Cannabis extra cts are enjoying a huge and ever-growing popularity. The marijuana industry worldwide is constantly releasing new products around dabbing and the production of cannabis extracts and BHO and there seems to be an overall shift towards cannabis extracts, especially in the USA, where in some US states, cannabis concentrates (for patients) are allowed to be sold. But also in Spain they are becoming more popular and can be found in many cannabis clubs or are home-made.
Unfortunately, there is far too much misinformation about cannabis extracts and cannabis oil. Some sensationalist media want to paint a horror picture about "dabbing" (consuming small amounts of cannabis oil) as they so often do and exaggerate it as a social danger. This is of course nonsense, even though it is absolutely necessary to consider risks in this context, to discuss with a cannabis specialist, to be informed and to be clear about the right dosage. In this way, possible problems can be avoided and safe use made possible.
What is a DAB?
For many who discover BHO for the first time, there are many questions. What are dabs or dabbing? This can be answered quite simply. Dab is a small amount of concentrated cannabis extract. Dabbing is the process of holding this small amount of concentrate to a special glowing nail (often made of glass or titanium) and vaporising it.
The strongest cannabis strains in the world have a total cannabinoid content of up to 30% and just above, according to laboratory tests. For example, for the Big Juana from Cannamed a THC content of 29-30.3% could be measured.
In addition to cannabinoids, weed also contains Terpenesbut also to a large extent plant parts that have little or no therapeutic value and can be harmful to the lungs when burned.
Of course, the harmful carcinogens can also be avoided by vaporising the flowers and this is exactly what is behind dabbing. Certain solvents are used to separate the cannabinoids, terpenes and other active substances in the cannabis from the plant parts and remaining substances of the plant.
The most commonly used solvents here include: ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, propane, CO2 and butane. See also our article: Safe solvents. Not all solvents are equally safe; I would generally advise against using isopropyl alcohol if you want to avoid health risks. The probably most harmless and absolutely residue-free form of extraction is that with CO2, for which, however, a special and not cheap system is needed.
If done correctly, the cannabis concentrate should strongly resemble the strain it was made from. The smell, taste and effect is simply magnified and is then in concentrated form.
Extraction with CO2 is one of the most residue-free and harmless methods, but also one of the most complex and expensive.
Butane honey oil or BHO is a cannabis concentrate made using butane. A number of variables determine the final consistency of BHO, the most important being temperature. Shatter is BHO that has a glassy, translucent structure and can break. Budder and wax also belong to the BHO category.
Shatter is clear, transparent and fragile
As the name suggests, cannabis concentrates are much stronger than the medicinal treatment with the whole flower extracted. This is because the process of making them focuses on extracting only the beneficial compounds and resin from the cannabis flowers. The smell, weight, taste and especially the effect are much higher due to a greater concentration by weight.
Typical Dab Setup
The typical dab- set-up for vaporising BHO includes a Glass bong, BHO Pipe or Bubbler with a Glass- or Titanium nail and a Glass dome. The nail must be made of a material that is extremely heat resistant and can withstand high temperatures, such as titanium.
In the first step, the glass or titanium nail is heated with a Large gas burner and brought to a glow. With a Dab-Tool or Dabber a little BHO is then dabbed onto the nail and at the same time pulled on the bong, thus vaporising the concentrate. The vapour is inhaled in the bong, as one would do with grass.
Glass nails are much cheaper than titanium nails, but they usually break after prolonged use, whereas titanium nails are indestructible.
Most nails require the use of another part, called a "dome". This fits over the nail and has a small opening at the top to help catch the vapour and direct it back down into the bong. Domes for vaporising BHO are usually made of borosilicate glass. There are also BHO nails that do not require a dome. In addition, there are now Pen vaporiser are available that have been specially developed for vaporising cannabis concentrates.
Cannabis concentrates are stored in anti-sticking silicone jars, these are available for example from Nogoo or Oil Slic. Here they are safe from drying out, external contamination and are easy and convenient to use.
Is dabbing safe?
As long as you don't burn yourself and toast your fingers while heating the nail, everything should actually work out. Cannabis concentrates are incredibly mild to smoke when made properly, don't scratch and make a wonderfully nice smooth vapour, hard to believe given their great strength.
Dabbing is an alternative to smoking cannabis, especially for asthma patients, because the vapour is much milder and less harmful to the bronchial tubes and lungs than is the case with ordinary bong or joint smoking.
The production of BHO is of course another matter, because the use of butane, for example, leads to some risks and certain safety precautions should be taken to avoid explosions. See more under: Making Cannabis Concentrate. It is best to leave the production of concentrates to the professionals and to people who have experience with it.
Another problem that often leads to discussions in the field is the presence of solvent residues in cannabis extracts. However, this is always due to a lack of knowledge or insufficient precautions on the part of the (US) concentrate manufacturers. In laboratory tests, these residues can of course be easily determined and thus safety as well as transparency for the consumer and the patient can be created. However, this requires an open, unprejudiced and legalised approach to the medicinal plant cannabis.
The boom is too big, the high too beautiful and impressive to expect the cannabis concentrate trend to end in the foreseeable future. On the contrary, Europeans are increasingly interested in the "cannabis gold".
Dr. Melamede, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Colorado and the President / CEO of Cannabis Science Inc, is one of the world's few experts on the human endocannabinoid system and he explains that so far there is no evidence that inhaling residual hydrocarbons like butane is dangerous - at least not in small amounts. It is irritating, but nothing more.
Overdose of BHO can cause temporary disorientation and possibly anxiety in some patients, but according to Dr Shackelford (Concentra Medical Centers, Colorado) this does not pose a psychological risk to patients.
BHO has been around since 2000, so BHO friends have been using the concentrates for a decade and no significant problems have arisen from this among the population or users.
Dr Shackelford and Dr Melamede agree that the only serious health risk from smoking BHO is that harmful impurities that have infused into the concentrate during the extraction process or have already been ingested by the plants used during cultivation may be present in the product. Contaminants in the plants and flowers are found in concentrated form in the cannabis extracts, e.g. pesticides, herbicides, fungi, etc. This is the real risk with cannabis concentrates. Pesticides can have an extremely nasty effect in the human body and even affect the nervous system. Therefore, it is important to avoid all possible contaminants at all points: starting with the cultivation of the strains to be extracted, to the actual extraction, to the proper storage of BHO.
Of course, the cannabis strain is also crucial when dabbing. Every cannabis lover and BHO vaporiser has their own favourites. In the medical field, different strains can have different therapeutic effects.
The Dabber
One of the most important utensils is the dabber, which is used to transfer the cannabis concentrate onto the nail. As already mentioned, these nails can be made of titanium or borosilicate glass. Dabber with a ball tip are often used for very oily and sticky concentrates, while Dabber with flat heads are mostly used for shatter. Convinced BHO users will quickly find out their individual favourite dab tool.
Glass nails
Glass nails are used by most people who want to try cannabis concentrates for the first time, because they are cheap to buy and have a neutral taste. However, glass nails can get fine cracks over time due to the great influence of heat and temperature fluctuations and then break at some point. The glass nails I tested had varying survival times. Most of them survived for several months, as long as I didn't throw them on the stone floor.
Titanium nails
Titanium nails are the nail of choice because of their great heat resistance. You can't really destroy them and they take less time to heat up than glass. With titanium nails in particular, care must be taken not to accidentally make them too hot, as they heat up quite quickly because titanium is a good conductor of heat. However, titanium cannot store heat longer than glass.
Strength and effect of cannabis extracts
If you look at the percentage of cannabinoids per gram, BHO usually contains more cannabinoids than bubble hash.
Cannabis concentrates, and especially those that are very pure and have a high cannabiniod content, offer great benefits for some patients. Pain patients in particular often benefit from the high concentration of THC and other cannabinoids, but increased doses of cannabinoids have also been shown to help with withdrawal symptoms from alcohol and medication.
The high concentration can allow a more precise dosage and helps pain patients to get a highly effective amount immediately. It is not necessary to vaporise much and a very small amount is sufficient.
Because cannabis concentrates have such a quick start-up time, they are especially appreciated by pain patients and allow me to still continue working without taking medication at certain moments.
Does smoking cannabis concentrates increase tolerance to marijuana?
I have always been fortunate enough to be able to self-medicate adequately and have tested all sorts, to be precise oodles, of different sativa and indica strains as well as hybrids. I therefore have a legitimate presumption of having a relatively high tolerance to THC and other cannabinoids. Any cannabis user who has been using for a long time will eventually realise that they need more cannabis to achieve the same effect, whether medicinal or psychoactive.
It's not that I stopped smoking weed, it's all a question of timing. And it's not that weed alone doesn't get me high, I just need a lot more of it than some other users. This in turn explains the need for self-cultivation for cannabis patients and the corresponding leaglisation for this. While in the psychiatric field or other long-term medical treatments it is considered completely normal that very nebewwirkungsreiche psychotropic drugs or other drugs must be successively up-dosed in individual patients over the years, which is explained with a tolerance, one is still surprised in some places with cannabis that also here tolerances arise and opponents interpret this as an indication of the threatening nature of the plant.
It is generally the case that a certain tolerance sets in over time when using cannabis, every marijuana user knows this and of course this also happens when vaporising BHO. Many users then take a break of a few days. However, I have to say that with dabbing it is no problem for me to give myself the appropriate broadside if I want to. So I am personally quite satisfied with it.
Certainly, cannabis concentrates also offer special advantages to marijuana users with a higher tolerance and give an extra kick. It is all a matter of knowing and observing oneself. In my opinion, there are ways to influence one's own tolerance, but this is beyond the scope of this article and will be discussed elsewhere.
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