DISCLAIMER: The information below is for educational purposes only and is intended for patients that can legally possess cannabis, such as a medical card given by your Dr. I am not responsible how the information below is used and is guided towards those patients that were prescribed medical cannabis legally by their physicians.
OK, so let's begin. This is only my 4th post as I am new to the community and still trying to get the hang of thing. It is only fair that I give a little background on myself. My writing skills are not the best in the world but I will do my best to try and convey my message as clear as possible for all of you here reading this article.
I have several hobbies and interests that have made me very skilled and versatile in these specific topics that I will be posting on and discussing with you now and in the near future. My main love and passions are mainly on 3 different subjects which include the use and understanding of Medical Cannabis and how it helps us treat/cure diseases that were until recently known as deadly or incurable, Information Technology and the Pursue of knowledge and understanding of life and how this matrix we call consciousness works.
I have been involved in the medical cannabis field for at least 10 years and have gained a lot of knowledge and experience on the processes of growing the sacred plant, breeding it and also making edibles of the highest quality which I use to help patients that really need it. I can proudly say that I have helped several patients get rid of certain forms of cancers and other various illnesses through the use of the different edibles I make.
My second passion is in the computer field (IT/IS/Security). I have been involved in computers for as long as I can remember, my parents purchased my first PC in 1982 (Apple II) when I was just 5 years old and I've been hooked on them ever since. Later on my parents got a Commodore 64 as well and that just opened my eyes to the endless possibilities of what can be achieve with the power of technology given you have the drive and determination for understanding how they work and operate. I have worked in several fields over the years in my quest to become the best I can be which include Technical Support, System Administration for a fortune 500 company, Graphics and Web Design, Programming (coding) and Information Security. Over the years I have realized that when I work in the technology field for a pay is not fun and it gets old very quickly even though the money compensations are great, I now just do it as a hobby and for myself which seems to have produced some of my best work ever.
My third passion is about the pursue of knowledge and the quest of finding who we are as a human species, where we come from, why we are here and what is our purpose in all of this. This desire has always burned deep within my core ever since I could remember. It is the most fascinating subject that I have studied and the more knowledge you gain the more you start to realize that we don’t know anything as the rabbit hole just gets deeper and deeper, but that is a discussion for a later time.
OK now that we have that out of the way let’s get down to the meat of this article and what I want to share with you all at this moment in time which is how to correctly and properly make liquid cannabis infuse edibles so you can medicate yourself properly and treat your ailments safely and efficiently.
There are many people out there that are giving the cannabis edibles industry a bad rep due to the lack of knowledge they possess and/or for the pursue of financial gains with no regards for the health of the patients that are taking this products. My goal is to try and educate patients in the correct ways on how to go about making this products for themselves so when they take the medicine is of the cleanest, purest and highest quality possible as well as learning how to prepare them correctly to achieve consistency. The first thing patients must remember is that when you make your own medicine and products you always know what is going into your bodies since you made it yourself and don’t have to guess whether the person you are getting it from processed the oils correctly or is being sincere to the dosage/amount of medicine that is really going into the products they sell.
I can tell you this for sure, 90% of the edibles out in the market right now do not contain the amounts of medicine they say they have on their labels, not to mention the quality of the oil that is being used to make such products. Most people/companies don’t even have their products lab tested for potency or consistency either, which is a big problem for those of us that really want to use this miracle medicine the correct way.
Sample chart:
Also, here is a simple chart that shows the tolerance and suggested dosages for ingesting edibles:
| Tolerance | User Experience | Suggested Dosage |
|:---------------------------:|:---------------------------:|:-----------------------------:|
|Very Low Tolerance | Beginner | 0-5 mg THC |
|Low Tolerance | Some Experience | 6-10 mg THC |
|Medium Tolerance | Experienced | 11-25 mg THC |
|High Tolerance | More Experienced | 26-80 mg THC |
|Very High Tolerance | Expert | 80+ mg THC |
*A dose of 20mg in an edible is enough to give you the effects of the medicine for 3-4hrs.
This is a guide that I found on the internet form the United Patients Group that explains the responsibilities of the patient while consuming edibles:
This is an excerpt from a well written article on how to properly use the correct doses when consuming edibles which can be found here… https://www.hellomd.com/health-wellness/edibles-do-they-work-are-they-safe-avoiding-the-edi-saster:
Dosing is always important, but even more so with edibles. If you are eating an edible with THC, which is basically every edible, then you should expect a psychotropic experience. Edibles are typically measured in milligrams, so it is important to understand dosing:
2 mg: This amount has shown little to no impairment on consumers.
2.5 mg: Most consumers have reported some psychoactivity which may be equal to a glass of wine or a beer. Doses in this range are popular for social anxiety, encouraging the munchies, and focus.
5 mg: Almost all consumers note significant psychoactivity at this dosage.
10 mg: For most consumers, there will be significant psychoactivity at this dosage. This also provides significant distraction from pain and is a common dose for chemotherapy patients to reduce nausea.
15 mg: This dosage will cause uncomfortable levels of psychoactivity, even for most regular consumers of cannabis.
First lets understand that more is not better when it comes to edibles, to correctly medicate oneself it is not required to take a huge amount of THC (psychoactive chemical in cannabis that produces euphoric effects) and actually not what you really are after unless you have illnesses such as cancer, HVI or multiple sclerosis which will require the euphoric effects of THC to help with rest and sleep.
In my experience from working with edibles for such a long time I have found that most people that take them are just after the getting high effects and not the medicinal values. Because of this reason I do not make edibles for just anyone that asks and only do them for those patients that really need them to get better. Edibles are easier to put down since a lot of people just don’t like the taste of the raw cannabis oil.
Another huge misconception is that making edibles using BHO (Butane Honey Oil) will have the same medicinal benefits as making them with RSO (Rick Simpson Oil), more on RSO and its benefits and how to produce it here -> http://phoenixtears.ca/producing-the-oil/ on the Phoenix Tears website. BHO is not safe for ingestion and no matter how much it is purged there are still contaminants left in the oil regardless to what anyone says. At the same time BHO only extracts THC from the plant material which only causes the high effects and contains no medicinal values. On the other hand when making RSO (I recommend using a solvent like 190% proof everclear or ethanol which are safe for human consumption, if you can’t get everclear as it is not sold in every state, 99% or 91% isopropyl alcohol can be used instead) you are actually extracting all the available cannabinoids from the plant which is really what you are after in order to ingest the maximum amount of medicine into your system. Some say BHO is more potent and more concentrated but that is another myth, RSO done correctly yields 90%+ of pure THC as well as all of the other 250+ cannabinoids available in the plant. Think about it, there is a reason why RSO sells for $90-$100 per gram and that is if you can actually find it and it is extracted properly, compared to BHO which sells for $50-$60 per gram.
With that being said, let’s begin the learning process of making cannabis emulsions properly which is what we are really after.
I will explain how I make a homemade juice that helps my wife with her heavy menstrual cycles as well as myself for my anxiety, depression and bipolarity. The effects of this juice come on very fast so be careful when ingesting liquid edibles as they are processed through your system a lot faster than eating a solid food edible. I make this juice on 16oz bottles at 100mg. We do not drink it all at once since 100mg is way too much for us, we actually consume ¼ of a bottle at a time (around 25mg dose) and that is enough to feel the effect for 3-4 hours, the effect are felt usually within 10-20 minutes after consumption unlike other solid edibles that can take 45-90 minutes for you to start feeling the effects.
As we all know oil and water do not mix, hence we have to use something to create the emulsion and break down the oil molecules to properly combine them with the water (liquid of your choice).
What you will need to make 10 – 16oz bottles of any kind of juice you want, also remember you want to use as much organic products as possible:
1. 1-gram of RSO concentrate.
2. 1-lb of raw organic honey
3. 10-16oz bottles of the best (purest water you can find)
4. 2-cups of pure cane sugar (optional)
5. Flavoring or natural fruits to make the juice.
6. Sunflower Lecithin (This is what makes the magic happen)
7. A pot and a mason jar.
***NOTE: Make sure that you are using sunflower lecithin and not soy lecithin, there is a huge difference between the 2 and you will not achieve the same results if using the wrong one. Let me explain further, soy lecithin is used to bind water into oil which is not what we are after and the end result will yield an oily liquid which is harsh to drink as you will taste the oils in the liquid. On the other hand sunflower lecithin is used to bind oil into water which will break down the oil molecules down to a microscopic level and have almost no visual residue or taste of the oils left behind. Lecithin is a natural product used by a lot of vegans and is sold at almost all natural food stores so it is 100% safe for consumption.
To achieve what we are trying to do correctly we need to infuse the oil into the honey using the lecithin first which makes it easier to break down and bind to the drink you are trying to make, this is the trick to the whole process and depending on how well you do this is how well the oil will infuse to the liquid.
First, we will take the oil and put it inside a mason jar that has been thoroughly washed and sterilized and we will set it in a double boiler setup at low temperature to melt the oil down to liquid form. Then we will add equal amount of lecithin as we did oil, e.g. 1g of lecithin to 1g of RSO. Mix well at low heat for about 10 minutes until well combined.
Second, we will add the 1-lb of raw honey to the oil and we will stir it continuously for the next 3-4 hours to make sure we achieve a thorough and even infusion. Make sure that the water on the double boiler you are using reaches the same height of the amount of honey inside the mason jar. We want to make sure that the warm water is covering the honey.
VERY IMPORTANT: This whole process is to be done at very low heat, simmer setting on your stove if at all possible. Stir 5 minutes at a time and let it rest for 10-15 minutes, repeating this process for the entire 3-4 hours.
After the 3-4 hours of infusing the oil/lecithin mixture to the honey you should end up with a similar consistency to the image below, you will notice that everything has mixed well and evenly and you should not see any spots of oil left in the infused honey, the oil should have broken down to a molecular level. Be careful with this infused honey as it is extremely potent!
Third, we will add our water to a large enough pot and bring it to a boil, then add the infused honey, turn the stove off and remove the pot from the burner and let it cool off for about 5-10 minutes while continuously stirring the mix. At this point we are basically almost done, you can now add your desired flavoring, fruit concentrates and sugar to make your desired juice/drink.
I made a batch of different flavored kool aid (1 pack of kool aid and 1 cup of sugar makes 5-16oz bottles) for a patient and this was the end results, if using fruit concentrates or fresh fruits you will have to play with the proportions to get to desired taste:
By the way this recipe has won several awards at different cannabis hemp fests in my area and is one of my most requested edibles. We have also won several awards for our famous gummy bears that literally melt in your mouth, if I feel up to it I may write the procedure on how to make those at a later time but it all depends whether my wife will allow me to disclose the recipe since it took us over a month to get the consistency down packed. Each gummy bear contains 20mg of THC and one bear is enough to get medicated for at least 3 hours.
This are some pictures of our most requested products (Gummy Bears and Juice):
Well that does it for the time being folks, I hope you have enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it and hope this has some value to you. If you have any questions feel free to ask me as I will be more than happy to answer those for you as time permits. Happy cooking and medicate safely and responsibly.
Thank you for reading and blessings to all,
Alk@Myst