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Tincture
By Hempology | September 22, 2003
Found on Tyler’s desk, unknown author, unknown date.
I haven’t tried this yet, so use at your own risk.
Many patients who utilize and benefit from medical cannabis do not wish to smoke due
to the perceived health hazards of smoking ro for other personal reasons. These patients
are in something of a bind. Smoking cannabis delivers the active cannabinoids within
seconds. Medicine is absorbed in the lungs and goes directly to the brain and general
circulation. The same effect can be achieved with a vaporizer, which is safer than burning
vegetable matter. Since the effects of inhaled cannabis are so quick, it is easy for patients
to titrate their dose by simply waiting a minute or two in between puffs.
Oral cannabis, such as our Better Bud Butter, is absorbed in a very different fashion from
smoking or inhalation. The GI tract gradually absorbes Cannabinoids over the course of one
to two hours. Medicine is processed first by the liver, which converts some cannabinoids
such as delta nine to delta 11 version of THC. Orally delivered cannabis requires four to
ten times the amount of the smoked version in order to achieve the same effect. Orally
delibered cannabis can present a problem in achieving the required or desired dose level
in any consistent fashion.
Tincture is designed to address the rpoblems of rapid medicine delivery and consistent dosing.
Most tinctures are made to be used under the tongue or sublingually. English pharmaceutical
companies are presently working on a cannabis extract “spray” that can be used under the tongue
in a similar fashion. These sprays are not expected to be approved for use in the United
States for years and will be very expensive. Absorption by the arterial blood supply under
the tongue is completed in seconds. One trick is to not swallow the dose as, if swallowed,
absorption will be in the GI tract. Many patients, though, add their tincture to a cup of
tea or cranberry juice for easy delivery. When tincture is used in a beverage, absorption
will be slower than if absorbed under the tongue. While tincture absorbed in an empty stomach
is accomplished in minutes, conversion in the liver reamains, as does the difficulty in titrating
dose. Usually, a tincture dose is delivered by means of a medicine dropper or a teaspoon.
A rule of thumb on dose is that patients received benefit from 3-4 drops to a couple of full
droppers depending upon the potency of the tincture and the patient’s own unique
requirements among other factors.
The methods listed below will detail two major methods of preparing tincture. While the
methods are optimized for purity and potency, ultimately these will largely be determined
by the purity and potency of the cannabis from which the tincture is made. Another item
of note in regard to starting material for tincture is the patient or caregiver selection
of strain. A rough rule of thumb is to select Indica dominant strains for cramping and
muscle spasicity and Sativa dominant strains for pain relief. The reality, though, is often
that the strain is unknown or not well characterized. Trial and error is usually required
to acquire the appropriate strain and the proper dose level.
General Rules:
Tincture is an extraction of active cannabinoids from plant material. Cannabis contains
many chemicals that can either upset the stomach or taste nasty. One of the goals
of extraction is to secure the cannabinoids while leaving out as many of the terpenes
and chlorophylls as possible. Both heat and light adversely effect cannabinoids and
shoudl be avoided or minimized. Tincture should be stored in airtight dark glass containers
kept at room temperature or below. Avoid plastic containers. The ethanol in the tincture
may solubilize some of the free vinyls in the plastic.
Cold Method with Ethanol
Making tincture cold preserves the integrity of cannabinoids. To be potent, this method
requires starting material high in cannabinoid content such as flowers or kief made
from trim and leaf. The material must be mold free and dry. Drying can be accomplished
in the freezer (-4-10 degrees Celsius) or better yet by placing in a liquid proof bag
into a dry ice/ethanol bath (-70 degrees Celsius). Once water has been removed then
the surface area of the starting material requires expansion. This can be accomplished
a number of ways but two ways stand out:
Using flowers (bud): Place dried buds in coffee grinder and pulse until throughly
ground but not powdered.
Making kief: Rub dry trim and leaves over a silk screen. Collect the poweder that
comes through the screen. It should be a very pale green. “Kiefing” is an age old
way of extracting trichomes from plant material.
Whether kief or ground bud is used both should kept ice cold for this preparation.
Similarly, the ethanol to be used should also be ice cold throught the process.
Selection of alcohol – ethanol or ethyl alcohol is the form of alchohol that can be used
by huumans. The proof listed on commercial alcohol refers to the percentage of ethanol
that the beverage contains. The proof is twice the percentage, so 80 “proof” means that
the mixture contains 40% ethanol. The higher the alcohol content used, the better the
extraction will work. Ideally, 200 proof ethanol would be best except that ethanol can not
be distilled to this proof so benzene is used to remove the last vestiges of water. This
makes “pure” ethanol poisonous.
Many folks use “Everclear” which stands at 190 proof or 95% ethanol. Everclear has no taste.
Apparently, Everclear is not available in all States. A close second choice is 151 proof
rum. This is a light amber liquid that is 75% ethanol that has a sweet taste. One of our
caregiver writers will use nothing but Korbel brandy because she likes the taste. Others
use iced Russian vodka. These “normal” distilled spirits are 40% to 50% ethanol. Some
patients find that the higher proofs ethanols like Everclear and 151 rum burn too
much under the tongue. If burning is a concern consider a high quality 90-100 proof
Vodka.
Cold Extraction and purification – Use at least one ounce of starting matierial to each
pint of ethanol. Place cold powdered kief or ground cannabis flowers together with ethanol
in a glass quart-mixing jar. Close the jar tightly and vigorously shake for five minutes then
return to freezer. Continue to agitate the mixture every few hours with refreezing.
Continue for a period of two to three days.
Pour the cold mixture through a double thickness of sterile cheesecloth. Save the
cheesecloth “ball” for topical uses or use the material to make bud buter once dried.
The liquid collected through the cheesecloth should then be filtered twice through
a paper coffee filter. Use gloves throughout the process, as it is necessary to squeeze
the cheesecloth and coffee filters to facilitate the extraction. Without gloves some
of the material will be absorbed on the skin.
If Everclear is used the tincture will be pale green to golden. If 151 rum is used an
amber tincture results. Dark green tinctures mean that excess plant material is present.
This does not mean that the tincture will not be potentn, just taste nasty. When Everclear
is used, various flavor extracts may be added (vanilla, raspberry, etc.) Be careful to
use only a few drops of flavor extract.
Traditional or Warn Method
The old fashioned (and effective) way to make tincture from trim, leaf or “shake” is to
grind the plant material to expose surface area. A find grind is not needed and will just
make the tincture cloudy. A rough chop will do. Most folks can’t afford to use kief or bud
for tincture but may have leaf handy. If so, this is the way to go. Use ethanol as described
above in the same proportions. The key difference is that in this preparation the materials
are kept warm (not hot). Light must be avoided.
Place the ethanol and chopped cannabis in a large glass Mason jar. Shake at least once
a day. Place the jar in a brown paper bag or otherwise shield the jar from light. Leave in
a warm spot (near a window) for 30-60 days. The mixture will turn a very dark green.
Strain as perviously described through cheesecloth. Save the “shake ball” for topical
applications.
While this method produces a nasty tasting tincture, it is powerful. It may upset some
fragile stomachs. It is recommended that Warm Tincture be used orally in cranberry juice
or coffee with sugar. Keep the filtered tincture in light blocking glass jars or bottles
in a cool dry place (refrigerator or freezer is fine). The shake ball should also be kept
in the freezer. For topical applications, just take out the cold shake ball and apply a few
drops of fresh tincture to the cloth then hold it on the affected area for a few minutes
with gentle rubbing.
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