Cannabis consumption
Contents
Smoking
Cannabis can be smoked with implements such as smoking pipes[2], including one-hitters, bongs and chillums, or by rolling a cigarette-like joint or cigar-like blunt.
Local methods have differed by the preparation of the cannabis plant before use, the parts of the cannabis plant which are used, and the treatment of the smoke before inhalation. In some parts of Africa today, a pile of cannabis is simply thrown onto a fire and the smoke inhaled.[3] Over the centuries families using dried hemp stalks in the cookstove have routinely inhaled smoke laden with cannabinoids, leading to evolutionary co-adaptations both in the cannabis and human species (endocannabinoids).
Vaporization
28. Insert cannabis, other herbs or essential oils here
36. Flame filter made of a stack of metal screens (5+) or a heat resistant porous material
A vaporizer heats herbal cannabis to 365–410 °F (185–210 °C), which causes the active ingredients to evaporate into a gas without burning the plant material (the boiling point of THC is 392 °F (200°C) at 0.02 mm Hg pressure.[4] A lower proportion of carbon monoxide and other toxic chemicals is released than by smoking, although this may vary depending on the design of the vaporizer and the temperature at which it is set. A MAPS-NORML study using a Volcano vaporizer reported 95% THC and no toxins delivered in the vapor.[5] However, an older study using less sophisticated vaporizers found some toxins.[6]. Vaporizer users have reported noticeably different effects than with smoking, including a more euphoric hallucinogen-type high, because the vapor contains more pure THC.[citation needed]
Oral consumption
As an alternative to smoking, cannabis may be consumed orally. However, the cannabis or its extract must be sufficiently heated or dehydrated to cause decarboxylation of its most abundant cannabinoid, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, into psychoactive THC.[7]
Food
Although hashish is sometimes eaten raw or mixed with water, THC and other cannabinoids are more efficiently absorbed into the bloodstream when combined with butter and other lipids or, less so, dissolved in ethanol.[citation needed] The time to onset of effects depends strongly on stomach content, but is usually about an hour, and may continue for a considerable length of time, whereas the effects of smoking herbal cannabis are almost immediate, lasting a shorter time.[citation needed]
Smoking cannabis results in a significant loss of THC and other cannabinoids in exhaled smoke, by decomposition on burning, and, with a joint or large-bowl utensil, in smoke that is not inhaled. In contrast, all of the active constituents enter the body when cannabis is ingested. It has been shown that the primary active component of cannabis, Δ9-THC, is converted to the more psychoactive 11-hydroxy-THC by the liver.[8] Titration to the desired effect by ingestion is more difficult than through inhalation, due to the long onset time for the effects.
Drink
Cannabis material can be leached in high-proof spirits (often grain alcohol) to create a “Green Dragon”. This process is often employed to make use of low-potency stems and leaves.[citation needed]
Cannabis can also be consumed as a cannabis tea. Although THC is lipophilic and only slightly water soluble (with a solubility of 2800 mg per liter),[9] enough THC can be dissolved to make a mildly psychoactive tea. However, water-based infusions are generally considered to be an inefficient use of the herb.[10]
Fungi
To kill potentially dangerous Aspergillus and other microorganisms, researchers "Levitz and Diamond (1991) suggested baking marijuana in home ovens at 150 °C [302 °F], for five minutes before smoking. Oven treatment killed conidia of A. fumigatus, A. flavus, and did not degrade the active component of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)." However neither this nor some other suggested sterilization methods degrade microbial antigens or decompose the microbial toxins.[11]
See also
References
Cite error: Invalid <references> tag;
parameter "group" is allowed only.
<references />, or <references group="..." />- ↑ http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-1/4%22-diam.-Screen-for-a-Single-Toke-Utensil
- ↑ http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Smoke-Pipes-From-Everyday-Objects
- ↑ "Erowid Cannabis Vault : Spiritual Use #2". www.erowid.org. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
- ↑ 1989. The Merck Index, 11th ed., Merck & Co., Rahway, New Jersey
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Suggestions' not found.
- ↑ Gieringer, Dale. "Marijuana Water Pipe and Vaporizer Study". Retrieved 2006-04-21.
- ↑ "Does marijuana have to be heated to become psychoactive?"
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Suggestions' not found.
- ↑ "ChemIDplus Lite". chem.sis.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
- ↑ Cannabis and the brain. Invited review Brain. 126(6):1252-1270, June 2003. Iversen, Leslie
- ↑ "Microbiological contaminants of marijuana". www.hempfood.com. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
