What is Hash and Oil???

HASH

The drug produced by the cannabis plant is principally contained in multi-cellular structures on the surfaces of the leaves and flower parts called stalked capitate trichomes, or multicellular glandular hairs. These structures are shaped like water towers or mushrooms, a ball on top off a stalk. Light glistening off the surface of these translucent structures is what causes the "frosted" appearance of plant parts populated with such glands. The ball structure, or gland head, consists of a number of radically arranged cells, which secrete Cannabinoids-containing oils.

The oils collect beneath a waxy cuticle, which occasionally bursts, releasing the oil to form a sticky resin as it dries. This resin may make up the cuticle or the cuticle may be some other substance, the truth is apparently not known. The gland head structure contains the highest concentration of the drug THC, followed by the stalks. The tissues of the plant supposedly contain a small amount of Cannabinoids, but it is minimal in my experience, or at least there is little THC content.

The stalked capitate glands are not the only surface structure on cannabis plants. Multicellular sessile or bulbous glands hug the surfaces of some leaves, and are said to contain Cannabinoids. In my experience, they contribute little to the drug content of the plant. Some authors apparently believe these structures to be juvenile or stunted stalked trichomes. Cystolith hairs are blunt, pointed objects which contain calcium carbonate crystals. They look like faceted traffic cones, and do not have a ball on top. Finally, the plant also produces unicellular hairs, which indeed do look like small hairs. Cystolith glands and unicellular hairs do not produce drug chemicals.

Cannabinoids are chemicals apparently unique to cannabis, consisting of THC, CBN and CBD, and a set of relatives with similar effects, THCV, CBV and CBDV. Many plants contain both sets of chemicals, and in common practice, only the first set of abbreviations are used. THC is responsible for the "high" the plant produces, and there are several different versions of THC from different plants. CBN is said to increase the THC effect slightly, and is slightly psychoactive on its own. CBD actually blocks the THC effect, although in certain ratios it can prolong the effects of THC, and is said in combination to produce a more sedative high. CBD can be easily converted into THC by treating extracted oil with sulfuric acid, a step in the oil trade called "isomerization".

The relationship between THC, CBN and CBD is somewhat controversial. It is thought that CBN is the degradation product of THC, accounting for some of the loss of potency over time as THC degrades to the less psychoactive CBN. CBD is thought to be a separate product of Cannabinoids synthesis by the plant, or possibly can be created from degraded THC. I have read various accounts claiming effects due to high CBD content in hash, but there does not appear to be undisputed scientific information relating the mental effects to chemical content, in part no doubt as the effects are subjective in nature. Nor is there any reason I can imagine why hash would contain more CBD than the parent plant, since the drug-containing structures the plant held make up its hash. Perhaps these views are a legacy of the type of plants grown that produced commercial hash in Middle East and Asian countries.

Hash is made by knocking the trichomes off the surface of the plant, by mechanical action typically, and by pressing the glands together into a ball or cake. Depending on the method used, the hash may consist of gland heads, stalks, and various contaminants, such as the elements mentioned above, and small bits and pieces of plant tissue. Hash made purely from gland heads compresses to a hard plastic-like lump with hand pressure. Hash with many contaminants may require heat and pressure to compact. Gland head hash softens as it is warmed, and melts in the pipe bowl, but if the hash is glossy and pliable immediately after being compressed, likely the glands were not properly dried. It is my observation that Hash made only from the heads of the stalked glands is very potent, and can create an uplifting high similar to a vaporizer hit, though deeper and more persistent. The effect of lighting such hash in the bowl is to cause it to bubble and melt, and finally to burn as the small amount of cellular material from the radial cells is converted to ash. As more stalks are added to the hash, the character of the high changes in various ways, even though typically good hash has a strong initial rush and a mild, soft letdown. Utility grade hash will remain unaltered in the bowl when initially heated, as the volatile elements vaporize, and then burns slowly and steadily as the tissue parts are consumed. The cystolith and hair trichomes add nothing to the high, but may add to the flavor. Essential oils are distributed throughout the plant, making up about 10% of the stalked glands by weight. The essential oil content of the contaminants is apparently not known. The final hits from utility grade hash do not add much to the high, but they are aromatic. - SCW overgrow.com

HONEY OIL

Honey oil (often shortened to oil, and sometimes referred to as BHO, or butane hash oil, which is particular to the method by which it is made) is a highly viscous oil/paste made from the resins of a mature, flowering cannabis plant. It is commonly smoked using hot metal blades or plates, or inhaled using specially designed vaporizers. Honey oil is prized (by some) even over cannabis itself, due to its extreme purity and lack of other vegetative matter.

Honey oil is a psychoactive drug in the same class as cannabis, from which it is derived, and contains a similar blend of THC, cannabidinoids, and cannibidinols.(in the UK, cannabis and hashish is class C and cannabis oil is class A) The THC content of honey oil is variable based on the particular strain of cannabis from which it was derived, and is similar to that of hashish.


MANUFACTURING
Honey oil is made by separating the resins of a cannabis plant from the plant material, using one of a number of industrial solvents, such as butane, hexane, grain alcohol and denatured alcohol, naptha, and various mixtures of these chemicals. Solvents are selected based on their ability to evaporate completely and cleanly, leaving no chemical residue.

The purest, most potent grades of honey oil are made using only the flowers and leaves of the female cannabis plant which contain trichomes. This material is placed in a metal or plastic sleeve and washed in chemical solvents to separate the resin from the plant material. The solvent slurry is then reduced by evaporation, resulting in a very thick, sticky paste that varies in color from amber to dark green.

The most common solvent used in the preparation of honey oil is high-grade butane, sold in sporting goods stores and used in camping stoves and cigarette lighters. Due to the low boiling point and extreme combustibility of butane, extreme care is needed in the handling and preparation of these materials. Honey oil prepared using butane is often referred to by its acronym, BHO.

Honey oil made using isopropyl alcohol is refered to as ISO Oil or as QWISO for Quick Wash ISO and is quickly replacing butane as the most common solvent for making Honey Oil.

AVAILABILITY
Honey oil is generally considered the province of amateur growers, who make it from collected trim leaves and immature "buds" from harvests as a by-product. Honey oil is generally not sold on the street as commonly as other cannabis products, but is highly prized among connoisseurs and those who use cannabis products medicinally.

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