Thursday, September 22, 2011

Make Hash Using Cold Water Extraction

This is a common method for making hash, that most people will find easy to follow. I have made the amounts small, so you can see if this method works for you, without using much weed. If you like the method, use larger amounts for a larger yield.

You will need:
  •     quarter ounce of good marijuana buds
  •     glass jar with a cap (12-24 oz)
  •     strainer or some window screen
  •     coffee filters
STEP 1


Get a quarter ounce of good marijuana buds. Dry them (keep temp below 90 degrees F) and crush them up with a pair of scissors or something similar. Strain the powder through a strainer or some window screen to remove any stems, seeds, or other non leaf material. Add the powder to a 12-24 oz, or larger tall clear glass jar with a cap, do not fill the jar with more than 1/4 mj powder.

STEP 2
Add very cold, or ice water till the jar is nearly (7/8 ths) full. DO NOT USE WARM OR HOT WATER. COLD, OR ICE WATER ONLY !
Put the cap securely on the water - mj mixture and shake for as long as it takes to get the powder mixed into the water, this is harder than it sounds because mj is not water soluble.

STEP 3
If you have access to a paint mixer, put the mix on for 5 minutes or so. If you are doing it by hand, make sure there are no clumps of plant matter then stop shaking the mix.
 
STEP 4
Wait for 30 minutes or longer, open the jar and remove the plant matter floating on the top. Put the material you remove in another jar and repeat the process to try to get the remaining resin.


STEP 5
Wait for 15 minutes or more, keeping the jar as still as possible, then carefully pour off the water to within 1 inch of the material at the bottom of the jar. The bottom of the jar material is the hashish.

STEP 6
Fill the jar with the hashish material with cold water as before, and let the mixture settle for a minimum of 15 minutes. Then carefully pour off the water to within 1 inch of the material at the bottom of the jar.

STEP 7
Pour the hash material through a coffee filter. Make sure you get it all, it is potent. After the water has drained through the coffee filter, use a spoon to push the resin to an edge of the coffee filter, then roll the hash up in the filter, and gently squeeze out more water. After that wrap some paper towels around the filter and drain more moisture.

 

STEP 8
Scrape the resin out of the filter and you have hashish. If you want to smoke the hash in a pipe you will have to press the resin into a solid mass by using your hands. If not, the hash will turn to a liquid when heated, and flow past your pipe screen.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Ancient And Modern Use Of Marijuana In India.

        The earliest known reports regarding the sacred status of cannabis in India come from the Atharva Veda estimated to have been written sometime around 2000 - 1400 BC, which mentions cannabis as one of the "five sacred plants".


        There are three types of cannabis used in India. The first, bhang, consists of the leaves and plant tops of the marijuana plant. It is usually consumed as an infusion in beverage form, and varies in strength according to how much cannabis is used in the preparation. The second, ganja, consisting of the leaves and the plant tops, is smoked. The third, called charas or hashish, consists of the resinous buds and/or extracted resin from the leaves of the marijuana plant. Typically, bhang is the most commonly used form of cannabis in religious festivals.

       Cannabis or ganja is associated with worship of the Hindu deity Shiva, who is popularly believed to like the hemp plant. Bhang is offered to Shiva images, especially on Shivratri festival. This practice is particularly witnessed at the temples of Benares, Baidynath and Tarakeswar.

       Bhang is not only offered to Shiva, but also consumed by Shaivite yogis. Charas is smoked by some Shaivite devotees and cannabis itself is seen as a gift (prasad, or offering) to Shiva to aid in sadhana.Some of the wandering ascetics in India known as sadhus smoke charas out of a clay chillum.

       During the Indian festival of Holi, people consume bhang which contains cannabis flowers. According to one description, when the amrita (elixir of life) was produced from the churning of the ocean by the devas and the asuras, Shiva created cannabis from his own body to purify the elixir (whence, for cannabis, the epithet angaja or "body-born"). Another account suggests that the cannabis plant sprang up when a drop of the elixir dropped on the ground. Thus, cannabis is used by sages due to association with elixir and Shiva. Wise drinking of bhang, according to religious rites, is believed to cleanse sins, unite one with Shiva and avoid the miseries of hell in the after-life. In contrast, foolish drinking of bhang without rites is considered a sin.

       In Buddhism, the Fifth Precept is to "abstain from wines, liquors and intoxicants that cause heedlessness." Most interpretations of the Fifth Precept would therefore include all forms of cannabis among the intoxicants that a Buddhist should abstain from consuming. However, the Precepts are guidelines whose purpose is to encourage a moral lifestyle rather than being strict religious commandments, and some lay practitioners of Buddhism may choose to consume cannabis and other mild intoxicants occasionally. Cannabis and some other psychoactive plants are specifically prescribed in the Mahākāla Tantra for medicinal purposes. However, Tantra is an esoteric teaching of Hinduism and Buddhism not generally accepted by most other forms of these religions.

The Uses Of Marijuana.

The uses of marijuana as a medicinal herb have been estimated to have been discovered over 12,000 years ago. 


The methods that the drug used to provide relief to the patients were obviously not understood by the users at that point, but the understanding that the uses of the herb made a person feel good was evident. This has led ancient peoples to use the drug socially, politically, medically and recreationally. Modern science and medicine has determined that there are true medicinal uses to the drug and this has led it to become a legal medicine in some states. 

One of the most obvious medical uses of marijuana is to assist those who have a limited appetite gain some desire to eat. A 1970’s survey showed that a whopping 93% of the people who have smoked marijuana found that consuming food is more enjoyable after smoking the drug. This was verified by a test conducted by Foltin in 1988 which compared the use of marijuana verses a placebo in stimulating the appetites of the users. This can assist people who have lost their appetite due to illness and those who are more prone to opportunistic infections such as those who are HIV or AIDS positive. This is also beneficial to people who have malabsorbtion of foods and therefore must eat more in order to receive their necessary calorie, vitamin and mineral intakes.

Chemotherapy is necessary when attempting to combat cancers. Unfortunately, the treatment can make many people feel incredibly ill, plaguing the patients with nausea and a general lack of appetite. One of the many uses of marijuana is to calm the nausea and vomiting that chemotherapy causes. This, coupled with the increased appetite, helps many cancer patients survive their treatments and allows doctors to precede with the treatments at a more aggressive rate in hopes to eliminate the cancer all together. This has lead doctors to prescribe a small amount of marijuana to patients who are being treated for cancer unless it is cancer of the lungs.

Marijuana has been well known to assist patients with pain management. This process works by reducing the amount of pain a patient feels and then by reducing the anxiety that the pain causes. There is some evidence that the pain reduction caused by marijuana can actually be higher than the reduction felt by those who are administered morphine. This does not mean that the drug will be effective for all people though. This is one of the oldest uses of marijuana.