Where to start?

[Sookeh]

Hi Guys,

 

I'm feeling very lost at the moment and really hoping that you lovely folks could give me some guidance please.

 

My 62 year old mum has recently been given a life expectancy of 2-3 months tops. She's been fighting breast cancer for the past 20 years, but this year, after a series of extremely stressful life events, the cancer has spread to both her hip joints, and she also has 5 spots ranging from 7mm to 1.5cm across both her lungs. This week she has started radiation treatment on her hip for pain relief, but the doctors say that it can take up to 2 weeks for the pain to subside, and that's after she's finished 5 days worth of radiation. 

 

I've been reading up as much as I can about medicinal cannabis, and after talking it out with Mum, we agree that even if just for pain/nausea management alone, it could be a viable option, but the more I read the more questions I seem to have. Mainly:

 

- What should I be shopping around for? I've read conflicting information about hemp vs cannabis oil, and high CBD vs high THC.

-Are there doctors that would prescribe it for a terminal case through the Special Access Scheme, and what do we ask that they prescribe? 

- Where do I begin to even look at buying some? What do I ask for, how much should I expect to pay, is there anywhere that still does pharmaceutical quality (near Brisbane).

- I've heard mention of Mullways and the Hemp Embassy in Nimbin, are these guys still operating and would it be worth the road trip to pay them a visit?

- Has anyone else on this forum had a similar experience? How'd it work out for you?

 

I apologise for the million questions, as I'm sure some of these have been asked before. I'm just very frazzled and feeling pretty helpless at the moment.

 

Any advice or information you can give will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Matanuska Thunder]

- What should I be shopping around for? I've read conflicting information about hemp vs cannabis oil, and high CBD vs high THC.

• hemp oil is not what you want

-Are there doctors that would prescribe it for a terminal case through the Special Access Scheme, and what do we ask that they prescribe?

• anything is possible, highly doubtful that the scheme would happen for you within the time frame you need 

  contact the medical cannabis users assoc they have experience with this   https://www.facebook.com/groups/mcuaa/

-What should I be shopping around for? I've read conflicting information about hemp vs cannabis oil, and high CBD vs high THC.

Not hemp

you want high thc and high cbd 

 

- Where do I begin to even look at buying some? What do I ask for, how much should I expect to pay, is there anywhere that still does pharmaceutical quality (near Brisbane).

• see below, and highly unlikely you will find something in Brissy

- I've heard mention of Mullways and the Hemp Embassy in Nimbin, are these guys still operating and would it be worth the road trip to pay them a visit?

• yes 

  4 hour return trip and you will gain heaps of info.

  Before going, check with the embassy and see if they are having any medical cannabis symposiums coming up 

- Has anyone else on this forum had a similar experience? How'd it work out for you?

• unsure

LUCK

[Goodstuff512]

Sookeh, if you've read up on Rick Simpson Oil, he talks about hemp oil, but he's really speaking of marijuana oil - THC oil. It is very difficult to access this legally. This is the stuff you want.

[Goodstuff512]

I just read your thread in a bit more detail. It is worth having the oil, even if just for anti nausea / pain relief.

 

I have recently been through a traumatic experience with my girlfriend, who died of skin cancer in late June. I managed to produce some RSO oil just at the time the cancer spread to her bones. It was useful for pain/ nausea, but didn't cure her.

 

I think it MAY be possible to cure yourself of cancer with RSO oil, but feel it's important to do it in the early stages. My girlfriend wasn't as sold on it as me...sometimes she would skip her daily dose and just settle for the pain killers. If I was diagnosed with cancer today, I'd be straight on the RSO oil...

 

Best of luck.

 

P.S. Where are you?

[Sookeh]

Thanks for the replies you guys.  Mum was actually admitted to the hospital today with severe pneumonia. We never did get a chance to follow up on the oils, as we were waiting to talk to her GP about possible drug interactions. Still hoping for the best and keeping our fingers crossed, but have to accept that maybe this is just her time.

 

For anyone else in the same boat, looking for any information possible, I'll paste a word document of my personal research/notes for sources (both scholarly and anecdotal) of my findings. It's just a big messy list of cut-and-paste jobs, and I wasn't able to analyse much data so there's plenty of conflicting info in there, but do with it what you will, and good luck!

 

Personal notes

 

• A large amount of anecdotal sources have stated that both a high THC and CBD are required to get the full ‘healing’ benefit.
• Some sources say that high doses of vitamin C can reduce the duration of a ‘high’. By this logic though, it may also reduce the ‘healing’ effect.
• The main goal is to use CBD/THC for pain management, nausea and appetite management in order to give mum the strength to survive conventional treatments (radiation/chemo) if any are available. The secondary goal is to utilize it in a way that others have claimed to cure their own cancer. We acknowledge that this is unlikely, but still want to give it the best shot possible.
• It’s about maintaining quality of life – if it’s helping her with pain, and to get her strength back, great. If it’s zonking her out so that she can’t  enjoy her remaining days then we will discontinue use.

 

The starting point: http://medicalcannabisqld.wix.com/medicalcannabisqld

 

FORMS: http://medicalcannabisqld.wix.com/medicalcannabisqld#!state-approval/cwvu

 

Definitions

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/using_medical_cannabis\

 

The first identified and best-known cannabinoid is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). THC has the most significant psychoactive effect of the cannabinoids. The ratio of THC to other cannabinoids varies from strain to strain. While THC has been the focus of breeding and research due to its various psychoactive and therapeutic effects, non-psychoactive cannabinoids have physiologic effects that can be therapeutic.

• Cannabidiol (CBD) relieves convulsions, inflammation, anxiety and nausea—many of the same therapeutic qualities as THC but without psycoactive effects. It is the main cannabinoid in low-THC cannabis strains, and modern breeders have been developing strains with greater CBD content for medical use.
• Cannabinol (CBN) is mildly psychoactive, decreases intraocular pressure, and seizure occurrence.
• Cannabichromene (CBC) promotes the analgesic effects (pain relief) of THC and has sedative (calming) effects.
• Cannabigerol (CBG) has sedative effects and antimicrobial properties, as well as lowers intraocular pressure.
• Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) is showing promise for type 2 diabetes and related metabolic disorders

Terpines?

 

 

Accessibility

 

Source to import from: http://azcannaoil.com/ << Aunt Zelda’s know their stuff and give consultations via skype. Well worth a look.

 

Youtube Talk from one of the founders of Aunt Zelda’s. Cover’s key topics in a very well informed manner:

• Medicine
• Terpines
• Case Studies
• Safe solvents
• Case study of taking CBD separately from THC and the benefits of such
• Definitions of a therapeutic dose
• Discussion on synergic relationship between cannabis & pharmaceuticals

 

 

https://cbdoilaustralia.org/start-here/

 

http://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-can-medicinal-cannabis-oil-be-imported-into-australia-49809

The Special Access Scheme

The SAS is for compassionate use of unlicensed products for individual patients. There are two ways the scheme is applied:

Category A is for patients with terminally ill conditions, and it could reasonably be argued that certain types of severe epilepsy meet the criteria for a terminal illness.

A doctor can provide an unapproved product by securing supply from a manufacturer, and registering the application with the TGA. Formal assessment by the TGA is not needed.

However, Schedule 9 drugs, such as cannabis, cannot be supplied under Category A, although certain cannabis based products are no longer listed as Schedule 9 drugs, such as cannabidiol (CBD, Schedule 4), nabiximols (plant extracted THC/CBD, Schedule 8), or synthetic THC (e.g. dronabinol) – and these could be within scope for a Category A application.

The other SAS category, Category B, applies to all other patients, and there is no restriction to Schedule 9 drugs being used.

Category B applications undergo greater scrutiny by the TGA and are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The TGA’s assessment balances a number of factors, including:

·       The patient’s doctor must be able to justify using the product, demonstrating the seriousness of the patient’s condition and the history of other treatments.

·       Information about the route of administration, dose, active ingredients, proposed monitoring procedures, and any data on the safety and efficacy of the product.

·       The prescriber must have the relevant expertise appropriate to the condition being treated.

Each case is assessed on an individual basis, and the process can take several weeks to months. A clinical trial model may be more appropriate for groups of patients with a particular condition seeking to use an unlicensed product.

 

Importing cannabinoid medicines

Both approaches require a high quality product that meets safety standards for use in humans. A range of existing cannabis based products meet these requirements, including pharmaceutical products (such as cannabidiol, dronabinol and nabiximols, although the latter two are THC-rich products unsuitable for pediatric epilepsy), and cannabis plant based products (including cannabis flower and cannabis extracted oils) manufactured under strict Good Manufacturing Practice standards. There are trials underway in Australia using such products.

Other potential products are the hemp-based oils such as Charlotte’s Web® from Colorado, or Endoca® from Denmark, although these CBD rich products are usually registered internationally as foods rather than medicines, and it is unclear as to whether these meet TGA standards.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/using_medical_cannabis

Dronabinol (Marinol®)

Dronabinol (Marinol®) is a prescribed capsule classified as a Schedule III drug used to treat nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy and loss of appetite and weight loss in people who have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a synthetic version of THC suspended in sesame oil and does not contain CBD (cannabidiol) or other cannabinoids.

Sativex®

Sativex® is a prescribed oromucosal (mouth) spray to alleviate various symptoms of MS and cancer, including neuropathic pain, spasticity, overactive bladder and other symptoms, depending on the country. Derived from two strains of cannabis, the principal active cannabinoid components are THC and CBD suspended in ethanol. Each spray of Sativex® delivers a fixed dose of 2.7mg THC and 2.5mg CBD.

Dosage

http://thereallygoodoileurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cbd-oil-dosage.png

 

 

 

 

http://www.cureyourowncancer.org/dosage.html

http://communitybasedispensary.org/cancer/

http://communitybasedispensary.org/dosage/

CANNABIS OIL DOSING (made easy):

Cancer, (CBD oil concentration, 300 mg/ml), (about 21-24 drops in a syringe make 1 ml)
WEEK 1:  15 mg x 3 daily (1 drop the size of a “grain of rice” under the tongue 3 times a day for the first week.)
WEEK 2:  30 mg x 3 daily (2 drops the size of a “grain of rice” under the tongue 3 times a day)
WEEK 3:  45 mg x 3 daily (3 drops the size of a “grain of rice” under the tongue 3 times a day)
WEEK 4:  60 mg x 3 daily (4 drops the size of a “grain of rice” under the tongue 3 times a day)
WEEK 5:  75 mg x 3 daily (5 drops the size of a “grain of rice” under the tongue 3 times a day)
WEEK 6:  90 mg x 3 daily (6 drops the size of a “grain of rice” under the tongue 3 times a day)
WEEK 7:  105 mg x 3 daily (7 drops the size of a “grain of rice” under the tongue 3 times a day. Equals 1 ml a day)
WEEK 8-:  Continue the dosage at this rate until the disease is eradicated.

Cancer, (THC oil)
WEEK 1:  Build up a tolerance with just CBD oil.
WEEK 2:  Build up a tolerance with just CBD oil.
WEEK 3:  Build up a tolerance with just CBD oil.
WEEK 4:  Build up a tolerance with just CBD oil.
WEEK 5:  1 small drop the size of a “grain of rice” under the tongue 3 times a day for the first week.
WEEK 6:  2 small drops the size of a “grain of rice” under the tongue 3 times a day.
WEEK 7:  3 small drops the size of a “grain of rice” under the tongue 3 times a day.
WEEK 8-: Continue the dosage at this rate until the disease is eradicated.

 

http://phoenixtears.ca/dosage-information/

DOSAGE INSTRUCTIONS

It usually takes the average person about 90 days to ingest the full 60 gram or 60 ml oil treatment. I suggest that people start with three doses per day, about the size of a half a grain of short grained dry rice. The patient should take this dosage every 8 hours, early in the morning, then again in the afternoon and then they should take their final dose of the day, about an hour before bedtime. It should also be noted that as a patient begins to ingest this oil, the patient does not normally feel the oils effects until about an hour after they have taken their dosage, so please be aware of this fact. A beginner’s dose such as I am describing would equal about ¼ of a drop.

After four days at this dosage which should be taken three times a day, most people are then able to increase their doses by doubling the amount of their dosage every four days. By following this simple procedure, many patients have reported that they felt that they had not experienced the high, which this oil can cause. But in truth no two of us are the same and we all have different tolerances, so some will be able to up their dosages more quickly than others. In reality, even if one does become what is commonly referred to as being high this will not harm them in any way, if the oil they are ingesting was produced from the sedative strains of Indica, which I recommend and the resulting oil was produced in the proper way.

It takes the average person anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks to get to the point where they can ingest 1 gram or 1 ml per day. Once they reach this dosage they can continue at this rate until their medical issues are brought under control. This means that after the patient has become accustomed to the oils use, each dose they are ingesting will equal 8 to 9 drops every 8 hours and in many cases, I have seen patients that have had no trouble ingesting even far more. It takes a dosage roughly the size of two grains of short grained dry rice to equal one drop, so once the patient has become accustomed to the oils use they are actually ingesting doses which equal 16 to 18 grains of rice per dose.

In some cases I have even seen patients who had no fear of this medication, ingest the full 60 gram treatment in one month and after doing so, many of them were declared to be cancer free.
By using the method which I am describing, it allows your body time to build up a tolerance for this medication slowly and once the patient becomes accustomed to the oils effects, most patients actually report that they enjoy taking it.

We all have different tolerances for any medication and your size or body weight has little to do with your tolerance for hemp oil and even children can take the same dosage as adults, with no detrimental effects.

 

WARNING ABOUT THE USE OF THIS MEDICATION WHEN USING OTHER DRUGS

Be aware when commencing treatment with hemp oil that it will lower your blood pressure, so if you are currently taking blood pressure medication, it is very likely that you will no longer require its use. Often patient’s will try to continue using their blood pressure medication, but if it is taken along with the oil their combined effect, can bring the patient’s blood pressure down too uncomfortable levels.  It’s a good idea for those beginning treatment with the oil, to check their blood pressure often and then reduce their intake of other blood pressure medications as their blood pressure levels reduce. In the event that a patient is already suffering with low blood pressure, I have had reports from people who have this condition and they stated that simply drinking some water when they began to feel uncomfortable did help to some degree. Those who have low blood pressure, may in some cases find it necessary to ingest even smaller doses of this medication and to increase their dosages accordingly. But since this medication really does not present a danger, I think that their bodies will adjust to the oils effects in a short time, after which they should experience little or no difficulty with its use.

 

Think About Drug Interactions

No significant interactions between cannabis and other drugs are known at this time, though research indicates cannabis enhances the effects of opiate painkillers. Little is known about the interaction of cannabis and other pharmaceutical medications, but it is important to consider any complementary effects.

Talk to your doctor or find a doctor who you can talk to about medical cannabis. Some studies show interactions with barbiturates, theophyline, fluxetine, disulfiram, sedatives, antihistamines, etc.

A synergistic effect can occur with alcohol use; limit mixing the two.

__

from a different source, there are several drug interactions: https://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/cannabis.html

http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/marijuana/interactions/hrb-20059701

http://www.cannabis.info/us/abc/30003367-interactions-between-common-medications-and-cannabis

 

Clinical Studies/Resources

 

http://theleafonline.com/c/science/2014/06/cannabinoid-profiles-crash-course-cbd/

 

http://theleafonline.com/c/science/2014/07/cannabinoid-profile-crash-course-cbda/

 

Cannabinoids as therapeutic agents in cancer: current status and future implications

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4171598/

Cannabis Extract Treatment for Terminal Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with a Philadelphia Chromosome Mutation

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3901602/

 

1. http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/65/5/1635.abstract Sami Sarfaraz, Farrukh Afaq, Vaqar M. Adhami, and Hasan Mukhtar + Author Affiliations. Department of Dermatology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/pubmed J Neuroimmunol. 2007 Mar;184(1-2):127-35. Epub 2006 Dec 28. Immune control by endocannabinoids – new mechanisms of neuroprotection? Ullrich O, Merker K, Timm J, Tauber S. Institute of Immunology, Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany. oliver.ullrich@medizine.uni-magdeburg.de 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocannabinoid_system Endocannabinoid synthesis & release. 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoids Cannabinoid receptor type 1. 5.http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121381780/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 Journal of Neurochemistry, Volume 104 Issue 4, Pages 1091 – 1100 Published Online: 18 Aug 2008 6. http://leavesofgrass.info/info/Non-Psychoactive-Cannabinoids.pdf Non-psychotropic plant cannabinoids: new therapeutic opportunities from an ancient herb. Angelo A. Izzo, Francesca Borrelli, Raffaele Capasso, Vincenzo Di Marzo, and Raphael Mechoulam. Department of Experimental Pharmacology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy. Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, National Research Council, Pozzuoli (NA), Italy. Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, Hebrew University Medical Faculty, Jerusalem, Israel, Endocannabinoid Research Group, Italy 7.http://sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/59872/title/Not_just_a_high Scientists test medicinal marijuana against MS, inflammation and cancer By Nathan Seppa June 19th, 2010; Vol.177 #13 (p. 16) 8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1766198/ NIH Public Access: A house divided: ceramide, sphingosine, and sphingosine-1-phosphate in programmed cell death Tarek A. Taha, Thomas D. Mullen, and Lina M. Obeid Division of General Internal Medicine, Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Administration Hospital, Charleston, South Carolina 29401; and Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425 Corresponding author: Lina M. Obeid, M.D., Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 114 Doughty St., P.O.Box 250779, Charleston, South Carolina 29425. E-mail:obeidl@musc.edu 9. P. Massi, A. Vaccani, S. Bianchessi, B. Costa, P. Macchi, D. Parolaro Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences CMLS September 2006, Volume 63, Issue 17, pp 2057-2066 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00018-006-6156-x?LI=true 10. Mol Cancer Ther. 2007 Nov;6(11):2921-7. Cannabidiol as a novel inhibitor of Id-1 gene expression in aggressive breast cancer cells. McAllister SD, Christian RT, Horowitz MP, Garcia A, Desprez PY. California Pacific Medical Center, Research Institute, 475 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA. mcallis@cpmcri.org http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18025276

The Human Endocannabinoid System Meets the Inflammatory Cytokine Cascade

 

 

http://www.unitedincompassion.com.au/

 

http://cannabisinternational.org/wordpress/

Here you’ll find my interviews, our Forum, peer-reviewedscientific articles, and other info about the latest research on Cannabis.

 

 

 

 

Risks/Criticism

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/medical-marijuana-as-the-new-herbalism-part-2-cannabis-does-not-cure-cancer/

 

The first problem one encounters when examining the evidence concerning the effect of cannabinoids on cancer is that the vast majority of studies touted by advocates claiming that “cannabis cures cancer” are either in vitro or animal studies. In vitro and animal studies are what we in the biz call “preclinical data,” meaning data obtained before trying a treatment in the clinic. As the American Cancer Society put it:

More recently, scientists reported that THC and other cannabinoids such as CBD (cannabidiol) slow growth and/or cause death in certain types of cancer cells growing in laboratory dishes. Some animal studies also suggest certain cannabinoids may slow growth and reduce spread of some forms of cancer. However, these substances have not been tested in humans to find out if they can lower cancer risk. There is no available scientific evidence from controlled studies in humans that cannabinoids can cure or treat cancer.

Breast cancer. I’m a breast cancer surgeon; so I’m going to go out of order here. There are four breast cancer studies listed. The first study examines CBD activity against a mouse breast cancer cell line 4T1 (another cell line I’m quite familiar with, having used it in my lab and because it was a cell line developed by a now retired investigator whom I know), and the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 (which I’m more familiar with than I’d like to be). Basically, the study showed a modest effect against these two cell lines in vitroand in mouse models using 1 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg CBD. The second study looked at five different cannabinoids and found that CBD was the most potent inhibitor of breast cancer cell growth in vitro (IC₅₀ between 6.0 and 10.5 μM) and that CBD and “CBD-rich oil” could inhibit the growth of MDA-MB-231 tumor xenografts. In this study, the effects of THC on cancer cell growth were weak (IC₅₀ between 14.2 and over 25 μM, depending on the cell line). The third study showed similar results for HER2/neu(+) tumor cell lines using THC and specific synthetic agonists (activators) of cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 (Win55,212-2 and JWH-015, which activate CB1 and CB, respectively) except that THC was not as weak. The fourth study didn’t look at marijuana cannabinoids at all, but rather the endogenous cannabinoid anandamine, with similar results.

Lung cancer. The next set of three studies look at lung cancer. The first study used a cell line with which I’m quite familiar, A549 lung cancer cells, using both cell culture and mouse xenograft models. I must say that I was singularly unimpressed with the effect sizes, at least in the in vitro studies, which also required fairly high concentrations (15 μM) of THC. In a mouse tail vein injection model of lung metastases, 5 mg/kg of THC decreased metastases by 50%, which is not bad, and in a straightforward xenograft model resulted in a 50% growth delay of the tumors, which is also not bad. The next study found similar results testing CBD against lung cancer cell lines and tumor cells from a patient in cell culture and mouse models. The third study showed that stimulation of cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) with synthetic agonists, Win55,212-2 and JWH-015, which activate CB1 and CB2, respectively, inhibited the growth and invasion of A549 lung cancer cells in vitro and their growth and metastases in mouse models.

 

https://www.quora.com/Does-hemp-oil-cure-stage-4-lung-cancer-metastatis-too

 

Recipes & Guides

 

From “OzStoners forum post on Coconut Oil Caps”

 

I am putting this guide together for Ozstoners as I apparently promised to and didn’t do it. J
It is Information collected from the web over the years, a lot of it is from old posts as far back as around 2007.
I always decarboxylate my ingredients before I make capsules so here is a quick bit on that first.
Decarboxylation
So here is the deal. THCA (Tetrahydrocannabinolic Acid) is found in abundance in growing and harvested cannabis and is a biosynthetic precursor of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol).
Research suggests THCA has anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects but does not produce the psychoactive effect that make you feel “high”. This “high” is from the cannabinoid THC, of which little if any is found when cannabis is growing or recently harvested.
Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that releases carbon dioxide (CO2). This means a chemical reaction takes place in which carboxylic acids loose a carbon atom from a carbon chain. This process converts THCA to THC, the much loved compound with many medicinal and psychoactive effects. When the cannabis drys, it very very slowly begins to decarboxylate and converts THCA to THC.
The good news is we don’t have to wait years for cannabis to decarboxylate. We can speed things along with a process that is a lot simpler than you might expect. Simply heating dried cannabis to the correct temperature for enough time releases that carbon dioxide and creates THC.
Decarboxylating takes place without extra effort when cannabis is heated during the act of smoking or vaporizing. It also takes place to some degree when cannabis is cooked into butter or when hash and kief are added to a favorite recipe and then cooked in the oven.
When making tinctures, cannabis is not heated or baked, it is simply soaked in high proof alcohol or BHO. Decarboxylation never takes place and you end up with a product with a lot of THCA and very little THC. This may be a good for some symptoms but will not produce the results most expect.
Easy Steps to Decarboxylation
Consumer grade ovens are not always exact so shoot for a decarboxylation temperature of around 240° Fahrenheit. This should produce quick results without losing any medicinal potency.
I place a pizza stone on the middle rack of the oven and set the oven dial to bake at as close to 240° Fahrenheit as possible. I use an in oven thermometer to make sure it’s accurate. Ovens lose a lot of heat when the door is opened and sometimes the temperature spikes with little explanation. The pizza stone absorbs the heat and helps maintain a constant temperature.
Once the temperature has reached about 240° and does not appear to be increasing place a small Pyrex bowl of kief or trim on the pizza stone. Set the timer for 60 minutes and continue to monitor the temperature. A Pyrex lasagna dish would be perfect for larger quantities. As expected, the temperature will fall a few degrees from opening the door and then come back up to temperature. Throughout the hour the temperature may rise and fall several times for no apparent reason but should stay between 229° and 245° Fahrenheit.
Results of Decarboxylation Experiment
The following charts show the results of a 30 minute and 60 minute decarboxylation experiment. Also included are the lab results from testing done prior to any artificial decarboxylation to establish a starting point, Note that because of the age of both the kief and the trim, decarboxylation had begun to take place to some degree naturally. This may not be your starting point, but should not affect the results of the experiment much.
Kief
Compound
Before Decarb
30 Min Decarb
60 Min Decarb
THCA
24.5%
2.6%
.1%
THC
3.8%
25.4%
25.5%
CBDA
.6%
.3%
.3%
CBD
0%
1%
.1%
CBN
.4%
1%
1.4%
Moisture
0%
0%
0%
Total Cannabanoids
29.3%
30.3%
27.4%
Cannabis Trim
Compound
Before Decarb
30 Min Decarb
60 Min Decarb
THCA
6.5%
2.9%
.2%
THC
.6%
4.8%
6.9%
CBDA
.2%
.2%
.1%
CBD
0%
0%
.1%
CBN
0%
0%
0%
Moisture
3.4%
4.5%
0%
Total Cannabanoids
7.3%
7.9%
7.3%
As you can see from the two charts, 30 minutes was not quite enough to completely decarboxylate either the kief or the trim. At 30 minutes the kief was about 90% decarboxylated but the trim was only about 60% decarboxylated. This difference is likely because the trim had a higher starting moisture content. After 60 minutes however, both keif and trim samples were close enough to 100% decarboxylation for my satisfaction.
So there you have it. 240° F for 60 minutes should be enough to decarboxylate any cannabis with a reasonably low moisture content. For material with higher moisture content, the time can be extended but the temperature should not be increased. If you are concerned about losing organic compounds, lower heat can be used but the time should be extended to compensate.
Cannabis Capsules
A step-by-step guide.
I will try and keep it as simple as possible, but, as the box says ‘Some assembly is required’, and therefore, this guide might not be suitable for everyone. It needs some ingredients to be measured (with a teaspoon), and maybe the purchase of a few essential (and some optional) items. To give you an idea of the unit cost (excluding the price of the weed), if you made 1000 capsules (enough for 1 person to remain high for a year!) the cost would be around $51 for the ingredients (oil/butter and capsules). That’s less than $0.05 cents each! Including the cost of the weed (based on an average price of $15 a gram), you’re looking at around $1.30 per capsule for caps made from hash or kief or $1.90 for caps made from prime bud. So with the intro out of the way let’s start looking at what we are going to make
Outline
This ‘step-by-step’ tutorial will outline the tools and techniques needed to convert quantities of bud, hash or keif into tasteless pill capsules that can be swallowed to give a measured dose of potent, active THC to the user. For simplicity and economy we’ll just be using 1 gram of hash or kief (or, one and a half grams of bud) and making it into 12 cannabis capsules, each containing around 0.08 grams of activated THC.
As a guide: 1 capsule can be taken by medicinal users for strong pain relief. 2 capsules will give a regular smoker an intense 4 to 6 hour trip. 3 capsules (experienced consumers only) a 6 to 8 hour plus ‘wild ride’. To make larger quantities of capsules simply increase the ingredients pro-rata. i.e. To make 24 pills just double everything, for 48 double everything again and so on.
What you’ll need
The essential cookery ‘Equipment’: 1. A Slow Cooker also known as a Crock Pot or A medium sized pan, a mixing bowl and a lid and some hot water. 2. A quantity of size 00 Gelatine Capsules. They can be bought from some pharmacies, health food shops or online in quantities of 100+. 3. A teaspoon (hopefully everyone will have one of these). The essential cookery ‘Ingredients’ either: 1 gram of good Hashish. Or: 1 gram of fine grained ‘keif’. Or: 1.5 grams of good ‘Bud’ (no stems, no seeds, or pointy leaves). And: 7 grams (one and a half teaspoons) of Coconut oil or clarified butter. Empty pill capsules come in several sizes, the ones I recommend are 00 sized, as the smaller ones are a little fiddly to make and don’t hold much, and the bigger sizes are a little hard to swallow. ONLY use the Gelatine variety not the vegetarian ones as they leak when exposed to fats and oils.
Ideally, you’ll also need a jar (or tub) of Coconut oil, or failing that some clarified butter (or ‘Ghee’ as it’s called in Asian cookery). If you’re struggling to find either, don’t panic, you can make your own by slowly simmering a pack of regular (ideally unsalted) butter in a pan until all the milk and water content has evaporated (the frothy bit) just leaving a clear golden coloured oil. Let it cool and store in the fridge till you want to use it.
Coconut oil (solid depending on room temperature) can be bought from Woolworths or any other supermarket. Go for the ‘extra virgin organic coconut oil’ if you can find it, as It’s one of the safest oils to cook with, contains no ‘trans fats’ (unhealthy fat), is high in saturated fat, and most importantly is ‘digestion friendly’ (unlike certain other monounsaturated or polyunsaturated oils) meaning the THC can be absorbed easily by the stomach and liver, and therefore passed into the bloodstream to do its job without loss of potency.
Expect to pay between $7 for a 200 gram jar. Enough for around 336 capsules, plus it’ll keep for years in the fridge.
The optional cookery items A capsule holder to help when filling.
A syringe or pipette to fill the caps with a measured dose of oil.
A set of accurate measuring spoons.
The science bit.
The key to making effective capsules is in the THC extraction process.
In short, the secret is to expose the bud, keif or hash to prolonged, low heat (simmering) in an oil or butter high in saturated fat* in order to thoroughly break down the structure of the resin heads and allow the THC to ‘bind’ to the fat molecules.
*The type of ‘short chain fatty acids’ that are found in Coconut oil and Ghee (clarified butter) are excellent conductors of THC, and much easier for the human digestive system to metabolise. Therefore, where possible, go for an oil or butter high in saturated fats rather than monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. Although they’ll still work, much of the potency will be lost, requiring much greater amounts of weed to eaten in order to achieve similar results. As coconut oil is far cheaper than good weed, you’re better off investing in a jar. 1 gram of weed in a cone is good for only one hit, 1 gram in this capsule form is good for about 12.
If the temperature is too high, you run the risk of losing potency due to the vaporisation /evaporation of the THC (if the smell is strong, you’re doing it wrong). Too low, and you won’t convert the inactive compounds into active, or allow them an opportunity to effectively combine with the oil/butter. This fat is then added to the capsules, which once swallowed, release the concentrated THC directly into the stomach for maximum absorption into the bloodstream.
The ‘how to’ bit
It is usually recommend using ‘hashish’ or ‘kief’ over ‘Bud’ when cooking, because it is a quicker and simpler process of conversion, and the effects are (slightly) more predictable. However, if you only have access to ‘heads’ don’t worry, you can still make them just as easily using the following method. Head’s method: Due to the difference in THC strength, you’ll need to use 1.5 grams of good quality well cured bud in order to match the potency of 1 gram of hash or kief. Firstly, remove any stems, seeds or obvious leaf material* then grind to a small a grain (powder) as you can manage, then just follow the rest of the steps as detailed below. I use an electric coffee grinder. If using a Slow Cooker. The great thing about slow cookers is you can pretty much switch them on and forget about them. Typically, a slow cooker will have 2 or 3 settings (low, medium and high).
Due to the size of these ‘cookers’ I recommend placing your oil/butter in a much smaller ‘oven-proof’ container otherwise it’ll just make a thin coating on the bottom of your pan. In my case I use an eggcup (or a coffee cup when making larger quantities) the shape makes it easier to ‘siphon’ off the oil and to scrape out the residue.
Simply set the cooker to ‘low’ add the ghee/oil and then the hash/kief or bud and leave to slowly simmer for the required time. 1 hour for hash. 1 and half hours for kief. 2 hours for bud. If using a Pan and Mixing Bowl. Pour around three inches of boiling water into your cooking pan, then sit the mixing bowl in the water so that it’s floating just off the bottom (very important – see picture), add the oil or Ghee (clarified butter) to the mixing bowl and let it melt, then add your hashish, kief or powdered bud and dissolve slowly while keeping the lid on and the boiling water just barely simmering beneath. N.B. Floating the mixing bowl in the water and keeping the lid on prevents ‘burning off’ the THC which evaporates/vaporises at high temperatures (around 140 centigrade plus). The boiling water keeps the butter/oil at the perfect temperature of around 100 degrees centigrade (boiling point) to slowly ‘wring’ out every last molecule of ‘spacey goodness’!.
Filling the capsules:
Now that you’ve made your concentrated THC saturated oil/butter you need to get it into your capsules. Firstly, wait for the oil to cool down a little otherwise you run the risk of melting the capsules. Both the coconut oil and Ghee will remain liquid around the 24 degrees centigrade mark for quite a while, therefore it’s easier to add the oil while it’s still in this form assuming you have something to draw up the liquid like a children’s medicinal syringe, pipette or similar. Just add it in equal measures to the capsules. Once you’ve added even amounts of the oil to your caps you’ll need to scrape out and add the residue. I’ve found that the handle of a teaspoon or coffee stirrer is ideal for this process, however if you want to take it to another level you can always purchase a laboratory spatula or spoon. N.B. Depending on whether you used hash/kief or ground bud will dictate how easy this process is. For example hash and kief will be mostly oil with a small residue at the bottom, while ground bud will be more like a paste, and as such hard to draw up in a syringe. In this case (or if you don’t have a syringe), you may want to pour the oil/butter onto a small plate and then put it in the fridge until it sets. Later, using the tip of a sharp knife, cut the butter into twelve equally sized pieces and poke them into the capsules using a chopstick/match etc.
Master class techniques and tips.
If using bud, remember ‘no stems, no seeds or pointed leaves’. Anyone who’s grown and studied their plant under an x30 jeweller’s loupe will be able to describe the microscopic thorns that the pointed leaves are covered in. Even when finely ground, some of these thorns can survive and irritate the stomach lining. Also (contrary to most advice given about eating cannabis), I don’t recommend you take cannabis capsules on a completely empty stomach. Remember, normally when you eat an edible you’re eating weed that is bound to (and diluted in) some form of food. Therefore by eating something like: a slice of toast, a sandwich or a packet of crisps beforehand, you’re preparing your stomach to digest food and thereby activating the gastric juices which will break down your capsules quickly and efficiently. Key Recipe Features:
• Highly concentrated form of THC • Requires only very small amounts of bud. • Great for stealth cooking as the low heat creates virtually no smell. • Extremely potent due to the type of saturated fats used. • Simple to make. • Incredibly cheap N.B: Effects will start to ‘kick in’ after about an hour and a half, and last for around six to eight hours (depending on how many you took). Should you begin to feel overwhelmed you can shorten the ‘trip’ and reduce its effects by eating sugary foods, or drinking fruit juices rich in vitamin C.

 

On the link between weed/vitamin C/vit C in general and how it helps with stress:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=44615

[lapislazuli]

Hi Sookeh, I hope you can get hold of some quality FECO to help your mom. I've had to make my own as it's hard to access. Your mother would benefit from following the Gerson Protocol to detox and fight the cancer, along with organic food and diet change to vegan eating. One big part of that is coffee enemas and they are very effective in pain management, too. My daughter has Crohn's Disease and has has recently begun using coffee enemas, they are flushing out all the accumulated infection and it's helping a lot. If you're interested, I can provide you with more info. Good luck xox

 

 

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[Jacbowden]

I have recently spoken to a lady who used cannabis oil during and after chemo ( when her body couldn't take chemo any more). She used the sixty day plan of increasing dosage ( needing a pound of weed to create enough oil). The oncologist had given her twelve months, as the breast cancer had spread to liver and lungs and lymph nodes, however latest scans and blood tests reveal zilch cancer in her body. She said the treatment wiped her out for three weeks with the increasing dosages, but now her body tolerates a maintenance dose and she works, drives and functions normally. Her doctor was bewildered, said the cancer would return four weeks after chemo stopped. That was a year ago. Now he's having to take note.