Thursday, September 1, 2011

Cannabis Elixir

Here's something from The American Alliance For Medical Cannabis.
It was written by James Freire, he's got a Masters degree in organic chemistry.
You can use the tincture we made the other day.  This is tasty medicine, it's fine as cream gravy!

Cannabis Elixir 

This is a re-creation of an old remedy from the 1800’s. It involves suspending the cannabinoids in sugar syrup in what is known as a micellized solution. This is a very easy process similar to making candy but one should use care when evaporating alcohol (a distillation device makes this part very nice). Use 1 ounce of herb to 1 pint of alcohol.

To begin, heat your cannabis at 300 degrees F for 15 minutes to decarboxylate the THC before grinding and make a strong tincture (190 proof alcohol is best). Grind it to a powder and then just cover with alcohol and let it stand somewhere dark for a couple weeks. After this is done strain the alcohol from the herb and save it. The herb is now spent and can be thrown out.

Place the tincture in a double boiler over ELECTRIC heat and reduce the volume in half.

After this add ½ the remaining volume of tincture in honey or some other syrup and 4-6 vitamin E caps (e.g.: if you have 2 quarts of tincture after reducing you would add 1 quart of honey).

This is when you can add other herb tinctures and flavors (I use a root beer flavor base).

Continue to reduce the volume with constant stirring until you have nearly boiled it down to the original volume of syrup that you began with. Let this cool and bottle in dark glass, then store in the refrigerator.

Depending on the original strength of the herb, the dosage should be between a teaspoon and a couple tablespoons.

This basic recipe can be used to create an elixir from any tincture and the basic cannabis elixir can be modified for specific ailments.

For example, adding syrup of elderberry makes this without a doubt the most effective treatment for influenza that exists.
Kava can be added for greater pain control and sedation.
With a little study of herbal medicine you can customize the blend for specific ailments.

There are many uses for this syrup, but my family has come to rely on it as our sole treatment for colds and flu when made with elderberry and cats claw.