The Medical Cannabis Guidebook. Mel Thomas
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These are an excellent way to utilize the plant’s medicinal ingredients, and a good alternative to smoking. Tinctures are easy to make and involve soaking your dried cannabis buds in ethanol or ethyl alcohol. The proof listed on commercial alcohol refers to the percentage of ethanol that the drink contains. The proof is twice the percentage (purity), so 70 proof means that the mixture contains 35% ethanol. The higher the alcohol content, the better the extraction. High-proof spirits such as Everclear 95% pure grain alcohol can be difficult to obtain, but if you have access to these products, they are ideal to use.
When you are making a tincture, the cannabis used must be absolutely dry and decarboxylated by gently heating in an oven at 110°C (230°F) to activate the cannabinoids. The process of heating converts the cannabinoid acids such as THCA into THC. It is advisable to chop but not finely grind the material before use. The cannabis should be soaked from between one and 10 days, with around seven days being adequate. The recommended minimum effective ratio to use is one gram of bud per 35 milliliters (one fluid ounce) of alcohol, with up to eight grams per 35 milliliters used for those preferring a stronger tincture. Place the solution into a sealed jar that you can periodically shake to assist in the process. Throughout the soaking period use only enough ethanol to cover the plant material. To make what is known as a “cold extraction”, place the jar in the freezer compartment of your refrigerator and remove periodically to shake the container. This cold extraction can be completed in around four days, but is not necessary for good results.
Cannabis oil can be easily made at home using kitchen equipment.
Once the soaking process has finished, strain the solution, and then further purify it by filtering through a coffee filter. Store the tincture in a cool dark place, preferably in a bottle with a dropper. Because of the varying strengths of tinctures, patients should experiment with small doses until the desired effect is achieved. Administer under the tongue using the dropper.
You can further concentrate the tincture by reducing the volume of the alcohol by evaporation; the more alcohol you evaporate the more potent the tincture will be. Evaporate too much though, and you will have an oil and not a tincture!
For those who prefer not to use alcohol, food-grade glycerin is an alternative solvent. Using ½ gallon (64 fluid ounces) of food-grade glycerin will be sufficient to process three ounces (84 grams) of quality cannabis buds. Again, the more cannabis you add, the more potent and stronger it will be. Unlike the “cold tincture” method with the alcohol tincture, a glycerin tincture requires some heat to assist the absorption of the cannabinoids. The plant material should be finely ground and placed into a crock pot (slow cooker) on the lowest setting, and left to heat for at least 12 hours with the lid on. Ensure the setting is low enough not to burn the mixture. After the heating process allow the mixture to cool and strain as before.
The most common form of suppository is the rectal suppository, a very effective method of administration for the delivery of cannabinoids. Suppositories are designed to dissolve or melt and this allows the active ingredients (in this case cannabinoids) to enter the bloodstream via the blood vessels lining the rectum. There are many advantages to this method of administration:
Suppositories are very easy to make. Add half a gram of oil to three grams of natural cocoa butter, slowly melt, and mix thoroughly. Professional suppository molds are available online, or alternatively you can create a simple mold by wrapping tin foil round your little finger. If you have made capsules for oral application, these can also be used as a suppository. However, some people may find that they need to apply a small amount of lubricant to aid insertion.
Studies indicate that using THC-HS suppositories for rectal administration offers around twice the bioavailability of oral administration.23 Converting THC into the ester THC-HS makes it water soluble, improving uptake and bioavailability. However, the esterfication of cannabinoids is beyond the scope of this book.
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