Topic: Cannabis Basics

Jun 22, 2021 08:51AM flashlight wrote:

Hi GoKale4320, We don't have walk in dispensaries where I am and I haven't had this conversation with my MO for a script. I ordered from Charlotte's Web their 15mg hemp extract CBD capsules. The company was listed as a good stock to buy and my husband looked in to it. I found that if I took it at night, within an hour from taking tamoxifen, I was wired all night. Yesterday, I took it at dinner time and was completely relaxed an hour or so later. Maybe it has to do with the hormonal therapy or me! I am on my 3rd jar of CBD Deep Relief Cream (500mg) from A88CBD. My daughter is using it for her wrist tendonitis. I tried others and they didn't work for me. exbrnxgrl, has been very helpful in her posts!

Jun 22, 2021 03:45PM Nola70115 wrote:

My state only allows cannabis-based products that are produced from plants grown by the state university's agriculture program. It's pretty ridiculously restrictive. Hemp-based CBD, on the other hand, can be sold by anybody who has registered with the state, so that's available just about everywhere. I live in the largest city in the state, and we have one dispensary that handles the state grown product. My IM doctor wasn't very familiar with the products that are available, so he just got me a script for THC oil. It's all THC, no CBD. I have some OTC hemp-based CBD oil, but it has no info on it on dosage so I'm just experimenting.

The THC alone is good for helping me sleep. If I take enough to I feel anything, it's too much. It does not generate a pleasant high at all. I actually wonder if my state deliberately grew plants that produce undesirable psychoactive effects, because they're so opposed to the possibility that someone might get high. They'd really rather people suffer than let anybody get high.

Jun 22, 2021 04:57PM Nola70115 wrote:

Yes, I definitely cut back from the dosage level that made me feel uncomfortable. I'd started at .25 mg for a few days, then went to .5 mg and then to .75 mg, all not feeling anything. Then I went to 1 mg and it was way too much. I've gone back to .5 in the evening and I don't feel much but it helps me sleep. I think my general anxiety level is better too. Next time I see the doctor I'm going to ask him to adjust the script to give me an open order, so I can talk with the guy at the dispensary and he can suggest a CBD/THC blend.

Jun 23, 2021 02:33AM runor wrote:

In high school smoking pot, which I did a handful of times, hurled me into such a state of gasping terror and anxiety I could never understand how anyone could consider feeling that way 'recreational'?

Fast forward 40 years and I'm growing the stuff in my basement and garden. Growing it. Using it is a whole other story. Started out as an attempt to help Hub sleep. He can fall asleep anywhere, like with his face in a plate of spaghetti. But he can't stay asleep. A few hours later he is awake and that's all the sleep he gets. I grew 4 huge Death Bubba plants. For a light sleep aid this is the wrong weed! But it's what I had and I had a lot of it so I began experimenting. He smoked some. WHOA! Not good! He used to be quite a stoner in our younger years but now he just slumps on the sofa, leaning off to one side making a steady groaning noise and clutching his chest. I was not stupid enough to even try smoking any of that stuff.

I decided to try making some tincture but went for only partially decarbing the weed in order to activate only a small portion of the THC potential. I was trying to make this potent weed less potent. Decarbed at a slightly lower temp and shorter time than recommended. We wanted gentle relaxation, not body crushing couch-lock. Then soaked this partly decarbed weed in the highest proof vodka I could find for a week or more. Strained.  About a half teaspoon held under tongue for 30 seconds or so and then spit out (never swallowed as that is a different effect) produced an eye watering burning sensation under the tongue that made you stomp your foot and swear while not swallowing and not spitting out yet. This also gave Hub pretty serious couch-lock. But me? It gave me a weird sensation like my eyeballs were on delay. As in, if I turned my head to look at something it took my eyeballs a second or two to follow my head. Very weird. But it did not have near the effect on me as on Hub. I was happy about that. That overwhelming paranoia from my teens is not forgotten. But it tasted like shit and really was very painful under the tongue, so I dumped it all down the sink. I made about 4 batches 4 different ways and never got the desired effect. Wasted weed, wasted vodka.

Now we're back to smoking it for sleep and easing  muscle pains.  But my fear of fear is still an obstacle. So I blend my marijuana. Example: I take a high THC strain like Death Bubba or Gorilla Glue, grind just a pinch of that with a bigger pinch of HEMP and then a pinch of Simply Pure CBD or Lemon Pie CBD and make a custom blend for smoking. We DO NOT roll this into a joint  but have a one-hitter, just big enough for maybe two tokes and that's it, she's all burned up. No chance of overdoing it. The hemp and CBD strains take the edge off the THC. The two taken together (CBD & THC) have what is called the 'entourage' effect. That they work better in concert than on their own. I think. I really like the leveling out effect that hemp has when blended with high THC cannabis. I blend hemp with the CBD too  just to make a mellower experience. If THC is a strong cup of coffee, CBD would be the sugar and hemp would be the smooth, thick cream. I would encourage people to get some hemp and grind tiny blends at different amounts of THC, CBD and hemp and see how it works for you.

I am also collecting raspberry leaf, rose petals, mullein leaf and lavender to blend with my THC , CBD and hemp. A dried rose petal has a very unique aroma rolled with other ingredients in a joint. I am interested in Damiana too but know nothing about it. Does not grow here would have to purchase it. 

As for Hub's sleep, he has not found that he sleeps any longer after taking a small hit before bed. HOWEVER...he sleeps much more soundly, like a dead man, unmoving. No tossing and turning. Just lays down and does not move until he gets up. For the first time in YEARS he actually said, "wow, I feel pretty good today!" And that is something!!

I am happy I found this thread because I have a question that I thought might be kind of stupid, and probably is. But a few times now we have smoked a one hitter or if there's a friend over, a small joint and Hub and friend get more stoned than expected, but me? Nothing. I sit there looking at them and wondering why I'm feeling normal. Not even eye-ball delay. We all smoked the same weed, all took the same amount of draws, they are stoned and I am...not. I have wondered if tamoxifen, which acts as a block on certain receptors, doesn't also act to block cannabis from being taken up by certain receptors? I know this is a long shot and wildly unlikely. But as the only one in the room smoking dope but not stoned and the only one taking tamoxifen, this thought has crossed my mind. 

Jun 23, 2021 02:42PM - edited Jun 23, 2021 02:44PM by runor

Exbrnx, the growing was a fun experiment and gave me something to do over the winter, but from a $$$ point of view it was not a good deal. Between the grow tent, light, hydro to run the light, I probably spent over $1000 to grow $50 worth of weed. I also started my tomatoes and some sui choy. Beware the sui choy - that stuff goes bonkers!  But the UP side was that I know exactly how my weed was grown and what went into it. Not one drop of artificial fertilizer or nutrients was used. I planted in a mix of basic potting soil, a few handfuls of horse shit and a sprinkle of alfalfa pellets, planted in fabric bags I sewed myself. Then I set up a big tub of goldfish and the goldfish poo water was used as the watering and nutrient feed. Aquaponics by hand. Hydroponics requires artificial nutrients but aquaponics (goldfish or other fish) is a truly organic route. There was no need to 'flush' my plants before harvest to rid them of artificial nutrient load.  But my BIGGEST plants were grown outdoors last summer. Mind you, size is not my goal since I smoke so little dope. I used a lot of the Death Bubba  (grown outside last summer) experimenting and the rest mostly gave away as it is simply NOT the stuff we are after. My indoor tent grow was CBD and starting hemp (the hemp and another CBD are now outside). My tent grow made a much smaller plant, puny by most grower's standards. But that's okay with me. I'm such a lightweight smoker that a tiny amount will keep me going for a year. I could have increased my yield by going for more advanced lighting, but the cost was too much and I could not justify spending that much money when I'm really not that interested in being stoned. But I learned a lot - it's a HUGE field of study  and science and in the area I live (and the shady people I know!) I have plants of almost any kind available to me to pop in my garden or grow tent. Might use the tent to grow lettuce this coming winter. Most expensive lettuce I'll ever eat!

Jul 23, 2021 09:06AM exbrnxgrl wrote:

positive,

Please let your mo know that you are planning to use CBD. I do not know if it interferes with Ibrance but your mo should be able to answer that . Take care

Aug 4, 2021 11:57AM exbrnxgrl wrote:

runor,

You are definitely a cannabis adventurer! I have never experimented with adding any other substances to my weed beyond the various types of hash I’ve been sprinkling in.

Aug 4, 2021 03:02PM runor wrote:

Moth, have you tried vaping?

As a lifelong non-smoker, this whole smoking business is not something I am good at or comfortable with. I've had a few lungfuls of searing, hot smoke and coughed and burned and it was seriously not nice and it made me think, why the hell does anyone do this? (I still think that most of the time to be honest). But my experiments with making tinctures from partly decarbed weed was a bust . Edibles scare me. I think they are just too unpredictable and too easy to over-do it. Effects are slow to come and often long lasting, which is NOT what I am after. So for me, as much as smoking is not my forte, it has been the best way (so far) to acheive the goals I am seeking. But I still detest hot smoke.

So I monkey around trying to invent home built vape objects. Because I am too cheap to spend the $$$ on a real vape pen considering I might do this once every month or every 6 weeks. But my version of vaping has, so far, avoided the massive lungful of hot smoke that I hate so much. It's slow. The effects are very low key - again, that has always been my goal - but I only use low THC bud. I will have to get someone who doesn't mind being stoned out of their gourd to try my vape method with high THC stuff. But I DO mind and will NOT use that pot.

So Moth, if you want to try inhaling pot without direct hot smoke in your lungs, this is my method and what you will need.

-    a long, 10 inches is good,  heat proof (won't shatter when heated) test tube. I use something like a test tube but technically it's not, so I expect to be covered in very hot shattered glass one day.
- a tea light or votive candle
- weed of your choice
-  a hot mat to set your ripping hot test tube on so you don't melt your table or burn a placemat.

Drop a wee pinch of weed in the tube. Cover the open top of the tube with something, a chunk of tin foil crunched on will work. Holding the bottom of your tube(where the dope has fallen to)  about 1/2 inch from the lit flame of your candle, roast your dope. You're not going for the hard burn here. No, this is more like lightly toasting a marshmallow over a campfire than incinerating a hotdog. Turn, rotate, gently bounce the dope around. Take your time. As it heats you will see vapour slowly rising. It's not like smoke so don't expect smoke. If your dope starts to really smoke, you have overcooked it! It will taste like shit. You want that green weed to darken and brown somewhat, but NOT blacken. Keep toasting until your tube shows some mist and perhaps condensation on the inside. If you look into the tube you will see there is light mist swirling.  

To inhale, do NOT clamp your mouth over this lilke a scuba diver on his oxygen. No. Instead gently sip air at the open edge, like a flute player. You can also wait a little bit for the vapour to cool. Inhaling sip-like also allows in cooler surrounding air to prevent and avoid that hot, full on marijuana blast that can send you into cough spasms. This method supposedly allows for the most terpene impact and to get the true 'taste' of your weed. To me it all tastes like shit. 

I have done this several times. I tried this with the raspberry leaves and they would not release vapour at all which tells me they are either still too green or have a much higher combustion temperature. So if I want to use my raspberry leaves they will have to be rolled and smoked in a traditional paper joint. (for which they acted as an amazing, slow burn filler!)

So for the cost of a test tube you can try vaping and see if it's more tolerable to your lungs. The intensity of the 'hit' you take is up to you and how long you let it cool before inhaling is also up to you. Be aware that the test tube gets ripping hot and burning yourself is WAAAAY too easy to do, so be careful.

Aug 4, 2021 04:30PM moth wrote:

runor, I'm not allowed to vape either because I already have lung damage. I have to baby my lungs now. It's all putting our camping trip to the Okanagan in jeopardy because the smoke might re-trigger pneumonitis which would mean steroids which would mean coming off my systemic immunotherapy treatment again ...and treatment interruptions make me so super nervous.

I thought the tinctures were supposed to be a very effective method with good absorption?

Aug 4, 2021 08:15PM runor wrote:

Moth, I am in the Okanagan and I suggest you check air quality before heading up here. It has been brutal. Like...so bad!

I believe that tinctures are good and I would prefer them to smoking. But the tinctures I made myself were NOT good. So it was a failure of my method, not that tinctures are bad.

Exbrnx - for me half the fun is in inventing. I think in another life I might have been a mad scientist. That would explain that unfortunate tofu incident.

Aug 6, 2021 03:42PM Elderberry wrote:

runor: I made excellent canna-butter that I used in cookies and fudge. Checking out how big a bite I should take was the challenge. You can get higher THC in capsules as well as tinctures, usually they have CBD in them as well. Back in the Old Days (1969) I used to dry pan fry shake just to the smoking point then stir it into a chocolate brownie mix. Anyone here old enough to remember doing that? I find pot grown outdoors be it sativa or indica is a much better smoke. Why I don't know. Solei(Sense/Toucher) reminds me of the days of yore - social, munchy-inducing

Timmy OG - available at some dispensaries is basically a powdery hash. It is a very pleasant buzz. No couch lock. It is very social as well. Oh yeah - and great for watching Sci-Fi and other crazy TV. It makes things EPIC. I prefer Indicas overall because Sativa is energizing and I already buzz around like mad when I am straight. Wedding is good for sleep for me. A few puffs and I yawn. I don't use it every night but on the evenings when it isn't coming easily I'll have a toke.

As for edibles. 10 mg is too much for me. I have become a light weight since becoming an Old Fart. Sometimes 5 mg is just a titch more than I want at the time but 2.5 isn't quite enough. If I cut a 2.5 in half and add it to a whole 2.5 I'll have 3.75. Maybe that will be the sweet spot. Then again - it depends. Fire Side makes a salted dark chocolate caramel that looks like it came out of a Purdy's box. It is 5 mg a unit and besides being ridiculously yummy was a great buzz. Maybe it was my head space at the time. I will try more once they restock it. It sells out. A lot.

My husband likes the THC sodas. - flavours like mango/raspberry, watermelon.....There is a THC beer too but he won't try because he thinks beer should be - well - beer.

By the by - Shoppers Drug Mart has a cannabis dispensary. It is online and they ship all over the place - discretely, they say. You have to register with a medical note but since it is legal and unless there is a reason where it is contra-indicated I don't think many doctors would say no, especially to cancer patients. No edibles though.

Happy experimenting. As the saying used to go "a friend with weed is a friend indeed"

Happy Trails!!

Aug 14, 2021 09:20PM DutchieGirl wrote:

I’ve been using cannabis for a few years now - I had really bad night sweats due to menopause and using a 1:1 blend totally helped. I found that it made me feel “weird” - it made me feel like I was having bad dreams while I was awake. More recently I found an Indica oil by Five Founders that I love. It’s mostly THC so I balance it with CBD. I’m a heavyweight when it comes to cannabis (and pain killers!) so I dose at around 28 mg. I’ve been sleeping really well! It does take a while to kick in but I’m not into smoking or vaping so this is the best option for me

Sep 8, 2021 10:30AM GoKale4320 wrote:

I finally ordered some full spectrum CBD oil- medium strength. I have used it 3 nights in a row, and in order to see how it works, I stopped my other pain meds. I’m happy to report that the pain is under control during the day by taking cbd at night. The only thing I need to change is to take it much earlier in the evening because I toss and turn for several hours in the middle of the night and then sleep well the last few hours. I tried the first night without taking melatonin but didn’t sleep well. I read online that cbd and melatonin are fine together.

Sep 8, 2021 02:13PM GoKale4320 wrote:

https://www.thecbdistillery.com/product/1000mg-cbd-tincture-fullspectrum/

This is what I bought. It’s helping my bone pain. I don’t have joint pain at this point so I can’t say if it will work. I have only taken it at night so I might try it on a weekend day to see if I get drowsy.

Sep 28, 2021 01:43AM exbrnxgrl wrote:

sfcakes,

There is a tincture by Yummi Karma called Lights Out. It is high THC combined with some herbal extracts. It’s available in Santa Clara County so you might be able to find it in the city. I find it great for sleep but heed the low and slow advice for sure.

I love delivery! I almost never go to the dispensary any more. It’s as easy as ordering a pizza 🍕.