All about Concentrates
Cannabis concentrates have been made and used by humans for centuries. While concentrates can take many forms, one of the oldest and most widely used is known as hash. There are many variations of hash as well as ways to make it. Generally however, resin is gathered from the Trichomes of the cannabis plant. It is then dried, and pressed together to form the substance known as hash. Hash was first used orally somewhere between 900 and 1150 A.D. where it originated in Arabia. Although there is no substantial evidence, it is a common myth that the word ‘assassin’ was derived from the Arabic word haschishin (hashish user).
The story goes that a man known as Al-Hassan ibn-al-Sabbah enlisted young men into his private army. Once convincing them to commit murders in his name using hash’s inebriating effects, he donned them aschishins (followers of Hassan). One of the main informational sources to back this claim originates from the writings of Marco Polo who visited the area in 1273, roughly 150 years after Al-Hassan’s reign. By this time the smoking of hash had become popularized in Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and much of the middle east.
It wasn’t until the late 17th century that hash became a major export commodity from the middle east to central and south Asia. In the early 1970’s hash finally drew the spotlight in America when massive amount of Lebanese blonde hash were imported from Turkey. While there were still large amounts of hash being imported and consumed, it was at this point that Americans started manufacturing their own hash, as well as hash oil. The middle east is still currently the largest producer of hash in the world.
The range of types of cannabis concentrates is vast. From hash, kief, phoenix tears, C02 oil, BHO (butane hash oil), to wax, shatter, tinctures, various edibles, topical oils, and pills.
In some instances, cannabis extracts can reach THC levels as high as 80%. With normal dried marijuana coming short usually at 15-20% THC, you can really feel the difference when you take a hit of a high-quality concentrate. With cannabis concentrates being measurably stronger than bud, they can be useful for people with high tolerances to the substance who are looking for the positive psychological benefits of the drug.
In some instances, there are more practical applications for various cannabis concentrates as opposed to the dry herb. One of such applications is the ability to administer specific various concentrated chemicals found in the plant orally. Essentially what this means is that someone could take a cannabis capsule with all THC extracted from it, so that the medicine solely has non-psychoactive chemicals.
This is a large step in the right direction for human medicinal marijuana consumption, but also a massive step in the right direction for canine medical marijuana consumption. Canines suffer from many of the same ailments that humans do such as, epilepsy, anxiety, arthritis etc. many of such ailments being treatable by medical marijuana. While canines do have an endocannabinoid system, complete with cannabinoid receptors and all, it has been shown that generally dogs have a bad reaction to THC. Because of this non-THC, cannabis-based medications could help some dogs that aren’t responding well to conventional medications immensely.
