Antique Cannabis Tincture Circa 1920
Cannabis tincture is a potion of dissolved cannabis glands that is quite potent. It is made by dissolving the marijuana glands in a solvent like alcohol. People use tincture because it acts faster than any other method but delivers a potency that equals eating cannabis. Another thing cannabis users love about tincture is that it is easy to have multiple strains that do different things. Using tincture is also healthier since there is no smoke entering your lungs. Making cannabis tincture is extremely easy but takes patience.
Any alcohol can be used to dissolve cannabis glands to make tincture, however keep in mind that the more pure the alcohol the faster and more efficient the process will be. Most people who make tincture choose to use grain alcohol with a proof of 190 to dissolve the cannabis glands. During the process the alcohol can be evaporated out so there is none left for those who prefer non-alcohol tincture. If you want to take the non-alcohol thing a step further you can use vegetable glycerin in place of alcohol. Vegetable glycerin is used in cough syrup and other products and is safe for people to consume. Some people report being dehydrated after taking vegetable glycerin so make sure to drink plenty of fluids.
So now that you have your solvent, either glycerin or alcohol, all you have to do is soak the marijuana in the solvent for about 60 days. That’s right, 2 months, i told you the process was easy but patience is required. The pay off is great, you will have a way to medicate that is more reliable in terms of dosage and healthier than smoking.
If you are using marijuana leaf it is recommended that you rinse the leaves in order to get rid of as much chlorophyll (what makes leaves green) as you can. Once you have some rinsed vegetation you can cover the marijuana in alcohol or glycerin. Now here is where there is a lot of discrepancy and only experience can teach you what works best. I have already said that soaking the mixture for 2 months works best, however some people say no more than 3 days is needed. They claim that the higher proof alcohol (190) makes the process faster, I like to use 190 proof and still let it soak about 60 days. Once it has soaked as much as you want it to you can uncover it so the alcohol will evaporate out. The longer it remains uncovered the more alcohol will evaporate.
Stir up your brew and strain out the tincture. A micron hash straining bag works best for this but coffee filter could do the job also. The tincture should contain about 60% of the total THC of the marijuana you used. This means it is a potent little potion.
Dosages
As stated earlier the effects of tincture are similar to eating cannabis so you need to try a little bit and use more next time if needed. A standard dose of 10-15 ml is usually what people start with and it seems to be right on the money. You can add the tincture to your favorite beverage if you’d like as this may counter any ill tatstes. The taste largely depends on the type of weed you used, some people do not like the taste as others don’t mind.
Other Advantages
One thing I love about tincture other than the consistency and the health implications, is that you can have several different strains ready to go for different situations. You can make a strong sativa tincture that will be great for day time use and give you a real ‘up’ high. For a more mellow night time high that will be great for bed time choose an Indica tincture with more CBD content than THC content. Since the effects of tincture work quite fast and there is no need to disappear to smoke, it makes it easy to get the effect I want when I want. I also think most of the anxiety that comes with smoking weed is do to the fact that other people might find out that you are high. When using tincture there is no need to worry about others smelling pot on you etc. All you have to worry about is red eyes! And maybe the giggles : )