Hash ain't what it used to be...
Working in a Colorado recreational dispensary, I quite often see old timers whose main focus is reminiscing about weed from days gone by. It almost sounds like complaining when they tell me about how it used to be. Here's a small list of some of the more repeated phrases:
In my day, we just had pot.
What's with all the stupid names? Did you come up with those?
I don't care what kind it is. I just want weed.
Everything's too strong these days
I get it. I see through their crotchety old gripes to the subtext underneath. This is what they mean:
How did grass leave me behind?
There's so much I don't know.
Why won't somebody explain this to me?
How does that stoner behind the counter remember all this crap?
Sometimes, if they're not in a huge hurry, one of these old timers will venture to ask about hash.
So, do you sell hash?
We do and we don't. Do you remember that dark sticky stuff that bubbled and burned before getting you really high and gumming your pipe to an unusable mass of resin? That was bubble hash.
Bubble Hash
Bubble hash is quickly becoming obsolete, except for with home-growers. It's generally smoked, not vaporized. The process of making this type of hash is pretty simple. Basically, icy cold water is used to agitate the plant material into releasing the trichomes alone. The trichomes (with all their medicine) are separated from the plant, and the stuff that's collected is the hashish. It's usually about twice as high in THC as the bud that was used.
You can hardly ever find bubble hash in the weed shops anymore, at least in Colorado. It's too pricy to produce compared to the many different superior-potency hash oils on the market. It's a shame, but to get this unique, throwback hash, you basically have to make it yourself or know a guy.
Finger Hash
This one is just what it sounds like. When you handle the cannabis plant, trichomes tend to stick to your fingers. If you happen to be trimming for twelve hours non-stop (It's a lot of work) you will end up with a huge ball of goo, peeled from your fingers. Guess what. That's hash! It's the most primitive (some would say pure) type of hash there is: Finger hash. Do not throw that stuff away. It's incredible to smoke, and if you give it a little time to cure in a sealed container, it's unbelievably smooth. This is one of the best perks of growing your own crop.
Hash Oils
Now it's going to get a little confusing. Once cannabis started hitting the legal, medical scene in recent years, science really took over. Magical chemical processes have been invented which fully extract the cannabinoids from the plant, making oils that are not only potent like nothing we've seen, but expensive as hell.
These new hash oils are generally made to be vaporized for maximum efficiency, but they can be smoked as well. If the THC in the oil has already been activated, these oils can even be ingested in tiny amounts for huge effects.
Butane and Propane are the chemicals that are generally used in the production of mid-grade hash oils. Don't worry, the oils are purged of solvents before completion. Butane is forced through the plant matter, picking up cannabinoids as it goes. The product is filtered through a fine screen, then a vacuum is used to purge and evaporate the remaining solvent from the oil.
Butane Hash Oil
At first, BHO (Butane Hash Oil) was a dangerous game. People were experimenting in their homes with this highly flammable process, causing explosions and fires, not to mention all the oil that was not being properly purged. Fortunately since then, the licensed companies manufacturing BHO have it down to a fine science. Now they can get premium hash oils that test at up to 90% THC. This stuff is for dabbing, by the way, which I'm not going to go into great detail about. Dabbing equals vaporizing. The rest of the hash oils I will describe are meant to me dabbed.
Carbon Dioxide Extracted Hash Oil
The next level of hash oil is extracted with carbon dioxide. This is widely accepted to be an even cleaner method than butane. I'm no scientician, so me trying to explain the process to you would just leave you really confused. So here is a link to an article that explains the process better than I could.
CO2 oil is worth paying a little more for. You can expect to pay about twice as much as BHO hash oil, but it will last more than twice as long. The more you spend, the more you save, eh? Also, a lot of the CO2 oils are overlooked because they come in syringes. That's right, syringes. It's nothing scary, that's just the easiest type of applicator for that type of hash oil.
Steam Distilled Hash Oil
Now we're getting somewhere. This is the absolute cleanest type of hash oil extraction. They only use heat and water, no solvents. The process is pretty much magic to the likes of me, but here is the link to a good Leafly article about distillates.
Steam distillates can be up to 98% pure cannabinoids. They come out as a clear sap, and they're meant to be vaporized. You can expect to pay as much as $80-$100 for a single gram of a steam distillate, depending on the quality. But it's worth it!
Crystalline Hash
This stuff is so new, I don't really know anything about it. It's basically 99.9% pure cannabinoids. Check this out. This stuff goes for $200-$500 a gram. This is where I may have to draw the line and say it's not worth it. I haven't tried any of it yet. Come on, Steemit! Make me rich, so I can dab the crystal hash!
Let's Hash This Out
So you see, the world of hash is broad, and growing all the time. Cannabis is not yet legal federally in the United States, which means that we are not yet able to run independent research on the plant. It's amazing that the heavily regulated medical cannabis industry has been able to make such leaps and bounds with this medicine, even in spite of the control issues.
Hash oils and the other medicines that we extract from the plant are the true future of cannabis.
Do me a favor. Give hash a chance. Give dabbing a chance. You may be extremely pleased with the results.
Thanks for reading this issue of High On Dispensaries! I'll continue bringing you information, tips and tricks from inside the Colorado Cannabis industry. Stay tuned!
Sources of Information
https://www.leafly.com/news/science-tech/what-are-cannabis-distillate-concentrates
https://www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/what-is-hashish
https://honestmarijuana.com/co2-extraction/?age-verified=aa4874d565
https://growproblog.com/blogs/cannabis/what-are-cannabis-concentrates-a-guide-to-extraction-techniques
https://herb.co/2017/03/29/thc-a-crystalline/
Cannabis pictures from Leafly.com
Other pics from Pixabay.com or Bitmoji.com