# Tincture



## Lil Elvis (Nov 25, 2007)

Hello,

Medical marijuana is known to be good for some illnesses but more times than notit can be used for minor aliments as well. 

Tinctures are great way of applying cannabis to help aid in sore muscles, skin conditions and eye/ear/nose drops.  A few drops can be rubbed on the area or even mixed with some honey for a sore throat. 

Tinctures are alcohol or glycerin based usually.  The process is basically the same for both.  Some folks are not able to have alcohol or the just cant stomach it (like myself).  So glycerin is a great alternative and as it ages it gets thicker like syrup.  I recommend the alcohol based tinctures for the eyes/ear/nose treatments.

Below are some recipes for alcohol tinctures and the last one is a glycerin tincture recipe and I know the gal who made it and its very good.  You can vary how much marijuana to add; it doesnt have to be what the recipe says.  We always go have the amount when we make something new and you might want to as well!

Hope you give it a try...it can't hurt....literally !

Lil Elvis 

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*Cannabis tincture and cannabis oil* 

By Doctor Fankhauser (a Swiss pharmacist)

Old formulas on medicines of cannabis suggest the following procedure (if you have no special pharmaceutical equipment). This information is provided for educational purposes only.

Cannabis tincture: 
Take about 3-5 parts of alcohol (e.g. brandy or ethyl alcohol from the pharmacy, 40-70%) and 1 part cannabis leaves/flowers (e.g. 25 g marijuana and 100 ml alcohol). Keep it in a dark and cool place for about 10 days. Shake it from time to time. Filter it using a sieve or by using coffee filter papers. Store in a cool dark place.

Cannabis oil:
Take some dried cannabis, reduce it to very small pieces, and add edible oil (e.g. olive oil) so that the plant material is completely covered with the oil. Keep it in a dark and cool place for about 3 weeks. Shake it a little every day. Filter it using a sieve or by using coffee filter papers. You may use this oil for internal and external application.


José T. Gállego 
It is easy to prepare a tincture or an oil from cannabis, that concentrates the active compounds of the plant. You need marijuana and ethyl alcohol of 96-99% (e.g. from the pharmacy), a glass that can be closed (e.g. jam jar), a coffee filter, a deep plate, a bottle with a dropper.

Reduce the cannabis to small pieces and put it into the glass. Cover it with alcohol. Keep it in a dark and cool place for about a week. Shake it every day. Filter it using a coffee filter. Press the last drops of alcohol out of the plant material. You may repeat this process several times, at least once, better twice. You may again put the cannabis into the glass and cover it with alcohol. Finally, put all the alcohol (it will have a green colour) into a deep plate. Keep it in a tempered and ventilated place so that some of the alcohol will be evaporated increasing the cannabinoids concentration of the tincture. This may take ten days. When enough alcohol is evaporated fill the extract into the bottle with the dropper. 
The cannabis tincture can be used directly, or dissolved in a drink or food, or vaporized. 

To vaporize the tincture a commercial vaporizer or the old silver paper system can be used. Form a teaspoon out of silver paper, put some drops of the tincture on it, carefully heat it with a candle until the alcohol evaporates. Than inhale it using a small tube (e.g. the body of a ball point pen).


According to: Gállego JT: Tintura de cannabis. Canamo, No 46, July 2001:76-77


*Tincture Cold Method with Ethanol*

Jay R. Cavanaugh, Ph.D. AAMC, National Director

Making tincture cold preserves the integrity of cannabinoids. To be potent, this method requires starting material high in cannabinoid content such as flowers or kief made from trim and leaf. The material must be mold free and dry. Drying can be accomplished in the freezer (-4-10 degrees Celsius) or better yet by placing in a liquid proof bag into a dry ice/ethanol ice bath (-70 degrees Celsius). Once water has been removed then the surface area of the starting material requires expansion. This can be accomplished a number of ways but two ways stand out:

Using flowers (bud)- Place dried buds in a coffee grinder and pulse until thoroughly ground but not powdered. 

Making kief - Rub dry trim and leaves over a silk screen. Collect the powder the comes through the screen. It should be a very pale green. "Kiefing" is an age old way of extracting trichomes from plant material.

Whether kief or ground bud is used both should kept ice cold for this preparation. Similarly, the ethanol to be used should also be ice cold throughout the process. 

Selection of alcohol- ethanol or ethyl alcohol is the form of alcohol that can be used by humans. The proof listed on commercial alcohol refers to the percentage of ethanol that the beverage contains. The proof is twice the percentage, so 80 "proof" means that the mixture contains 40% ethanol. The higher the alcohol content used, the better the extraction will work. Ideally, 200 proof ethanol would be best except that ethanol cannot be distilled to this proof so benzene is used to remove the last vestiges of water. This makes "pure" ethanol poisonous.

Many folks use "Everclear" which stands at 190 proof or 95% ethanol. Everclear has no taste. Apparently, Everclear is not available in all States. A close second choice is 151 proof rum. This is a light amber liquid that is 75% ethanol that has a sweet taste. One of our caregiver writers will use nothing but Korbel brandy because she likes the taste. Others use iced Russian vodka. These "normal" distilled spirits are 40% to 50% ethanol. Some patients find that the higher proofs ethanols like Everclear and 151 rum burn too much under the tongue. If burning is a concern consider a high quality 90-100 proof Vodka. 

Cold Extraction and purification- Use at least one ounce of starting material to each pint of ethanol. Place cold powdered kief or ground cannabis flowers together with ethanol in a glass quart-mixing jar. Close the jar tightly and vigorously shake for five minutes then return to the freezer. Continue to agitate the mixture every few hours with refreezing. Continue for a period of two to three days.

Pour the cold mixture through a double thickness of sterile cheesecloth. Save the cheesecloth "ball" for topical uses or use the material to make bud butter once dried. The liquid collected through the cheesecloth should then be filtered twice through a paper coffee filter. Use gloves throughout the process, as it is necessary to squeeze the cheesecloth and coffee filters to facilitate the extraction. Without gloves some of the material will be absorbed on the skin. 

If Everclear is used the tincture will be pale green to golden. If 151 rum is used an amber tincture results. Dark green tinctures mean that excess plant material is present. This does not mean that the tincture will not be potent, just taste nasty. When Everclear is used, various flavor extracts may be added (vanilla, raspberry, etc.). Be careful to use only a few drop of flavor extract. 


*Glycerin*

I would like to share with you a process for an excellent non-alcoholic tincture. This sublingual Cannabis Medicine is spreading quickly through our Medical Community in Oregon. 

You will need ONE CUP of food grade glycerin.
ONE OUNCE of top grade bud....chopped up with scissors or a burst in a cuisinart. 
A Quart jar with a good SEAL. 
Put the ingredients in the jar and give it a shake for about 5-10 minutes a day for two months. (IT IS WORTH the TIME!) 

Press out the glycerin and strain well; and put in brown bottles with eyedropper. 
I use a professional food press, so I get back the total amount of glycerin plus a little extra. A ricer will also work well if you line it with cheesecloth. 
The medicine is as good as what you put into it. I find this a very good way to medicate at social functions. I carry mine in an herb tincture bottle. A drop or a dropper under the tongue is a good way to find relief.


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