Kitchen Apothecary is a series published in Weed World Magazine UK. The series includes patient profiles and recipes for remedies.
Making Cannabis Oil at Home
Severe Wound Care
Recently, I had a horse accident. While dismounting, my boot was stuck and by the time I freed it the horse moved, I fell, and she tapped on my leg. She didn’t put her full force, thank goodness, or my leg would have been crushed and lost.
The end result is a clean break on my tibia just above the ankle on my left leg. But, the wound from the hoof was the larger concern. They can’t cast the break before the wound is healed.
With my knowledge of cannabis oil and its healing benefits as a super food, I shunned pain killers, antibiotics, and tetanus at the emergency room, showing staff my cannabis oil capsules, letting them know I was in no pain whatsoever.
Prior to my friends taking me to the ER, they brought me by my house, where one of them retrieved my strong cannabis capsules, reserved for night use, sleep and prevention. I’ve taken the caps for seven years now, ever since putting breast cancer into remission (see Take Five Leaves & Pray, https://www.weedworldmagazine.org/2018/03/08/take-five-leaves-and-pray-by-sharon-letts/ )
Before taking the capsules, I had typical broken leg symptoms, swelling, nausea, and nearly fainting. After taking two capsules, in the 20 minutes or so it took to get to the ER, by the time I arrived the swelling had subsided, as did the extreme pain. The technician said it didn’t look like it was broken, due to lack of swelling or bruising. They cleaned the wound, did an X-Ray, and were stunned when they saw the break.
Teaching Moment
This prompted around six staff to gather around while I gave a cannabis 101, showing them my bottle of oil capsules, letting them know the oil replaces pain killers and antibiotics – as antibiotics kill everything, even the good cells. Cannabis, I shared, heals and regenerates tissue and bone, while quelling extreme pain.
Footnote: Since my ER experience in California, Governor Gavin Newsom, vetoed a Bill allowing cannabis patients to use cannabis products in hospitals. This is a harsh blow to patients facing being prescribed addictive and dangerous pain killers in the face of a opioid epidemic in the U.S., but here her are – and there went any further teaching moments to the medical professionals at hospitals. I will not take the pills, I will become a criminal, hiding my use.
Cannabis as Tissue & Bone Regenerator
I’ve learned what cannabis oil can do from seven years of interviewing patients, extensive research on the plant, and writing subsequent patient profiles for magazines around the world.
One stellar example of the regenerating powers of cannabis is evident in Rylie Maedler’s story; a seven year-old girl, who ten years ago, had two-thirds of her facial structure removed due to bone tumors.
Her mother, Janie, had found an obscure survey done by ER physicians, noting that every time someone with THC in their system presented with a broken bone, they found that the cannabis user’s bones and tissue healed faster than those who did not partake. It was a longshot, but Rylie’s mom was desperate to help her daughter.
Janie broke hospital rules and gave Rylie cannabis oil in the hospital in a don’t ask, don’t tell scenario. Within months her facial structure completely regenerated, with no reconstructive surgery needed. Ry
At 17, Rylie is the youngest CEO in the cannabis industry, with Rylie’s Sunshine, a full-spectrum cannabis oil company. She now travels the world with her mom, sharing her story at cannabis conferences.
Because it Works
As I write this, it’s been eight weeks since the accident. I initially took a cannabis oil capsule every three to four hours for pain, including in the middle of the night, if I woke. I also used cannabis oil suppositories initiall, getting the beneficial compounds directly into the blood stream, with no head high. This allows a larger dose of activated THC into the system for greater healing. I also used a strong cannabis oil salve topically, leaving the wound to air out, without a wrap.
As a super food, cannabis covers a lot of territory for healing, righting all our systems, with many critical, believing it’s all too good to be true. It’s not rocket science and it’s not a miracle, we’ve been lied to about the healing powers of super foods for a very long time.
Cannabis had the additional strike against it of being added to America’s failed War on Drugs, demonizing the plant globally for decades. The stigma doesn’t allow the masses to be educated, with cannabis one of the most proactive remedies on the planet – with patients illegally healed in the face of harsh judgements and persecution.
Following is the cannabis oil recipe I make at home using a rice cooker and a fine grain alcohol. Everclear is typically the solvent of choice in the U.S., but a good high alcohol content moonshine will do. You can’t use a drinking alcohol, as it has too much water and much of the beneficial compounds will be wasted in the water.
Author’s note: Canadian engineer, Rick Simpson, initially found this recipe online while researching for his own ailments. The recipe is referred to as Rick Simpson Oil, or RSO, but it’s an honorary title. In cooking terms, it’s merely an alcohol reduction.
Cannabis Oil
4 cups ground plant material (small buds, stem and leaf – whole plant)
1 liter grain alcohol (high proof, 90 percentile)
Cover the ground plant material with the solvent, and let soak for up to five minutes*
Strain in a fine mesh or sheet and pout into a rice cooker, set it to warm, leave the lid open
It should take between three to four hours to cook down
They may be plant matter in brown chunks, do not use this. Tilt the rice cooker insert to pool the oil, and carefully uptake from the clear liquid.
You will have a thick, brown resin remaining. These are the essential oils of the plant, where the medicine is.
Just prior to the final reduction, add two tablespoons of coconut oil to the mix. This will keep it from burning (ruining the medicine). Adding coconut is also a good delivery into the blood stream.
I take a whiff of the mixture, as you can smell the alcohol if it hasn’t cooked off. With the coconut in there, it can sit a bit to make sure the alcohol has completely evaporated.
Using a measured pipette, using a capsule holder, fill caps with 1 milliliter of the mixture. If there is any alcohol (or water from weak solvent) in the mix, the capsule will melt. Test by filling one up and checking.
Keep in the refrigerator to solidify and keep fresh. This essential oil is precious, use it in a timely manner for freshness and efficacy.
Option
This mixture can also be made into suppositories. The capsules will test in the 80 percentile or stronger for tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive compound. Using suppositories causes no head high, bypassing the liver, going directly to the bloodstream for healing.
Adding one tablespoon of coconut butter will make a stronger suppository, as the coconut oil on its own melts quickly.
Hack
Sharon uses a silicone cake pan for the final reduction in the rice cooker, as the oil is sticky and there's less oil wasted and remaining with the non-stick pan.
At one cup or less, transfer the liquid to a glass measuring cup with a pour spout. Wipe down the rice cooker insert, insert the silicone pan, and carefully pour the liquid back into the pan and cooker. Continue reducing until alcohol is gone.
For more information on Kitchen Apothecary, follow Sharon’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/kitchenapothecary/
For more information on Sharon and her recipes, visit www.sharonletts.com/apothecary
Cannabis Infused Honey & Ganja Chai Tea
Infusing honey is a favorite delivery for many. Whether you are adding it to your tea, dosing with a teaspoon, or using it to micro-dose a meal, honey is one of the most versatile methods of getting plant-based compounds into your system, for adults and children alike.
The honey I make at home is typically infused with half chamomile and half cannabis. Also referred to as a “buzz-kill,” the chamomile takes the edge off the THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the compound within the cannabis plant that causes a psychoactive response – or gets you high.
Chamomile also nearly mimics the healing properties of CBD (cannabinol), one of the more popular compounds of the cannabis plant.
Also extremely calming, infusing chamomile on its own in honey, without cannabis, is a calming and simple dose for children; specifically for children challenged by Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyper Disorders (ADHD); or anyone on the Autistic Spectrum.
Diagnosed with Thyroid Disease, now in Menopause; also suffering with ADD and anxiety, calming chamomile has made a world of difference to me on a daily basis.
Chamomile is full of phytochemicals, the biologically active compounds found in plants, beneficial to human health; containing 28 different terpenoids and 36 flavonoids - the scent and taste where remedy is found.
Like cannabis, chamomile is a super food, or what I like to call a super plant. Meaning, its beneficial compounds cover a wide range of symptomatic relief for a wide range of ailments, including help for infection, inflammation, pain, bronchial and digestive issues, sleep, and anxiety.
Chamomile is also an antioxidant, with a 93 percent success rate of killing cancer cells in a laboratory, per study (studies and more information on the beneficial properties of chamomile noted on my website, www.sharonletts.com, under Apothecary).
Taking one teaspoon of infused honey, whether for sleep or to calm, is a preventative dose on many levels. Adding it to a cannabis infusion, is another way of engaging the entourage effect of prevention and healing throughout the body with a variety of benefits.
Sharon’s Infused Honey
This is a basic honey infusion recipe using cannabis, chamomile, or a combination of half and half, as I do.
You can use a common crockpot, cook it on a stovetop in a pan with a lid; or a rice cooker, which is the preferred method, as the warm setting will not burn the fragile plant compounds or terpenes – where the remedy is.
When using a crockpot or pan on the stovetop, make sure setting is low. Simmer, do not let boil, and stir often.
If you have a machine made specifically for infusing follow the machine directions for amounts, temperatures and time for tincture. I use a Magical Butter Machine™ on the tincture setting, four hours, with a low temperature setting.
I use whole plant including stems, leaf, small buds/flower, getting the whole plant compounds. If you only have trim, crystal leaf is best, as fan leaf has less beneficial compounds.
Recipe can be cut down, if needed be, compensating for the amount of plant material on hand; i.e. if you only have a half a cup of plant material, you would use 2 cups of honey. If you want a weaker dose, use less plant material with a larger amount of honey.
The beauty of Kitchen Apothecary is it’s an organic process. Dosing with beneficial plants is a proactive protocol, depending on the severity of the ailment, and help needed.
1 C. ground plant material
(Chamomile flower does not need to be ground, cannabis flowers need to be ground down to the center of the flower/bud.)
4 Cups (32 ounces) Honey
Simmer for four (4) hours; strain, retaining plant material for Chai Tea.
Sharon’s Ganja Chai Tea
The plant material you soaked in honey still holds a good amount of beneficial compounds. Following is a spiced chai tea recipe that will still be psychoactive, but not as strong as the first run with the honey.
In Hebrew the definition of chai is life. In India it’s a drink made from black tea, spices and honey – and is one of my favorite drinks. Doubling up on meanings, you could say the medicated chai made from cannabis or other beneficial herbs is a remedy for life.
Sharon’s Ganja Chai Tea
Strained plant material from Sharon’s Ganja Honey recipe
6 Cups of water
1 Heaping Tablespoon of each:
Whole Cardamom Pods/seeds
Whole Cloves
Freshly Chopped Ginger
Two Cinnamon Sticks
Star Anise
Four tea bags… choose black, green, or herbal tea. If you’ll be drinking this tea at night for sleep, use a bedtime tea blend with no caffeine. Traditional chai is made with a strong, black tea with caffeine for daytime use.
Add plant material to water in a large kettle (with lid) with spices;
Simmer until tea darkens in color; about one hour.
When cooled down, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Store in glass Mason jars in the fridge. Tea keeps for several days.
Serving options: Traditionally milk or cream is added before drinking.
Label With Love
Label each jar with what’s inside. This is important for many reasons. Someone choosing honey for their tea from your cupboard shouldn’t be surprised by the outcome, whether they are copasetic to cannabis or not.
Infused Cooking Oils
Since I was 24 years old I’ve been a gardener, starting my first business as a flower gardener. No, not that kind of flower. I designed, planted and maintained perennial borders or English flower beds for well-to-do clientele in wealthy neighborhoods, where I grew up in Southern California.
My daughter was raised in the garden. Our vegetable garden became our church on Sunday mornings. We ate from the garden, but I had no idea of the importance it had on our health. My mantra has become, “When they told us to eat our fruits and vegetables they should have scared the shit out of us. They should have told us it was a matter of life and death – because it is.”
As the Industrial Revolution took over in the late 1930s, toxins were added to our environment and our food supplies, via synthetic pesticides, pollution from factories and the cars we drive.
Apothecary, the practice of making remedies from plants, was pushed aside as synthetic patented formulations became the norm; many created from petroleum byproducts.
I’m second generation DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) from my grandmother’s farm – the farm my mom grew up on. She us of dancing beneath the rain of crop planes in the sky overhead, as they sprayed – telling the people at the time it was good for them.
DDT is a neuro-damaging pesticide that was put on our food crops for decades, finally banned after biologist, Rachel Carson’s tell-all book, Silent Spring, was published, warning of its dangers.
Carson’s book was published in 1969, spawning the Clean Air and Water Acts of 1973 and 1974, respectively, in the United States. But the damage was done.
We know now that DDT stays in our bloodlines up to five generations, so far. The commonly held belief is that DDT caused many of the neurological ailments we suffer from today, including disorders on the Autistic Spectrum.
Her descriptor of how a bug dies is chillingly similar to how a Parkinson’s or dementia patient suffers and passes; damaging the central nervous system, neurons, and cardio, leading to paralysis and eventual suffocation, then death.
The good news is, plants were put on this earth for us. The beneficial plants that heal have scents because we have a nose. The healing compounds are found in the essential oils of the plant, or terpenes. But, they don’t just heal, they prevent illness.
Take away empty foods and add more herbs fruits and vegetables, and your immune system will be strengthened. Studies show increasing produce intake for just two weeks increases dopamine, treating depression.
But, how do we get back into the garden after being led astray?
In this new series I’ll share my own remedies I make at home, via what I call Kitchen Apothecary. Our grandmothers and their grandmothers before them passed down remedies from the garden. Apothecaries existed prior to modern medicine, but we can be our own apothecary.
To get us started, I’m sharing the first of many recipes I make and use at home daily, infused cooking oils – both THC activated and using a cold process, with the non-psycho-activated compound, THCA, intact. My hashtag is #notjustcannabis, and I’ll be sharing more than just cannabis remedies. For cannabis was my gateway drug to other beneficial plants.
Cannabis Infused Cooking Oil (non-psychoactive)
You’ve probably heard of the term, micro-dosing. It was coined by The Herbal Chef in Los Angeles, Chris Sayegh, as he crossed over from being a mainstream chef into the world of cannabis infusions via gourmet food.
The theory is, adding small amounts, or micro-dosing your foods keeps the beneficial compounds of plants in your system for longer periods of time, without getting you intoxicated.
My favorite infusions are done in a cold process, without activating the THC, and no psychoactive properties. The resin of plants infuse nicely in oils in this cold process. I add other beneficial herbs and spices with cannabis, as it aids in masking the flavor; it also adds more beneficial compounds to the mix, enhancing the healthful benefits.
Olive Oil Herb Dipping Sauce (cold process)
(Fair warning: If heated, will activate THC for psychoactive effects.)
Fill a pint glass jar with one heaping tablespoon each of the following chopped herbs:
Cannabis Flower
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Thyme
Add one head of garlic, chopped
Add juice of one lemon, with pulp, if desired
Add one teaspoon each of Sea Salt & freshly ground Pepper; add chili flakes to spice it up (optional)
Seal tightly with lid & shake to blend
Let sit for an hour or so at room temperature before use. Store in refrigerator, will solidify, set out for an hour before use.
Serving ideas
Dipping sauce with bread
Pasta sauce, Pizza sauce
Marinate meats and vegetables
Be creative in the herbs and spices used. Use in a timely matter, as efficacy is best when eaten fresh. Enjoy!
Easy Tinctures & Tonics
Tinctures and tonics are basically the same thing. Tinctures are typically taken with a dropper, a tonic can be taken with a teaspoon. I like to call my infused drinking alcohol a tonic, but technically, a tincture is any plant steeped in alcohol.
The true definition of tonic is both a noun and an adjective. When used as a noun, it’s a feeling of well-being – you could say a friend is a tonic to your soul, or a cool drink of water on a hot day is a refreshing tonic that soothes. When used as an adjective, it describes the feeling of well-being given.
Making a tincture with drinking alcohol is the simplest and oldest form of infusion for remedy on the planet. Alcohol strips beneficial terpenes and cannabinoids easily and quickly. In a cold-steep, the tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is not activated – giving whole plant, or full spectrum benefits without the high.
The compound in cannabis with the potential to induce psycho-activity is not actually called THC, its formal name is THCA, and doesn’t become psychoactive THC until heated – and why we smoke. THC is also activated in a hot infusion, or by decarboxylation of the plant first on low heat.
To Decarb or Not to Decarb?
I’ve never really been into decarbing plant material before making remedies, as I’m not looking for a big high. My goal is to make remedy to be well, or to have a general overall feeling of well-being.
When I make remedies with heat the THC is naturally activated enough for my liking. If you must have activated cocktails, decarbing your plant material prior to steeping is warranted.
Cold-steeped non-psychoactive tinctures and tonics can also be activated by sitting the bottle in a sunny window sill for a couple of hours. But, beware, it will be a strong mix. When the THC is activated, one shot of liquor into a cocktail is a very strong dose.
Remember the dosing motto, “start low, go slow,” or you may have an out-of-body experience, for high THC and too much alcohol can induce what’s called, phasing, causing the partaker to black-out – with no fun had by anyone.
No More Hangovers!
Not really a big drinker, I began to infuse my drinking alcohol to combat the negative effects of the alcohol itself – mainly inflammation, causing headaches; upset tummy – hangovers. After I have a cocktail with one of my tonics, I actually feel good. It’s a tonic!
There are a few recipes on my website for tinctures and tonics made with plants infused in drinking alcohol. The Skies the limit on the combinations of plants you can use. Following is my all-time-favorite alcohol infusion:
Ganja Spiced Rum
1 liter brown rum
¼ cup ground cannabis flower
4-5 whole Star Anise, 4-5 whole cloves
1 t. cardamom seeds or 5-6 pods
1 stick cinnamon
1 t. ground black pepper
1 t. vanilla
Steep in glass or metal container for up to two weeks in a cool, dark cupboard.
Strain and decant.
Sharon’s Favorite Cocktail: Ganja Spiced Rum & Coke-a-Cola: 1 shot of rum per one 16 ounce glass of coke on ice.
#NotJustCannabis
While cannabis is a superfood, the spices in this recipe are equally beneficial. As follows:
Cinnamon: Lowers blood sugars, treats diabetes
Star Anise: Lowers risk of cancer (antioxidant), promotes healthy skin; anti-fungal, strengthens the immune system, aids in digestion and sleep.
Cardamom: Gastrointestinal prevention, controls cholesterol, cardiovascular aid, blood circulation, dental aid, urinary tract infections, such as cystitis, nephritis, and gonorrhea.
Black Pepper: Antioxidant, digestion aid, may slow aging, improves dental heath, aids in skin conditions.
Vanilla: Aids in treating acne, improves hair growth, speeds healing, anti-inflammatory, chronic disease prevention, cardio protection.
Cloves: Antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, aphrodisiac, antiviral, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties.
Superfoods, Superplants
The obvious thread of commonality with the above list of benefits from the spices listed, is the matching benefits each plant has to cannabis as a superfood.
To remind, a superfood is any plant that has myriad benefits for a wide range of symptom relief, while strengthening the immune system.
Anti-inflammatory properties are also a given with most beneficial plants, and is typically at the top of the list. Antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-infection is another common thread.
Antioxidant properties are also a given, and it’s always been curious to me how we can say a plant has antioxidant properties, but we can’t say it will kill cancer cells – when that’s exactly what it means!
The skies the limit as to combinations of herbs and spices you can add to drinking alcohol to create the perfect beneficial tonic. There are more combinations on my website.
As a footnote, if you can’t drink or tolerate alcohol, apple cider vinegar (ACV) infuses in the same way as alcohol. Please see the Kitchen Apothecary piece on ACV for more information.
Apple Cider Vinegar Infusions
Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is a good base for salad dressings and preserving and pickling foods, but it’s also an age-old remedy previously used by our grandmothers and their grandmother’s before us for hundreds of years for prevention and maintaining good health.
ACV aids in homeostasis, helping to build the immune system, creating a place where illness, infections and cancers can’t dwell. High in Acetic Acid, it has proven potent biological effects. As detailed in Healthline.com, ACV kills many types of harmful bacteria, lowers blood sugar levels – fighting diabetes – increases metabolism, aiding in weight loss, specifically belly fat. It also lowers cholesterol and improves heart health.
ACV also has large amounts of pectin, which is a soluble dietary fiber, said to aid in constipation, with the acidity of vinegar acting as a natural laxative. It’s also said to aid in preventing and breaking up kidney stones.
My mother grew up on a farm, and had farm-spun remedies from every day household things – like using white distilled vinegar to wash the windows and mirrors; or using beer in the garden as a pest deterrent. It was common in a sustainable farm environment to use simple, common items in many beneficial ways.
The recommended dose of ACV is one to two tablespoons for a daily dose of prevention, mixed in a half a glass of water or juice each evening either before meals or bedtime to benefit blood sugar levels the most. As a morning daily dose, take ACV prior to a meal to aid in the digestive process.
Too much ACV at one time may cause nausea, but this may be a symptom of pulling toxins, a side-effect of cleansing diets. Too much ACV overall may delay the digestive process, lower potassium levels and cause bone loss, and erosion of tooth enamel – so, keep to the recommended one to two tablespoons a day.
For an added punch, I infuse beneficial herbs such as chamomile and cannabis into my ACV. After dental surgery (see blog on my website), I used chamomile-infused ACV as a mouth wash. Those who don’t want the high of an infused tincture, can infuse ground cannabis flower into ACV in a cold-steep, with no psychoactive properties.
Benefits of Cannabis & ACV
Cannabis is a super food, with hundreds of beneficial compounds we haven’t yet begun to explore. Inflammation, infection, antioxidant, anti-bacterial, the list of help from the cannabis plant is long.
When steeped in a cold process, the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) does not activate, for only heat activates the compound that causes the high, giving whole plant benefits in a tincture without the psychoactive effects.
The compound prior to activation is THCA, and has a list of benefits of its own, such as anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective properties for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, anti-emetic properties for treatment of nausea and appetite loss, and anti-proliferative properties found in studies of prostate cancer.
In other words, you don’t have to feel a high to get the benefits of the plant’s compounds into your endocannabinoid system for healing and prevention. The beneficial compounds are there, whether you feel them or not.
Benefits of Chamomile in ACV
Chamomile has been reduced to a little cup of calming tea over the decades of plant propaganda, but the cute, little while flower is actually has many of the same properties as cannabis – without the high. The unique application of chamomile is its ability to calm.
Chamomile is full of phytochemicals, the biologically active compounds found in plants, beneficial to human health. It also contains 28 different terpenoids and 36 flavonoids – the scent and taste where medicine is found.
Like cannabis, chamomile is a super food, meaning its beneficial properties cover a wide range of help for many ailments, including help with digestive issues, inflammation and pain, anticonvulsant, bronchial issues, sleep and anxiety. It’s also an antioxidant, with a 93 percent success rate in killing cancer cells in a laboratory study.
But, the most important benefit of chamomile for this writer has been its ability to treat anxiety and depression, as it’s said to boost chemicals in the brain that affect mood – such as serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline.
Chamomile concentrate replaced valium for me, helping with deadline stress, quelling anxiety and aiding in my Attention Deficient Disorder (ADD); while lifting endorphins and preventing the dark days of hormonal depression via Thyroid disease and menopause.
I seriously can’t say enough about chamomile. Add it to ACV and it’s a nectar from the Gods for symptoms on the Autistic Spectrum, and stressors of everyday life as humans.
ACV Infusion
¼ cup ground cannabis (or chamomile flower)
1 liter Apple Cider Vinegar
Let sit in a cool cupboard for one to two weeks, strain and decant.
Can be used in cooking via sauces and salad dressings, used for pickling, or taken via one to two tablespoons before meals, before bedtime, or as needed for stomach upset.
For more information on the benefits of chamomile, visit https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995283/
For more recipes and information on chamomile and cannabis visit Sharon’s Apothecary page on her website, www.sharonlettscom/apothecary
The Herbal Bar
Setting up an herbal bar, with and without alcohol
Cali Sober (California Sober) is a thing, where many are replacing recreational drugs and excessive alcohol consumption with weed and limited amounts of alcohol. Think of it as a harm reduction method - replacing damaging and/or addictive recreational modes with healthy ones. Even if you are having one or two drinks of alcohol, consumption is reduced when adding infused beverages with cannabis and other beneficial plants.
Cannabis is an enhancer, meaning, if you are already drinking alcohol, the plant will increase the efficacy or effect of the alcohol. Add an edible, and you can easily black-out, phase-out, or faze - to disconnect, as noted in the Urban Dictionary.
But don’t be too quick to blame the plant. It’s not cannabis causing you to faze, it’s the alcohol or whatever else you may be partaking of - and that goes for popping pills.
That pain killer you took to numb might just be increased in efficacy by upwards of 25 to 30 percent, per numerous studies on pain medications and cannabis use - merely by smoking. Ingest an edible and you may be down for the count.
You’ll no doubt have the best, deep sleep of your life, but it will end the party - and it may not happen before you have an out-of-body experience, as has been reported by the unlucky one.
How to remedy our love for partaking of the plant, while enjoying a cocktail or two? Replace the amount of alcohol consumed by adding herbal elixirs, or what I like to call tonics, to the bar.
Setting up the Herbal Bar
The basis for flavoring and sweetening many drinks is Simple Syrup, a sugar water mixture boiled down into a syrup. I like to infuse it with cannabis and other flavorful plants and spices, like mint, or rose with cardamom.
I did make a cannabis simple syrup once, and my guests began drinking it in shots! Please know, when infused with heat simple syrup can have tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) activated upwards of 60 percent - nothing to mess with. Remember my phasing rant above? Everything in moderation, please.
Leave out the alcohol, mixing your drink using cannabis infused simple syrup, fruit juice, seltzer water, and a spring of flavorful herb, and you have a ganja or cannabis mocktail.
Another component of the herbal bar is providing fruit juices to mix, coconut cream, and little bowls of fruit, like sliced apples and pineapple for garnish; sliced citrus, like lime and lemons; and fresh flavorful leaves, like mint, basil, and rosemary (shown in photos).
Think of it as a herbal elixir buffet, where the sky’s the limit when it comes to combinations of cocktails and mocktails. Just remember the golden rule of ingesting activated THC… Start low, and go slow!
Tonics & Tinctures
The true definition of a tonic is both a noun and an adjective. When used as a noun, it’s a feeling of well-being - you could say a good friend is a tonic for the soul, or a cool drink of water on a hot summer day is a refreshing tonic to soothe. When used as an adjective, it describes the feeling of well-being given, no matter the ailment or mood.
Making a tincture with drinking alcohol is the simplest and oldest form of infusion for remedy on the planet, next to steeping a hot cup of tea.
Alcohol strips the beneficial terpenes and cannabinoids (where the medicine is found) quickly and easily. In a cold-steep in a cool cupboard, the THC isn’t activated - providing full spectrum, or whole plant, benefits without the head high.
THC is activated by heat, and why we burn or smoke the flower.
Among cannabis’ many benefits, at the top of the list are its anti-inflammatory properties along with its ability to fight infection, treat digestive disorders, and basically address and protect all of our biological systems, creating homeostasis in the body, or a place where illness and infection cannot dwell.
This is why I began infusing my alcohol in the first place, to do away with the hangover and protect me from the negative qualities of the beverage.
Namely, the tummy upset and headache that often follows - said to be caused by chronic inflammation and other irritants from the spirits, and the fact that our organs - namely the liver and gallbladder - cannot process alcohol.
Decarb or Not?
I’ve never decarboxylated my flower before processing it as medicine. My personal feeling is, the THC gets activated by the heat you are cooking it with.
I don’t make remedies to get people high, I make remedies to heal, so activating the THC to new heights isn’t a priority. And I must say, for the most part, the majority of people who have needed and requested the plant to heal aren’t really interested in the high either.
After processing the alcohol in a cold-steep, if you would like the THC activated, it’s as easy as setting the finished bottle out in the sun for a couple of hours, and it will be activated at upwards of 60 percent activated THC.
My suggestion is to start with a half a shot per cocktail, if this is the case. Or, I like to put it in a sipping bottle to better control my intake, as it only takes 20 minutes or less to feel the effect - more or less, depending if your stomach is empty or not.
I don’t have to tell you not to drink alcohol on an empty stomach, right? And I need to note, you’ll have the same effects whether you are doing alcohol, psilocybin mushrooms or a cannabis edible, the effects will be stronger on an empty stomach.
Recipes
Ganja Simple Syrup
Ratio 1:1 water to white refined sugar (I’ve used raw sugar)
1 liter water (4 cups)
4 cups sugar
Flavorings (individual suggestions, not to be used all together)
¼ cup ground cannabis flower (or whole plant, stems, leaves, bud)
Handful of fresh mint leaves
1 T. cardamom seeds & 1 T. (organic, dried) rose petals
1 fresh jalapeno (seeds removed) for a spicy syrup (think spicy margarita)
1 T. fresh rosemary leaves
1 T. fresh basil leaves
Mix sugar, water and flavorings in a sauce pan
Let mixture come to boil, then set heat to low
Simmer until sugar is dissolved and water has thickened slightly
Strain and decant
Always label your finished product, especially when the THC is activated.
Unfortunately, there is no way to make a non-psychoactive simple syrup, as the sugar must dissolve using heat.
Note: You can omit the cannabis and use the syrup solely as a flavoring.
Ganja Cardamom Rose Vodka
1 liter Vodka
¼ cup ground cannabis flower (or whole plant, leaf, stems, bud)
1 t. Cardamom seeds or 6-8 pods
1 t. Dried rose petals (organic/food grade, if possible)
To activate THC, bypass cupboard and let set in sun for a couple of hours.
Add all to vodka in a pourable bottle. Let set in a cool, dark cupboard for about a week. Strain and decant. Always label, especially if the THC is activated.
Vodka Grapefruit Cardamom Rose Mocktail
Fill tall glass with ice
Pour 1 shot of Ganja Cardamom Rose vodka (½, if activated)
Fill half the glass with grapefruit soda
Fill glass with sparkling water, seltzer, or soda water
Garnish with a slice of fresh grapefruit
Ganja Habanero Tequila
1 liter Tequila
2-3 habanero (or jalapeno, slightly cooler) chiles, seeded & cut into quarters
¼ cup round cannabis flower (or whole plant, stems, leaves, bud)
Steep all in pourable container in cool, dark cupboard.
Strain, decant and label accordingly.
Note: removing seeds cools the hot chile
This recipe makes a lovely spicy margarita, or hot shots.
Sharon’s Favorite, Ganja Spiced Rum
1 liter dark rum
¼ cup ground cannabis flower (or whole plant, stems, leaves, bud)
4-5 whole star anise, 4-5 whole cloves
1 t. Cardamom seeds, or 5-6 pods
1 stick cinnamon
1 t. Whole black pepper corns, or ½ t. Ground black pepper
1 t. Vanilla
Steep all in pourable container in cool, dark cupboard.
Strain, decant and label accordingly.
I like to mix this rum with Coca-cola or Dr. Pepper. I’ve also made a cocktail using sparkling apple cider. You can also add this rum to hot apple cider for a warm, holiday treat. Note: If the THC is not activated, adding it to a warm beverage will activate the THC.
Bonus
Benefits of Chai spices, broken down:
Cinnamon: Lowers blood sugars
Star Anise: Antioxidant (lowers risk of cancers), promotes healthy skin, anti-fungal, strengthens the immune system, aids in digestion and sleep.
Cardamom: Gastrointestinal prevention, controls cholesterol, cardiovascular aid, blood circulations, dental aid, urinary tract infection - such as cystitis, nephritis, and gonorrhea (who knew?)
Black Pepper: Antioxidant, digestion aid, may slow aging, improves dental health, aids in skin conditions.
Vanilla: Aids in treating acne, improves hair growth, speeds healing, anti-inflammatory, chronic disease prevention, cardio protection.
Cloves: Antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, aphrodisiac, antiviral, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory,, and analgesic properties.
See Superfoods, Super Plants for a list of Sharon’s favorite super plants and benefits.
https://www.vegascannabismag.com/patient-stories/daily-dose/daily-dose-superfoods-super-plants-super-healthy/
From Flower to Memory
Cannabis, Terpenes, and the Limbic system
The first green I smoked was in 1975. It was probably rag weed from Mexico – 70s shake rolled into a pinner, handed to me in the bathroom of a gas station in Redondo Beach. It was around 7:30 in the morning, I was 16 and on my way to high school.
More than 40 years have passed, but if someone hands me some cheap weed, with one whiff I can see us jammed into that small space. I can smell the motor oil, see the smudges on the walls, and nearly hear the traffic outside.
I can also remember how uplifted I felt, opening that bathroom door and feeling the cool morning air on my face. The world was crisp and new, I could see every leaf on every tree, and my third eye was fully open. It felt right. I didn’t know it at the time, but cannabis would become my remedy for what ails me for life.
Memories, light the corners of my mind
The memories of that small space and that early morning walk come rushing in courtesy of the Limbic System – the sentimental side of human physiology, connecting scent to memories.
The Limbic system is a complex structure within the brain supporting all the fun stuff, like emotion, behavior, motivation, and long-term memory. Our emotional life depends on this system, and when triggered by scent, can bring back a gamut of emotions and feelings.
The main scent trigger for memory and emotions are Terpenes, a large and varied type of hydrocarbons - made up of hydrogen and carbon – found in fragrant plants – especially so in cannabis.
Who isn’t drawn to that first whiff of good bud? Whether you cut, grind or break it up with your thumbnails, it begs a deep, meditative inhale of pure goodness.
The sweet scent of… of terpenes
Terpenes are the main component of plant resins or essential oils, and why we are compelled to bring fingers to nose – for the fragrant plants draw us to them, begging us to partake. It’s a seduction to be sure, and one that humans have been graciously accepting since Eve handed Adam that apple.
Writer Curt Robbins has written extensively on the many beneficial compounds of cannabis. He started Terpene Tuesday as a weekly nod, education readers on the many benefits of different terpenes found in cannabis and other plants, fruits and vegetables.
His articles on terpenes have been written for many publications, using the hashtag #TerpeneTuesday to bring them together for readers.
As quoted in CannabizDaily.com, Robbins stated, “I’m honored that folks find value in the articles, which describe the medical efficacy of terpenes in plain English, allowing anyone to understand. Patients and cannabis consumers shouldn’t have to be scientists or doctors to understand the efficacy of what they put in their bodies, especially if it’s intended to improve their health.”
Robbins takeaway is, all herbs, fruits, and vegetables have the same type of medical efficacy of cannabinoids like CBD, THC, and CBG, and more.
A favorite article of mine is Robbins explanation of the terpene, Linmonene (D-Limonene), with scents similar to citrus.
“Of the 20,000 terpenes found in nature, and the 200 that may manifest in a particular strain [cultivar] of cannabis, limonene is one of the major players,” he details in Eaze.com. “This terpene sometimes constitutes up to 16 percent of the volume (by weight) of a particular sample of cannabis.”
In terms of medical efficacy, he details, this primary terpene acts as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory (benefitting chronic pain sufferers), and anti-cancer – as with other terpenes and cannabinoids, it has been shown to shrink cancerous tumors.
To burn or vape, that is the question
Anyone who has ever used a vaporizer has tasted the sweet green and intense flavors of the fragrant taste of cannabis. What you are tasting are the terpenes, unmasked by the charred carbon – the smoke inhaled when burning flower.
Cannabis heals and carbon is the only negative effect of smoking - causing bronchial issues that include coughing, a rattle, and spitting up hard mucus riddled with dark black carbon in the mix. It won’t kill you, it won’t cause cancer, but it can make partaking via burning flower more difficult.
I’ve felt the bronchial effects of taking in too much carbon – especially after using a bong consistently, or burning paper via joints.
Bong rips force more carbon deeper into your lungs. To take a break I vape for maintenance. This gets the pure terpenes into your lungs for clearing up the air passages and healing the damage done.
Fine print: If you are still smoking cigarettes, using a vaporizer is a good idea. If you have been diagnosed with COPD, or suffer from bronchial issues, whether you smoke tobacco or not, you might want to consider ingesting cannabis oil, as I’ve personally seen good results with these ailments where traditional medications fail.
The flavor and fragrance of cannabis is an amazing thing. Knowing that scent is carrying the healing compounds of the plant into our biological systems is a gift. With each whiff of scent memories are made and we heal. It’s not miraculous, it’s the beauty of healing plants.
For more information on the limbic system, visit http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/laughter4.htm
Kids on the Spectrum & Cannabis
A cannabis-chamomile honey tincture to calm, focus, and reset.
According to Spectrum News.org more and more families dealing with autism are treating symptoms with cannabis. While they admit that scientists are still in the early stages of research, anecdotal information gathered from the general community, friends and family, is guiding many.
It’s not unusual for the healing experiences from cannabis to be shared by word of mouth only. Until the legislators are educated enough to make the laws usable for the people, the people will continue to be what has been referred to as “illegally healed.” With the phrase “it takes a village” having more meaning than ever before within the cannabis community of healers, with those healed then helping others.
When it comes to children using cannabis, it can be a hot button of controversy for many, not to mention the threat of authorities stepping in to intervene.
The good news is, the children are alright, and have been healing along with everyone else all along. When traditional pharmaceutical treatments are exhausted parents will take the “don’t ask, don’t tell” route in treating their kids with cannabis and other healing plants.
With one in one hundred children being diagnosed on the Autistic Spectrum in the UK each year, and one in 54 in the US, it’s no wonder young kids are turning to cannabis; initially from peer pressure, then continuing use after realizing it helps.
The bad news is, with little guidance from the medical community, kids on the Spectrum, or those diagnosed with mental disorders, such as ADD and ADHD - attention deficit disorders, may proceed blindly, with trials and tribulations on dosing and use happenstance, at best.
Peer Pressured to Heal
This writer had undiagnosed ADD all through my early school years, and began medicating with cannabis, unknowingly, at 16, able to focus on school work for the first time after smoking on the way to school out of peer pressure.
I did not know how it worked or why. I only knew that I was able to do my work more efficiently and was first published as a poet at 19. I’ve never written anything - not for TV, magazines, or otherwise, without first medicating by smoking a small amount of flower for focus.
Emile J. Fagerstrom describes himself as an “ADHD, Dyslexic, All-American athlete, latch-key kid on the Spectrum.” His family put him in sports to calm down, where he excelled, but cannabis as a teenager, was how he self-medicated.
Adderall was prescribed, and like many kids, he eventually turned to meth - which is the same substance, with the same effects and many negative connotations, including addiction and subsequent death.
“I never really felt high from cannabis because it worked for me,” he shared. “Cannabis helps me process situations, and not create high emotion situations, without being impulsive. You can’t discipline a child for not being involved – they need tools to help them. You can’t just tell a kid with hypertension to calm down. It will never work.”
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is a chronic condition causing inattention, hyperactivity, and sometimes, impulsivity.
According to DrugRehab.com, “Adderall and methamphetamine are stimulant drugs that speed brain activity. They share many side effects and health risks, but there are also key differences. Both can lead to addiction when abused.”
The site goes on to say that Methamphetamine (meth) can also be prescribed by a doctor, but it is also made in illegal drug labs and sold on the streets. Both meth and Adderall belong to a class of drugs called amphetamines and have similar chemical structures.
From disengagement to focus
John Smith (anonymous) is the parent of a very active, intelligent and verbose 13-year-old boy. We will call him Jack. Smith said he and his wife have chosen to homeschool him rather than face having him over-medicated on pharmaceuticals, which would be mandatory in a public or private classroom situation.
“Jack was always one or two grade levels above his same age peers,” Smith said. “Each year in homeschool became more and more challenging, with increased difficulty maintaining focus and attention to a task, wanting to get up and move around, and difficulty completing most any task.”
About a year ago they discovered the use of a tincture made with half cannabis, half chamomile, and began dosing Jack.
“Within one day of our son taking the honey he was able to focus his attention and energy to his school work, conversations and any task put in front of him” he explained. “He reports no changes in how he feels - no sensations of lightheadedness or other symptoms people typically associate with being ‘high,’”
While much is unknown on how the THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) in cannabis works to help people focus, we do know that chamomile is a calming, beneficial herb, often used for anxiety and sleep issues.
Using half chamomile in the cannabis tincture could be called a “buzz-kill,” to the THC, but when used in this way, the chamomile takes the edge off the activated THC, allowing it to work without the extreme high, or the sometime anxiety that can come with ingesting or smoking too much THC.
“We love to see him accomplish so much more with school and other activities, without altering his personality,” Smith concluded. “He still behaves like the loving son we have always known.”
Cannabis-Chamomile Honey Tincture
1 liter honey
¼ c. ground cannabis
¼ c. whole chamomile flower
Optional: one stick cinnamon
(note: cinnamon lowers blood sugars, never a bad idea)
Add all to the crockpot, simmer on low for 3-4 hours.
Note: Some crockpots' low setting may be too hot. Check temperature and stir often, so as not to burn the plant material and lessen the strength of beneficial compounds.
Author’s Note: Sharon uses a Magical Butter Machine to infuse her honey, oils, and butter.
Strain with a fine mesh cloth. (I use a nut milk straining bags)
Dosing: ¼ to ½ teaspoon to start. Increase as needed. This dose may be given, as needed,morning, mid-day, and evening.
Note: The rule of thumb for any ingestible made with activated THC is to start small, go slow. The trick is to dose for wellness, not to feel high. Finding the correct dose is a proactive process.
The remaining plant material will still have honey left. See Sharon’s series Kitchen Apothecary for Weed World Magazine UK for a Ganja Honey Chai recipe: https://www.weedworldmagazine.org/2020/07/15/kitchen-apothecary-cannabis-infused-honey-ganja-chai-tea-by-sharon-letts/
For more recipes, visit www.sharonletts.com/apothecary
Spectrum News https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/cannabis-and-autism-explained/
Emile J. Fagerstrom, originally published in Vegas & Tahoe Cannabis Magazine(s) in Sharon’s series Daily Dose: https://www.vegascannabismag.com/patient-stories/daily-dose-a-day-in-the-life-of-emile-j-fagerstrom-medicating-for-adhd/
Herbed salad dressing using infused olive oil
My infused olive oil has become a go-to for medicating and microdosing. I put it in a dropper bottle and take it to restaurants for easy dosing on whatever it is I'm ordering. I’ve given it to my dogs twice a day on their food since rescuing them from a puppy mill more than a year ago. And I use it to microdose everything I’m cooking at home - be it a saute or sauces.
Infused with heat, the oil will be psychoactive, measuring in at upwards of 60 percent activated THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound that once converted, causes a head high. So, don’t surprise your guests with this dressing, give fair warning, and always label your infusions, letting anyone know what’s to come if they partake.
Being a fulltime cannabis patient, keeping illness and pharmaceuticals at bay, I’ve learned to keep cannabis and other healing plants in my system on a daily basis, and infused olive oil is a big part of that.
Once you have the main oil infusion down, you can make anything you would normally make in the kitchen using oil.
Recently, I created an herbed salad dressing using herbs from the Aux en Provence region of France, often referred to as Herbs de Provence or Herbs of France. You can purchase the blend or make your own from the garden. I do a little of both.
Important to note, many of the herbs used are considered superfoods, with many of the same benefits as cannabis. Thyme is an antioxidant, rosemary fights infections, lavender is calming. All fight inflammation and infection, helping to keep the body healthy and the immune system strong. Adding as many herbs to your diet is a big part of prevention and having a general sense of well being.
Using infused herbed dressing to dose small plates is key. Drizzle it on a small salad or mixed veggies, use it as a dressing on sandwiches, or add some to a stew. How much you use depends on your tolerance, with the basic rule, “start low, go slow.”
Finding your own personal dose is important. No one wants a bad time after ingesting, so follow the rule, find your therapeutic dose, and be well!
Sharon’s Ganja Herbed Salad Dressing
16 ounces cannabis infused olive oil*
1 T. Herbs of France**
1 c. infused olive oil
½ c. apple cider vinegar***
⅓ c. water
Put all in a 16 oz mason jar or a fancy decanter and shake until blended.
*Recipe for infused Olive Oil
¼ c. ground cannabis flower, stems and leaves (whole plant)
1 liter olive oil
Simmer in crock pot for 2-3 hours on low, stirring often so as not to burn compounds
Strain and decant
**Recipe for Herbs de Provence
1 T. fennel seeds
2 T. dried rosemary
¼ c. dried thyme
3 T. dried marjoram
3 T. dried tarragon
1 T. dried basil
1 t. dried chervil
1 t. dried mint
1 t. Dried lavender
You can grind the fennel seeds and rosemary, if you like, for consistency.
Stir all together and keep in a sealed glass jar, out of sunlight on a cool shelf.
***Vinegar Option
For a non-psychoactive infusion, skip infusing the olive oil and make a cold-steep infusion with the vinegar, as follows:
¼ c. ground cannabis
1 liter vinegar - your choice of apple cider, white wine, or red wine vinegar
Let steep in a cool cupboard, strain and decant.
Note: It takes heat to turn non-psychoactive THCa into psychoactive THC. This cold process will give no head-high, with all the beneficial compounds in the mix.
Rebecca Forbes
Treating Diffuse & Follicular Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and chronic pain with cannabis infused olive oil
As with many chronic patients who find relief with cannabis in non-legal states in the U.S., Rebecca Forbes was forced to move her family from their home state of North Carolina to the legal State of Maine, to ensure safe access of her medicine.
In 2020, North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper (D) convened a task force to study racial inequities within the criminal justice system, with the outcome, a recommendation the state should decriminalize cannabis altogether.
But that didn’t help Rebecca Forbes, who realized cannabis as medicine in 2010.
A poll conducted by the Elon University in January of 2021 found that 54 percent of North Carolinians support legalization of cannabis for adults, with a stunning 73 percent in favor of legalization for medicinal use - making the future hopeful.
With 18 states in the U.S. now legal for adult use, and 36 states now legal for medicine as of this writing, the number of conservative states, such as North Carolina, that are still persecuting patients is dwindling, with anecdotal stories of healing becoming too obvious to ignore.
As news of successful medicinal use circulates solely via word of mouth and on the internet, patients needful in illegal states are going ahead and finding relief with myriad ailments where traditional pharmaceutical treatments fail.
As I’ve written dozens of times, cannabis patients are doing the world ahead of legislators and those in the medical profession being educated. We end up educating our doctors by example.
From Oxy to Cannabis
After a miscarrage in 2008 in her 40s, a tumor was found on her adrenal gland following an abdominal CT scan.
It’s important to note, that because she did not qualify for insurance at the time, due to pre-existing conditions, the lymphoma wouldn’t be discovered until March of 2014, when her insurance was then forced to do the scan.
The subsequent diagnosis came after a biopsy at the University of North Carolina Cancer Center. Her cannabis use came prior to this diagnosis, successfully treating myriad conditions, including shrinking the tumor.
Prior to the lymphoma diagnosis, Forbes was prescribed Oxycontin for the chronic pain that soon led to additional use of vicodin and lortabs, sharing that she became non-functional as a mother to her other children at home.
“This type of tumor affects women my age,” she said. “It’s caused by an overproduction of cortisol - with the only option being surgery. Because of where the tumor was, the surgery was risky, and I declined.”
As detailed in Medical News Today, the type of lymphoma finally diagnosed affects the white blood cells in the lymph system, which is part of the immune system.”
Considered a very serious condition, it’s typically not detected until it’s advanced, with an estimated 70 percent surviving a minimum of five years after receiving a diagnosis.
Follicular lymphoma is a type of NHL. Follicular lymphoma develops when the body produces abnormal B lymphocytes.This type of lymphoma is usually not curable, but chronic with 80 to 90 percent of patients living with it for up to 10 to 12 years.
Meanwhile, her pain killer use soon got the best of her and she ended up sleeping most of the time.
“I’d wake up drooling and couldn’t breathe,” she continued. “My body went into full edema - swelling up with water gain. My gallbladder was failing, and I was going into congestive heart failure. The doctors told me I’d have ten years or less to live, and I knew I was going to die.”
Forbes said she began hearing about Canadian Rick Simpson, the cannabis oil recipe he shared around the world, and the seemingly miraculous healing that ensued, globally.
“I finally broke down and smoked a joint with my dad. That was in 2009, after one year of suffering. Five weeks later I was no longer taking any narcotics - just by smoking,” she said, still in disbelief herself.
After watching Rick Simpson’s story, Run from the Cure, Forbes said she was still skeptical about the efficacy of using cannabis in this way, but curious.
“Knowing surgery to get the tumor wouldn’t work for me, using the oil made me feel like I could take my life into my own hands - so I wouldn’t die and have to leave my kids,” she said, teary-eyed. “But I was still skeptical, because of all the bad press on cannabis for so long. You need to remember, I had never tried cannabis or any other drugs before I started smoking.”
Skeptics Beware
Early in 2010, a friend gave Forbes a quart jar of cannabis-infused canola oil..
“He told me it might help me,” she laughed. “And me - with no faith at all, stuck it in the cabinet and forgot about it!”
Months later, in July of that year, Forbes ended up in the emergency room in complete organ failure.
“I was told I had 24 hours or less before my kidneys would fail. They told me to go home and say goodbye to my family,” she remembered. “I left the hospital against advice, went home and pulled the quart jar of infused oil out and took three or four huge gulps!”
The infused canola oil probably tested upwards of 60 percent activated THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive compound in cannabis - knocking her out until the next day.
This is a good time to infuse the lesson of “start low, go slow,” when it comes to ingesting high THC activated edibles, medibles or otherwise. But, it was sheer panic of losing her life that caused her to dose in this way.
The good news is, you can’t die after overconsuming cannabis. You may feel as though you are. Add alcohol and you’ll fade, or black out, with many telling stories of out-of-body experiences.
Heart palpitations are common, but it’s not adversely affecting the cardio system, it affects the central nervous system, making you feel as though you are having a cardiac episode.
Amazingly, after waking up the next day, Forbes said she took more of the oil in the same way.
“After several days of this, I started feeling much better!” she exclaimed. “Now, I understand why they say cannabis treatments sound too good to be true. The healing is fast and noticeable right away. Made me kick myself for having that bottle of oil sit in the cupboard for as long as I did!”
After just two weeks Forbes’ doctors cleared her of organ failure and she set out to make her own oil.
“I’ve been making my own infused oils ever since, and needless to say, 12 years later, I’m still alive and have seen three grandchildren come into this world,” she concluded.
Rebecca’s Cannabis Infused Olive Oil
(Stovetop Method)
1 oz. ground cannabis
1 liter or 4 c. olive oil
Place cannabis and olive oil in a stainless steel pot
Set heat to low (160-180 degrees)
Simmer for 4-5 hours (Rebecca uses an electric stove)
Stirring occasionally
Check color: should be a rich, dark color - from dark green to gold
Strain with fine mesh or nut bag and decant into a pourable jar
Makes a bit less than 1 liter or 4 cups, with some lost in straining
Rebecca’s dosing:
1 T. 3X a day
This amount must be worked up to, with a “start low, go slow” protocol to get used to the THC, that’s activated by heat.
This type of infused cooking oil can be tested at upwards of 60 percent activated THC. If you are not used to the psychoactive properties of activated THC, start with a very low dose and work your way up, as follows.
Dosing Notes:
Suggested to start: ¼ t. To be taken at night. This will aid in sleep, as well as get you used to the THC until you can find your therapeutic dose for daytime use. It only takes some days to get used to the THC, and begin upping the amounts.
Always label your remedies, showing the THC is activated. Keep in a safe place, out of reach of small hands, just as you would with prescription medications.
Microdosing Edibles
Cereal Marshmallow Treats
How many times have you made a batch of cannabis-infused sweets, then wishing you could eat more than half a piece, due to the high THC in the infused butter used?
When interviewing Willie Nelson, I pressed him on his ingesting of the plant, to which he replied, “Darlin’ I had a bad trip with a weed brownie in 1974, and I’ll never do that again!”
Thankfully, his wife Annie began making micro-dosed edibles at home and he’s since learned to enjoy a more therapeutic dose.
Many have horror stories of ingesting too much of a good thing. Many more have partaken of a homemade brownie, as Willie did, at a party while already drinking alcohol, with an unfavorable outcome.
It won’t be the cannabis, per se, that adds to the bad trip, but the cannabis enhancing the alcohol, leading to what’s called phazing, or passing out. Some even claim they’ve had out-of-body experiences, similar to an acid trip. This, not before the body attempts to reject the compound by throwing up. Good times.
Binding Resins to Butter Fat
Infusing cannabis in butter is one of the more common infusions most patients and partakers can easily do at home using a crock pot or a machine specifically made for infusing. This writer has used a Magical Butter Machine for more than six years now, with excellent results.
Butter fat acts as an excellent carrier of the resins found in the plant. These resins include the terpenes and cannabinoids, which hold the beneficial properties of the plant, but they also bind and activate the THC when heated.
The plant itself doesn’t have psychoactive THC. The compound is called THCa, and is only activated when heated. Some swear by decarboxylation, the pre-activating of the THC by warming it ahead of time. My focus has not been on a high recreational dose, but a therapeutic one, so I don’t decarb, relying on the cooking of the infusion to activate the THC.
I also microdose when making medibles or edibles. Meaning, I use less infused butter than the recipe calls for, then add plain non-infused butter to the mix.
This means I can enjoy a few pieces of a treat, instead of minimal dosing for effect. It also means I can find my therapeutic dose more easily by practicing the mantra, start low, go slow in a more effective manner. If the treat is micro-dosed that’s easier to accomplish than eating one little piece of a high percentage of THC right out the gate.
Microdosing for Therapeutic Effects
Ingesting a microdosed treat is also economical, as you can save money in buying flower or concentrates to smoke. Five to 10 milligrams of a THC activated ingestible, be it tincture, capsules or a medible, can give a general overall feeling of well-being, or euphoria, for a longer amount of time than with smoking.
Ingesting also diminishes the amount of alcohol consumed, as cannabis raises the efficacy of whatever else you are doing, causing partaking drinkers to slow down.
CEO of lifestyle brand, Jane West Inc. and Co-founder of Women Grow, West tried her first edible with a group of friends where she lives in Denver, Colorado. They ingested a Firebar by Bhang chocolates, with everyone taking a 10 milligram dose, or one square of chocolate. This was the first time she had seen a packaged, legal edible.
The friends then walked to a nearby restaraunt for a night out. Typically, they would consume several bottles of wine during dinner, but on this night only one bottle was bought, with laughter ensuing and little thought (or need) for a second or third bottle of wine.
Using cannabis to transition off more negative substances isn’t new. Microdosing to ensure a therapeutic dose and no bad times is key.
Following is my recipe for cereal treats, with half the infused butter used than called for in the recipe. This also gives a better flavor, if you are like me and are not crazy about the taste of the plant.
Ganja Treats
6 c. favorite cereal*
6 c. marshmallows
½ c. or ½ stick butter
½ c. or ½ stick cannabis infused butter (see infusion recipe below)
Microwave in glass bowl, or warm butter and marshmallows in heavy bottom pan on stovetop, stirring until melted and blended.
Add cereal, stirring to blend.
Spread out on a buttered wax paper in a shallow baking pan (11x7 inches or 28x18 cm)
Let cool in the refrigerator, cut into one two inch squares. This should make about a dozen (12) servings.
Dosing Rule: Start low, go slow. It’s easier to dose up than down.
*Sharon’s favorites: Coco Puffs, Coco Rice Crispies, Fruit Loops, combination of all.
Infused Butter
One pound or 4 sticks, or 450 grams of butter
½ oz. or 7 grams of dried, ground cannabis flower, stems, & leaves
Add all to a crock pot, set to warm. If the crock pot gets too hot on warm, stir often, or turn off to cool down, then repeat.
Should take 2-3 hours to infuse. Color should be a light green.
Too much chlorophyll will show up bright green and may dilute the beneficial compounds needed. For this reason, do not use a leaf-heavy trim.
Strain into small containers or silicone butter molds for easy measuring. Let chill in the refrigerator.
Fineprint: Cannabis resins bind very well to butter fat, and why I microdose recipes with minimal infused butter.
Debi Bair
Cannabis Patient & Remedy Maker
Debi Bair is a Natural Health Consultant, Herbalist and cannabis advocate who reached for plants after a devastating car crash left her with more than 50 broken bones in 1997.
Initially prescribed the pain killer, Darvocet, she said she only took the pills for a few weeks, replacing them with cannabis and other beneficial herbs, as is her mode of operandi.
“My grandmother was full Cherokee, so herbalism is natural for me,” she shared. “I’ve always used plant medicine.”
Concerned about getting addicted, she initially just smoked cannabis to quell the pain.
“Cannabis wasn’t legal in my home state of Michigan at the time and edibles were hard to come by,” she said. “I had minor children at home and a medical state licensure I was putting at risk by using cannabis.”
Bair had worked in the healthcare industry as an Emergency Room Technician (EMT) and was also a certified herbalist, taught by an instructor through Susan S. Weed since 1998.
Susan S. Weed is a herbalist and author of a many books, including Healing Wise, Abundantly Well, and Menopausal Years: The Wise Woman Way.
“Doctors told me I’d never work again, but I was back to work four months after the accident,” she explained. “I finally left EMT job in 2008, due to a torn labrum - but it wasn’t clear if that was from the accident.”
Recently, she moved from Michigan to California, re-establishing Lil Debi and Happy Camp Trees in San Diego. Lil Debi is her herbal remedy brand, and she organizes retreats under the shingle, Happy Camp Trees.
When asked how she derived the name, she replied, “We are cannabis friendly and they are happy trees! I don’t want shame with this concept, this is medication, it’s legal, and I don’t want people feeling awkward or weird about partaking while enjoying a healthful and spiritual retreat.
Bair had bought 20 acres near Tippy Dam in the Manistee National Forest, with plans of turning it into a 420 friendly camp ground, but local officials, then the COVID pandemic threw a wrench in the works, and she decided to relocate to cannabis-friendly California.
“We are planning a girls trip in May with a female Chef from Detroit - Chef Marjorie Harvey,” she said. “We’ll gather in San Diego in a private setting, with 10 women guests who we’ll treat with cannabis infused dinners, plant medicine, healing, and spiritual awakenings.”
Chef Marjorie Harvey, of Divine Epicurean, took Third Place for Best Cannabis Chef in Michigan in 2021.
Bair ingests cannabis in many ways, as well as smokes for an immediate lift, but she developed her pain relief cream initially for treating the pain from osteoarthritis after the accident. Her pain tolerance is high, but when it hurts she said she needs a heavy hitter for relief, and that’s what this pain cream does for her.
She shares her homemade infused goods on her Instagram feed, posting everything from cookies, candies, medicinal capsules, and topicals, to bath bombs for relief.
“This recipe is specifically for arthritis pain, although I’ve had rave reviews from neuropathy patients, as well - with them stopping the use of pharmaceuticals altogether since using the cream,” she said. “One patient is in her 80s and had never used cannabis in her life. To me, that’s real progress for this amazing plant.”
Bair said that one four ounce jar lasts her about a month. Use is dependent on need.
Lil Debi’s Pain Relief Cream
Decarb 1 oz. cannabis*
Infuse organic coconut oil with cannabis in a slow cooker**
Strain through cheese cloth
Mix for cream:
3 T. cayenne pepper
1 c. infused coconut oil (can also use grapeseed or olive oil)
½ c. beeswax
Melt the beeswax in a double boiler
Add THC infused coconut oil & cayenne pepper
Once blended, place in glass jar
*decarboxylation: Spread cannabis over a baking tray, bake in the oven at 220 degrees for 20 minutes
**Infuse oil: 1 oz. decarbed flower per one pound of butter or ghee - or whatever oil you’d like to use. Simmer on low in crock pot or rice cooker (lid up) for 3-4 hours to infuse.
Follow both Lil Debi and Camp Happy Trees on Instagram.
Rhea’s Breakfast Canna-Smoothie
From Albany’s Canna Kitchen, Oregon
Reducing symptoms of dementia using cannabis.
Rhea graham & daughter kendra (grandma Bessie not pictured)
Rhea Graham started Albany’s Canna Kitchen with her daughter, Kendra and her mother Bessie, making what they call “Smokeless Remedies,” ingestible products made from plant material brought to them by clients, or patients within the State of Oregon’s medical marijuana program.
The menu of what they can make is extensive, infusing everything from peanut butter to olive oil, to the stronger cannabis oil used for serious ailments.
They also conduct workshops, teaching others how to make their own medicine.
Following is a simple recipe using cannabis, with Rhea sharing anecdotal stories of healing from various cannabis products helping dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.
“I’ve worked with three late-stage Alzheimer’s patients in the recent past,” she shared. “Improved behavior is seen in minutes, and it’s been nothing short of miraculous. Although it can be challenging to get dosing figured out, once you do life is much better for all involved.”
Graham said her first patient had been in a care facility, but wasn’t sleeping, so they would lock him up at night and he would take things apart, including doors off the hinges. Once he returned home in a few days we had his dose figured out and he began sleeping 12 hours a night, taking only little infused chocolates
Infused candy is said to be a favorite delivery with dementia patients, as they have a hard time taking pills or tincture.
With her second patient, Graham said they began making the following smoothie with fresh fruit and cannabis. The cannabis is not decarboxylated (pre-activating the THC), so there is no head-high.
“The difference in the patient after drinking the smoothie was monumental,” she said. “After a few minutes the patient stopped crying and found the ability to use words for the first time in a long time. The anxiety that plagues most Alzheimer’s patients is relieved.”
Though the patient is not back 100 percent, Graham said much of the behavior problems have subsided, with a calmer, happier patient and surrounding friends and family.
Rhea’s Breakfast Canna-Smoothie
1 overly ripe banana
2 cups mixed fruit
1 cup almond milk
1 t. Food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE)
¼ to ½ c. yogurt
1 T. nut butter
1 T. loosely crushed cannabis leaf*
Blend all in a blender until smooth.
Notes:
Frozen fruit works great, blueberries make a beautiful color. Save your overripe bananas for smoothies.
Diatomaceous Earth is good for building strong hair, teeth, bones, bowels. Good for pets, too.
Plain yogurt is tart, vanilla is nice.
Nut butter: Almond butter preferred, works well medicated.
*Leaf: Water leaf is fine, wet or dry. If wet, use about eight large leaves. If you can get sugar leaf or bud you may feel high, due to heat from blade slightly activating THC.
Graham uses wateleaf for Parkinson’s, chronic inflammation, and some seizure activity.
For more information on Albany’s Canna Kitchen visit, https://theackr.com/
Follow them on Instagram @albanyscannakitchen
Follow them on Facebook at Albany’s Canna Kitchen & Research LLC
Marelyn Shapiro
Granny Buds Farm, Chicken Rescue & Dog Hospice
“Incredibly Miraculous Salve”
Originally from Berkeley, California, longtime cannabis farmer and caregiver, Marelyn Shapiro, moved her family of six to Las Vegas Nevada to care for her ailing parents.
In a few short years the residential home soon became Granny Buds Farm, Chicken Rescue & Dog Hospice, with her family caring for a multitude of wild and domestic animals, using plant-based remedies.
Mother now to seven Foster kids with significant issues and needs, Shapiro is no stranger to caregiving on a grand scale. Add a menagerie of animals, and she’s considered a miracle worker - but she’ll tell you, it’s all about the plants.
“When we moved onto the property there was just a house, some lawn and a few trees,” she said. “It wasn’t much, but in a few years we had fruit trees and were growing our own vegetables.”
Shapiro said she returned to growing cannabis after a long break when the kids were young. Today, the farm is a fully functioning, remedy-making endeavor, with everyone involved in every aspect.
“The kids have learned farming, drywalling, irrigation, and painting,” she explained. “They build chicken coops, and help build grow rooms and install irrigation for others in the community. Everything we make goes back into the animals and the farm.”
As special needs kids, Shapiro said caring for animals was the best therapy they could have received. Her own first rescue was a kitten, and said that when the kids were small she rescued kittens as therapy for them.”
“My son Shamar is my right hand, but when I adopted him at three years old, he was considered a feral child,” she said. “I believe that farming of the cannabis plant and caring for animals helped all my children more than anything could have. Today, Shamar is the manager of the farm.”
Rescued with Weed
Shapiro and family make a variety of remedies, including strong cannabis oil, tinctures, and topical salve; growing all cultivars themselves on the home farm.
Her salve recipe was created when a horse they were called on to care for at a nearby farm required a large amount of topical salve, suffering from a bad skin infection. There was also a donkey nearby, with an infected open wound that was infested with flies.
After cleaning them up they made a huge bath of salve and applied it to both their wounds. Upon returning to the farm the next week, both were found healing nicely, with no sign of infections.
Another seemingly miracoulus rescue was with a wild bird in very bad shape, referred from a nearby veterinarian’s office (pictured).
“We worked on him for seven hours. He ate a tiny bit of the salve, but we couldn’t get him to open his eyes or eat again,” she shared. “Then, he started to recover, jumped off the table, and was immediately in the mouth of one of the dogs!”
The tiny bird was rescued in seconds, but did not escape severe injury. Again, they worked on him for three more days. After “leaving no stone unturned,” (which included physical therapy), on the fourth day the wee thing stood up.
Author’s note: Cannabis oil has been shown to replace antibiotics. Using cannabis ingested in conjunction with the pharmaceutical keeps the immune system healthy, counteracting the negative effects, as antibiotics kill good cells along with the bad, or infected cells.
“He started flapping his wings when I went to the cage - just like they do when mommy approaches,” she added.
Shapiro named the salve, Incredibly Miraculous Salve, because it’s said to work like a miracle.
“The cultivars I use for the salve are Ringo’s Gift high CBD, Critical Mass, CBD Kush, and Critical Cure,” she explained. “But, I also add other beneficial plants, like lemon verbena, rosemary, lavender and ginger - each with their own medicinal properties.”
Ringo’s Gift was hybridized by longtime Southern Humboldt cannabis farmer, the late, Lawrence Ringo, who we lost just a few years ago. Interesting to note, it was Ringo’s cultivars that would become Charlotte’s Web of Denver, Colorado. The relationship to Ringo could not be stated, as it’s against Federal law in the U.S. to transport plants or material across state lines.
Her topical salve, she said, has treated numerous animals and dogs both by topical use and ingesting - both in mild and severe cases.
“We’ve used this salve for everything from the pain of arthritis - both in humans and animals,” she said. “This salve has actually healed every skin condition we’ve ever treated, including infections, psoriasis, eczema, nail fungus, burns, reduces wrinkles, treats mild cancers and lesions on skin. It also helps to grow back fur and feathers in animals - and hair in humans - which is pretty remarkable.”
Shapiro said they also dose dogs orally with the salve, relieving anxiety for trips to the veterinary’s office and car rides in general. It also calms during noisy events, like 4th of July fireworks in the U.S. - and says it works in the same way for humans.
“It’s really not a miracle, she surmised. “The cannabis plant, and so many other plants, are medicine. We’ve just been distracted from the garden, and tricked into thinking it’s wrong. Before the kids, I lived covertly, with a secret grow room in my basement with a hidden door. Today, we live in a legal state and my grown kids are a big part of the farm and the healing that happens every day here. That’s the miracle.”
Granny Bud’s Farm
Incredibly Miraculous Healing Salve
(for people and animals)
Granny uses approximately 65 percent flower, with the following herbs equally divided:
High CBD and High THC cultivars of Cannabis
Lemon Verbena
Rosemary
Ginger
Lavender flower
Coconut Oil (to cover)
Beeswax (small amount)
Place all ingredients (except Beeswax) in a Crockpot, filling 3/4 full.
Cover with Coconut oil.
Cook on high for 2 hours, then switch to low for five hours or more.
Strain while hot so liquid filters easily through five coffee filters (or fine mesh, or nut bag)
If it cools, it thickens.
Pour back into the clean crockpot, now that it's filtered and reheat on low.
Melt a very small amount of beeswax in a small pan on the stove to blend.
Pour beeswax into coconut oil mixture, put into containers, label and enjoy.
Author’s Notes: Like many Kitchen Apothecary recipes, the recipe is organically made and intuitively measured.
Marelyn Shapiro please requests, if you make this salve that you kindly label it accordingly, give her credit and make a donation to the farm, if you are able.
Follow Marelyn Shapiro on Facebook.
For more information about Granny Buds Farm or to make a donation, visit, https://grannybsfarmandchickenrescue.weebly.com/