of marijuana, Morgan's book is perfect. As the title indicates, she outlines the key aspects of the debate today, including regulations and taxes, medical uses, and marijuana's place in current drug policy. This is another of the books about cannabis legalization that offers insight into the future, and the relationship between the government, the consumer, and cannabis.

 

[roots69]

What Is Dry Sift Hash?

(Derek Muller for Leafly)
Dry sift is a form of hash, like kief, that’s named after the process used to make it. It’s a hands-on, craft approach to separating the trichome heads from the plant material. The dry sift technique uses screens with extremely fine mesh to hand-sift the dried flowers or trim, removing the resinous glands and refining the extract into a granular consistency. High-quality dry sift is appreciated for its artisanal process and revered for its terpene profile, potency, and its ability to melt and vaporize completely.




How to Make Dry Sift

(Derek Muller for Leafly)
Hash makers meticulously hand-rub dried cannabis buds or sugar trim across screens, like silk screens used for screen printing, in a “Wax on! Wax off!” motion. Agitation and friction help separate the delicate trichome glands and stalks from the flower. The tightly-woven screens allow only the finest particles to pass through, and after repeated sifting and collecting of this powder-like kief through a series of screens with increasingly finer micron ratings, it’s ready to enjoy.


(Derek Muller for Leafly)
There is a variety of tips and tricks that can make the sifting process easier. The easiest is to use colder temperatures in the environment where the sifting takes place. A major reason cold temperatures are preferred is because they keep the final dry sift product stable as you’re working with it. Keeping it from becoming sticky and oily like it does in warmer climates helps to separate any impurities that find their way through the screens. Cold temperatures also help make the trichomes more brittle and allow them to break off from the plant much easier.



How to Smoke and Enjoy Dry Sift Hash

(Derek Muller for Leafly)
Dry sift is a versatile hash. Thanks to its powdery form, it can be used in a number of ways. When sift is at its best, you can press the powder into a mini slab and dab it just like most other extracts. The best part about dabbing dry sift is that its flavor is a proper and unadulterated representation of the strain it was sifted from.

This is my personal recommendation, but dry sift also makes an excellent addition to any joint or for topping a bowl to give it some extra kick. Sift can also be pressed, by hand or by machine, into a more traditional form of hash that is less temperature-sensitive but will affect the visual appeal of the granular trichome heads.



However you decide to consume your dry sift, just keep in mind that it is an extract, and while it is not normally as potent as most BHO, distillates, or other more processed varieties, it’s still a concentrate that packs a punch.

 

[roots69]

What Is CBD Oil Used For?

While we still may not know what is CBD oil used for in its fullest potential, a host of varying considerations have taken form in its continued research.

In a world rife with cannabis and the leniency of its usage now growing ever steadier into the future, many are questioning the necessity of CBD oil in line with its globally known counterpart, THC. More of us are begging for answers to questions, such as: what is it? How does it work? What benefits, or side effects, come from its continued use? And, how much of a difference does it really have from the more popular form of marijuana, if any?

All of these questions are viable, but certainly hard pressed in the entire scope of things. Many are wondering if, in some capacity, these CBD oils could be a replacement of the more controversial form of THC. Others flock to the readily available CBD, searching for the more conscious and formulated high, over those lazy, "couch potato feelings" received by the former. Still, others harken back to marijuana and argue for its own uses in accordance with their lives.

Instead of choosing one or the other, we will be asking some very pointed questions, so as to pick apart the facts with an avid eye for what is fact and science. As such, to really understand what is CBD oil used for, we have to know what the plant is in its entirety. Let's get to the nitty gritty basics and hack together a formulated answer as we pick apart many ideas and concerns felt in this big green business and its fabled magical grass as a new medical product.

Where Does CBD Come From?

Before we ask what is CBD oil used for, one must understand what CBD oil really is. CBD, or Cannabidiol, is one of 60 different kinds of compounds engineered within the phytocannabinoids. It is mostly contained or built up in the plant’s hemp, an offspring of cannabis sativa, which is the same strand used to make marijuana.

THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the most powerful active ingredient found in cannabis, operates as the mind-altering component when smoked or consumed. These sensory effects, which are worked within a person's endocannabinoid system, highlight the plant's psychoactive nature; a few of these attributes include drowsiness, forgetfulness, and hunger. While THC can be used in certain medical experiments and other such scientific purposes, it doesn't always receive the same positive reception when it comes to legality and public opinion.

CBD oil, on the other hand, does not share the same psychoactive effects as THC. Second only to TCH, in terms of abundance, CBD oil is growing in popularity for its therapeutic properties. More medical professionals are now discovering its uses and benefits, due widely to the misleading and otherwise misinformation associated to phytocannabinoids in their entirety.

How CBD Oil Works

Despite having no psychoactive alterations to human decision making, CBD oil does change a person’s feeling of physicality, which is a very important concept in the world of medicine and political insight. What this means is that CBD oil can bring the same, or similar effects of marijuana without those cloudy head highs so commonly associated to the compound.

Every cannabinoid, like CBD or THC, attach to receptors in the human body. These receptors are CB1, which can be found all around the body but are most common in the brain, and CB2, located and controlling one's immune system, hence regulating the feelings of pain. While THC acts only on the CB1 receptors, CBD oil works in an entirely differently and more complex route.

By indirectly influencing a wide range of different bodily receptor systems, such as opioid, dopamine and serotonin, CBD can create a multitude of synapsed signaling among neurons with the correct receptors. This also creates an increased production of cannabinoids in the body by indirectly affecting the communication between CB1 and CB2 receptors.

What Is CBD Used For?

Now, with THC on the immediate rise, plus the use of other mainstream drugs creating problems for the pharmaceutical world, the controversy surrounding CBD oil is, more than ever, a staggering battle over those who feel that narcotics are wrong in their entirety, countered by specialists who believe CBD, and its lasting effects on medical anomalies, will greatly benefit pharmaceutical production entirely.

In basic terms, CBD oil can be applied to a multitude of medical issues, some of which include pain relief, anxiety reduction, cigarette addiction, and even the decreasing of acne. Because of this high degree in volatility and productivity between the body's internal receptors and neurons, CBD oil now treats an assortment of issues, one such being childhood epilepsy.

What Is CBD Oil Used For: Childhood Epilepsy

The one specified article above discusses the benefits of medical marijuana on epileptic children, then discussing the many observations associated with these discoveries. The American Epilepsy Society underwent a series of trials observing children with known epileptic symptoms. The CBD oil was distributed in the form of edible concentrates that were fed to the participants every day, showing in some cases nearly half of a decrease in known seizures.

Despite their lengthy discoveries and earth-shattering postulations, the society's research, and researchers, are still largely scrutinized, due to the government's federal ban on the narcotic, as well as the public's pressured opinions. In the early spread of government approval, some of these doctors and researchers are not only excited to be testing the uses of CBD and other similar compounds, but they are also hopeful in finding specific cures that could change the way we view marijuana as a whole.

If you thought the possibilities of what is CBD oil used for ended there, you'd be sadly mistaken. Though the research performed and collected by the American Epilepsy Society did fan the fires for what is next ahead, entirely new excitements arose from the plethora of ailments that CBD oil was found to slow down or eliminate.

What Is CBD Oil Used For: Addiction

For those of you who just want to kick smoking the almighty cigarette, yet can't seem to find the right footing to reach that goal, CBD oil may actually be your guiding savior. Interestingly, researchers from one study of 24 smokers showed that, in the course of one week, the participants who were given CBD saw a 40 percent drop in cigarette intake, rather than those who were given placebos or an inhaler. As such, according to this study:

"CBD may have acted to weaken the attentional bias of smokers to smoking stimuli." — Celia J. A. Morgan
In which case, it would be assumed, that there might be some inclination or a possibility that CBD oil could be a new medically conducive way of reducing addiction and even addictive pharmaceuticals. What better way of ridding the streets of crime and narcotic abuse than by using one of the most well-known narcotic offshoots against its counterparts? CBD can be engaged as a natural deterrent from the more dangerous and harmful chemicals that are, in all actuality, overprescribed to benefit the larger and more profitable pharmaceutical companies.

What is CBD Oil Used For: Acne

That's right, CBD can actually help you with your acne problem, and here's how: inhibiting lipid synthesis.

What's that? Well, they're basically fatty acids and residues that lurk on your face, leaving behind dirt and other byproducts that make your skin breakout. The Journal of Clinical Investigation preformed a series of tests involving the sebostatic proponents of CBD on human sebaceous gland, determining that the oil does down regulate and inhibit the production of NRIP1, or nuclear receptor interacting protein-1. To spare you more of the brutal details, it worked.

"Collectively, our findings suggest that, due to the combined lipostatic, antiproliferative, and antiinflammatory effects, CBD has potential as a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of acne vulgaris."
The tests and subsequent findings can be found here, but more uses for CBD oil hasn't finished just yet. In fact, this isn't the first time weed or a form of cannabis is being used to treat medical ailments. Over a long history, the marijuana family has been used as a remedy throughout history, all for a number of varying reasons.

What is CBD Oil Used For: Neurological disorders

Some of the most epic discoveries on CBD oil were found to have positive effects on brain function. Such complex neurological disorders that CBD has somewhat amended include Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD), Schizophrenia, insomnia and anxiety.

CBD is a well-known producer of anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety effects when ingested, causing extreme calm within the user. Because of the oil's antipsychotic effects, those with PTSD can live a much better life by ignoring the mind numbing fluctuations that comes with extreme anxiety and mental breakdown. Through CBD oil's relieving components, PTSD patients can actually function with a much more stable form of mentality and overall environment.

Similarly, those with Schizophrenia likewise share an uncommon balance of anxiety and mental deprivation with PTSD patients. By calming their minds and basically numbing their mental incapacities, the CBD oil exerts less pressure on the anxious and negative thoughts associated with Schizophrenia patients and allows them the ability to experience the world much more fluidly.

Insomnia, too, was found one of CBD's most prominent agents of effectiveness. Since the oil has fatigue and tiredness as some of its few side effects, it was used to treat insomniacs over leading counterparts, which tended to leave patience feeling tired after use or led to an addiction. Fortunately, CBD oil can be used as one of the safest alternatives to sleep apnea medications.

What Is CBD Oil Used For? Diabetes, Fibromyalgia, Cancer, and much more...

The list for CBD oil and its accumulated uses has, as it would seem, grown over a long period of time, and still continues. One such curing agent that CBD offers is diabetes, for which it reduced and prevented splenocytes and cytokine from causing autoimmune diseases. As for Fibromyalgia, CBD makes use of the anti-inflammatory proponents by reducing patients' symptoms and pain, which is more to be said for the typical medications of Fibromyalgia, such as opioid pain medications and corticosteroids, both of which have addictive traits. Through this, CBD oil can be used to benefit the addictiveness and overprescription associated with harmful medications.

Even more cases where CBD has helped in exponential capacities involve multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, mad cow disease, and even cancer. An extensive list of how and what CBD oils do for cancer patients exists here, but it can't be difficult to see just how progressive and necessary CBD oil can be if used properly and in the correct quantities. The overuse and overprescription of harmful drugs that lead to more issues with narcotics needs to come to an end. One way to do that can be through CBD oils and other products associated with marijuana. As negative as it may at first be seen in the public, more of a proper stance towards the use and experimentation of CBD oils must be developed into the future.

 

[roots69]

Timeline: A Brief History of Cannabis

Contrary to prohibitionist mythology, cannabis has a long and rich history, having been used for medicinal, industrial, spiritual, and “recreational” purposes for nearly 12,000 years. You could fill an encyclopedia with a history of the “world’s most versatile plant.” Here’s a short history of cannabis and how it has played prominently in the world for millennia:

Cannabis in Ancient Times
Researchers have discovered that as far back as 6,000 BCE (or earlier), the Chinese used cannabis seeds and oil for food. Later, ma’ ren (one of the many Chinese words for cannabis) became part of Chinese pharmacopoeia, and to this day is considered one of 50 “essential herbal remedies.” The first recorded use of cannabis as medicine by the Chinese is 2,737 BCE (by Emperor Shen Neng of China).

Archaeologists have discovered that the Scythians (modern day Ukrainians) – no wonder Vladimir Putin has long had his eye on reclaiming Crimea! There is evidence the Scythians used cannabis not only for industrial purposes, but for its psychoactive properties.

In India, a country who has long used plant-based medicine, cannabis was used medicinally for thousands of years (until it fell out of favor due to oppressive colonial laws enacted by the British).

We also find references to cannabis in ancient Persian religious texts like the Zoroastrian Zend Avesta (700-600 BCE). The text even refers to bhang as the “good narcotic,” acknowledging its psychotropic properties. Similarly, by 100 BCE, Chinese emperor, Pen Ts’ao Ching, mentions the psychotropic properties of cannabis in The Herbal (a Chinese book of pharmacopeia).

Cannabis in the U.S.
Fast forward to the Americas, and we find a rich history of cannabis within the United States:

1619: The U.S. passes first cannabis law
For years, the government encouraged farmers to produce hemp for everything from clothes to rope. And, in 1619 the Virginia Assembly passed a law that requiring all farmers to grow hemp. Hemp is used as legal tender in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

1830: Doctor O’Shaughnessy introduces cannabis to Western Medicine
After learning about the therapeutic benefits of cannabis in India, Irish doctor, William O’Shaughnessy, introduces medicinal marijuana to the Western doctors for the treatment of muscle spasms and pain.

Mid 1800s: “High-Society” Americans and French enjoy their cannabis
Hashish becomes a fad in France and the U.S.

Late 1800s: Cannabis sold openly in public pharmacies
Cannabis becomes a popular ingredient in therapeutic remedies sold over-the-counter in pharmacies.

1906: Federal government requires drug labeling
The Pure Food and Drug Act is passed mandating that any over-the-counter remedy containing must be labeled.

1910: Xenophobia starts to fuel anti-cannabis sentiment
After the Mexican Revolution, thousands of Mexicans flood into the U.S. With them, they bring a culture of consuming cannabis recreationally. Bigotry towards Mexican immigrants results in increasing demonization of cannabis.

1936: Reefer Madness – Cannabis deemed an “evil weed” and is Public Enemy #1
Hollywood releases anti-pot propaganda film Reefer Madness following a group of high school students whose marijuana use leads them into promiscuity and other nefarious behavior.

1937: Congress passes “Marihuana Tax Act of 1937”
Director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry J. Anslinger, leads racist campaign to create hysteria about the dangers of cannabis. Ignoring recommendations from the American Medical Association, infamous race-baiter and anti-cannabis crusader, Harry Anslinger, successfully convinces Congress to pass the “Marihuana Tax Act of 1937,” effectively banning cannabis (with its onerous restrictions). Most American pharma companies stop producing medicines containing cannabinoids.

1942: U.S. removes cannabis from official U.S. Pharmacopeia
According to author, Martin Lee, the counsel to the American Medical Association (William Woodward) recounted: “Congress being what it was at the time, you could ram things through just by bullshitting,” according Lee adds. “Who’s going to be stepping up to the plate [in 1937] to defend a drug that blacks, Latinos and jazz musicians use?” Predictably, cannabis disappears from U.S. pharmacopeia.

1944: First marijuana peddlers are arrested and jailed
Drug raids lead to arrests of dozens of Hollywood actors who are casual users of the “evil weed.” Anslinger takes over control of how Hollywood films may portray cannabis.

1950s: The Beat Generation goes “on the road”
led by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsburg, and others, cannabis culture becomes a key part of the Beat Generation’s legendary poets and artists.

1960s: White kids in suburbia embrace cannabis
Cannabis use becomes mainstream with middle and upper class kids embracing “pot” and drug culture. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson commission studies which affirm earlier findings that cannabis is not a gateway drug nor does not cause violence.

1967: “Flower Power” fuels anti-prohibition efforts
The mainstream media and “hippies” question marijuana prohibition. Usage among the youth skyrockets. Along with an increase in popularity, enforcement and arrests dramatically increases.

1968: President Nixon launches “War on Drugs”
Richard Nixon wins the presidency after running on a “law and order” campaign, promising to restore order to a country experiencing widespread civil unrest and disobedience. Many years later (in 1994), key Nixon aide, John Ehrlichman, confesses to journalist Dan Baum:

“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

“Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

1970: U.S. classifies cannabis as one of the “most dangerous drugs”
Pending results of the Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse’s report, cannabis is placed on Schedule I (meaning the government considers cannabis as dangerous and addictive as heroin). To this day, even after thousands of published studies on cannabis and dozens of petitions to reschedule cannabis, this plant remains a Schedule I drug.

1971: Nixon wages war on left wingers using ‘pot’ as an excuse
Despite the fact cannabis was to be placed temporarily on Schedule I until science could be evaluated, President Nixon smelled opportunity. He saw cannabis prohibition as a way to destroy the leftist anti-war movement he deemed a thorn in his side. Nixon is famously recorded saying, “I want a goddamn strong statement on marijuana. Can I get that out of this sonofabitching, uh, domestic council? … I mean one on marijuana that just tears the ass out of them.

1972: Nixon rejects Shafer Commission findings
The Shafer Commission determines that cannabis is as safe as alcohol, and recommends the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use and an end of Nixon’s anti-drug efforts — citing it as a waste of taxpayer money. Nixon pressures the commission to reject its findings.

1977: President Carter calls for decriminalization
Former President Carter follows the advice of libertarian-leaning conservatives (like William F. Buckley), the American Medical Association, and others, by calling for the decriminalization of cannabis.

1986: Mandatory minimum sentencing become the law of the land
President Reagan signs the Anti-Drug Abuse Act into law which implements mandates mandatory minimum sentencing for sales (and possession) of cannabis, stiffening federal penalties that disproportionately affect the poor.

1988: The DEA’s own administrative judge recommends rescheduling
Judge Francis Young recommends removing cannabis from Schedule I. Young states, “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care.” The DEA rejects its judge’s findings, and revises precedents to make cannabis more difficult to reschedule.

1996: California makes history – legalizes medical marijuana
Californians pass Prop 215 and California becomes the first state in the nation to legalize medical marijuana. Over the following decade, numerous other states follow suit.

2012: Colorado and Washington State make history, legalizing cannabis for recreational (adult-use)
Colorado and Washington State voters legalized the recreational sale and use of cannabis.

Remarkably, all Hell (does not) break loose!

2016: Politics change, but election of Trump concerns many in the cannabis community
Remarkably, most presidential candidates from all political persuasions express support for medical cannabis. There is less consensus over recreational cannabis. President-elect Trump expressed emphatic support for clinical cannabis on the campaign trail. He also expressed lukewarm support for allowing states to chart their own course. However, his appointment of anti-cannabis crusader — Sen. Jeff Sessions — sends shivers through the cannabis community. Sessions reminds many activists of anti-drug warriors from the “Reefer Madness” era. He even made the absurd claim, “Good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

 

[DJCandle]

Thanks for the info, bruh. My nexxt batch of flowers will be in the soil and Ill let you know how things turn out.. Good luck with your ladies!!

All the best bro

 

[CaptSmackaHoe]

Do you have any suggestion on how a brother would get into this industry without picking up a quater pound and hitting the streets?

 

[LennyNero1972]

Very informative thread, I just flipped through a special "WEED" edition from Newsweek magazine about the same subjects.