Hash oil or cannabis oil is an oleoresin obtained by the extraction of cannabis or hashish. It is a cannabis concentrate containing many of its natural products – in particular, terpenes, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and other phytocannabinoids. Hash oil is usually consumed by smoking, vaporizing or eating. Preparations of hash oil may be solid or semi-liquid colloids depending on both production method and temperature and are usually identified by their appearance or characteristics. Color most commonly ranges from transparent golden or light brown, to tan or black. There are various extraction methods, most involving a somewhat nonpolar solvent, such as butane or ethanol. Hash oil is an extracted cannabis product that may use any part of the plant, with minimal or no residual solvent. It is generally thought to be indistinct from traditional hashish, at-least according to the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs that defines these products as "the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from the cannabis plant". Hash oil may be sold in cartridges to be used with pen vaporizers or infused into food products (cannabis edibles). Cannabis retailers in California have reported about 40% of their sales are from smokeable cannabis oils.
Composition The tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) varies depending on preparation techniques and the variety of plant used. Dealers sometimes cut hash oils with other oils. The form of the extract varies depending on the extraction process used; it may be liquid, a clear amber solid (called "shatter"), a sticky semisolid substance (called "wax"), or a brittle honeycombed solid (called "honeycomb wax"). Hash oil seized in the 1970s had a THC content ranging from 10% to 30%. The highest THC concentrations measured were 52.9% in hashish and 47.0% in hash oil. Hash oils in use in the 2010s had THC concentrations as high as 90% and other products achieving higher concentrations. Following an outbreak of vaping-related pulmonary illnesses and deaths in 2019, NBC News conducted tests on different black market THC vape cartridges and found cartridges containing up to 30% Vitamin E acetate, and trace amounts of fungicides and pesticides that may be harmful. The following compounds were found in naphtha extracts of Bedrocan Dutch medical cannabis:
Cannabinoids: THC (~ 30%) and THCA (~ 60%). Monoterpenes (~ 5%): β-pinene, myrcene, β-phellandrene, cis-ocimene, terpinolene, and terpineol. Sesquiterpenes (~ 5%): β-caryophyllene, humulene, δ-guaiene, γ-cadinene, eudesma-3,7(11)-diene, and elemene.
History
Discovery and development The hash oils made in the 19th century were made from hand collected hashish called charas and kief. The term hash oil was hashish that had been dissolved or infused into a vegetable oil for use in preparing foods for oral administration. Efforts to isolate the active ingredient in cannabis were well documented in the 19th century, and cannabis extracts and tinctures of cannabis were included in the British Pharmacopoeia and the United States Pharmacopoeia. These solvent extracts were termed cannabin (1845), cannabindon, cannabinine, crude cannabinol and cannabinol.
Modern usage So-called "butane honey oil" was available briefly in the 1970s. This product was made in Kabul, Afghanistan, and smuggled into the United States by The Brotherhood of Eternal Love. Production is thought to have ceased when the manufacturing facility was destroyed in an explosion. Traditional ice water-separated hashish production utilizes water and filter bags to separate plant material from resin, though this method still leaves much residual plant matter and is therefore poorly suited for full vaporization. Gold described the use of grain alcohol and activated charcoal in honey oil production by 1989, and Michael Starks further detailed procedures and various solvents by 1990. Large cannabis vaporizers gained popularity in the twentieth century for their ability to vaporize the cannabinoids in cannabis and extracts without burning plant material, using temperature controlled vaporization. Colorado and Washington began licensing hash oil extraction operations in 2014. Small portable vape pens saw a dramatic increase in popularity in 2017.
Use
Hash oil is consumed usually by ingestion, smoking or vaporization.
Dabbing Smoking or vaporizing hash oil is known colloquially as "dabbing", from the English verb to daub (Dutch dabben, French dauber), "to smear with something adhesive". Devices used for this process include water pipes ("dab rigs"), vaporizers, and vape pens. Oil rigs include a glass water pipe and a quartz bucket which is often covered with a glass bubble or directional cap to direct the airflow and disperse the oil amongst the hot areas of the quartz "nail" (A nail is also referred to as a banger). The pipe is often heated with a butane blowtorch rather than a cigarette lighter. The oil can also be sold in prefilled atomizer cartridges. The cartridge is used by connecting it to a battery and inhaling the vaporized oil from the cartridge's mouthpiece.
Production
Solvent extracts Hash oil is produced by solvent extraction (maceration, infusion or percolation) of marijuana or hashish. Fresh, undried plant material is less suited for hash oil production, because much THC and CBD will be present in their carboxylic acid forms (THCA and CBDA), which may not be highly soluble in some solvents. A wide variety of solvents can be used for extraction, such as chloroform, dichloromethane, petroleum ether, naphtha, benzene, butane, methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, and olive oil.
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