How To Make Medical Marijuana Oils

How To Make Medical Marijuana Oils

If you can't smoke or chose not to smoke, you can still get the benefits of ingesting medical marijuana by producing and ingesting marijuana oil.

A policy statement has been issued by the American College of Physicians (ACP) endorsing the use of medical marijuana. The group that studied the positive link between marijuana and cancer urged the government to annul their ban on medical marijuana treatments. ACP, upon obtaining results from their study on marijuana and cancer, had encouraged the use of non-smoked forms of THC, which have proven to be a therapeutic cure to diseases. The group, which is based in Philadelphia and the second largest group of doctors in U.S. had cited different studies associating marijuana and cancer treatment. The doctors had acknowledged medical applications such as vomiting and treating nausea associated with cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and treating sever weight loss associated with AIDS and other illnesses.

Hemp oil has been recognized as one of the most beneficial substances throughout history. It has been considered as food to malnourished people because of its high essential fatty acid content as well as its omega3 to omega6 ratio. The hemp plant has been used in medicinal teas and elixirs due to its healing compounds. Thus, medical science today has been favoring such compounds as its active substances.

Drying reduces the amount of oil in each plant, but can greatly increase your yield per batch because you will be able to fit more material into each batch. Drying should be done slowly and NOT in direct sunlight. You can choose not to dry your plant material. Commercially plants such as lavender and peppermint may be allowed to dry in the field after cutting for a day or so. The ideal drying method varies from plant to plant, but in general you should not overheat the plants - drying in the shade or even in a dark room minimizes the oil lost - you should not over dry them, and you must not allow the plants to become wet again before distillation. Distill as soon as possible after drying.

Add water to the tank of your still. Use clean water, ideally filtered or distilled and as soft as possible. If you're using a manufactured still, follow the manufacturer's direction. Otherwise, simply make sure you have enough water in the still to complete the distillation; depending on the plant and on the quantity, distillation can take anywhere from a half-hour to six hours or more after the water boils. Be sure that the water level is close to, but not touching, the false bottom that will hold the plant material. If you are performing a hydro distillation (this is useful for delicate flowers or powdered roots, bark or wood), you will need to have your plant material free floating IN the water.

Add your plant material and pack it tightly in the still. You do not need to chop or cut the plant material, and doing so will cause you to lose some of the oils. The plant material should rest on the false bottom or grate above the water and should touch the sides of the still as little as possible. The layer of plant material can be quite thick as long as it is below the steam outlet (a couple inches below the outlet for a small still, a foot below for a large one).

Close the still and boil the water. Most plants will release their essential oils at 100 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit, the normal boiling point of water.

Keep an eye on the still. After a while the distillate should begin to come through your condenser and into your separator. NOTE: YOU DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TO HAVE A SEPARATOR (ADDED EXPENSE UNLESS YOU ARE COMMERCIALLY PRODUCING OILS) The oil and hydrosol in the finished product can be siphoned off with a dropper or pipette. The process should be fairly hands-off, but you will want to ensure that you do not run out of water in your still. Depending on the length of the distillation process, you may also need to change the water in the condenser so that the cooling process continues to work. Follow the instructions for the particular plant you are distilling.

Filter the collected oil (optional). Once your distillation is complete you may filter the oil through cheesecloth or similar dry cotton fabric. Ensure that the cloth is dry and clean - detergent residues as well as dirt can contaminate the oil.

Pour the oil into a container for storage. Do this as quickly as possible. Most essential oils can be kept for at least two years, but some have extraordinary shelf lives. To maximize the useful life of your oil, keep it in a dark glass bottle or stainless steel container. Use a clean funnel to pour the oil into the container, and make sure the container is impeccably clean before pouring the oil into it. Store in a cool, dark place.

Decide what to do with the hydrosol. The distillation process produces the essential oil and a hydrosol, the term for the water that has been distilled and which collects in the separator. Some hydrosols are usable themselves - rose water or lavender water, for example. If you do not wish to save the hydrosol you can pour it into the still for the next batch (if you will be distilling another batch immediately) or you can discard it.