Most people think of cannabis flower or edibles when talking about medical marijuana, but in truth, there are many kinds of cannabis products available to patients who have registered for a medical marijuana certification in West Virginia.
While cannabis flower and edibles are both highly effective products for patients, there is certainly a category of cannabis goods that are designed to provide the maximum potency and value-per-dose.
These products are hash, or concentrates.
Concentrates offer the highest amount of potency-per-dose and are excellent for getting fast relief to patients with higher tolerances or severe symptoms.
But while these products perhaps offer the highest potency, they can also be entirely too strong for newer patients or patients with a lower tolerance. These people may find concentrates overwhelming and choose to avoid them altogether.
In this article, we’ll cover why concentrates are great products, how they’re used, and talk about which patients can benefit from concentrates the most.
West Virginia Cannabis: What Are Concentrates, or Hash?
Hash Is an Umbrella Term for Concentrates in 2022
If you’ve been around the cannabis community for quite some time, you’ll be familiar with hash as a dark brown to black product mostly found in Europe, the Middle East, or the Himalayas.
Hash used to refer to this kind of concentrate because hash was the only one for several thousand years, though that’s changed in modern times.
Nowadays, there are many different types of concentrates or “hash”. Everything from BHO, Rosin, Live Resin, Hashish, Bubble Hash, to Sugar, Badder, Budder and so on.
And they’re all universally known as a type of “hash” or “concentrate”.
Modern Hash is Potent & Cleaner
One stigma concerning hash or concentrate products is that they require chemicals to create.
While this is technically true for certain types of hash products, like BHO concentrates, C02 extracts, and many solvent-based concentrates, all measurable amounts of chemicals are purged from the final product, leaving you with only the cannabinoids and terpenes to consume.
The industry is unanimously moving farther away from solvent-based extracts anyway, preferring solventless options, like Rosin and Live Rosin, as the premier choice for the best hash to consume.
This makes hash products suggestively healthier to vaporize as opposed to vaporizing full plant matter, like cannabis flower. The hash is only made up of the natural oils that contain a few compounds chosen by the extractor, such as THC, CBD, and terpenes.
Who Are Cannabis Concentrates Made for & Why Are They so Great?
Concentrates Are for Patients With a High Tolerance or Extreme Symptoms
One of the best things about hash is also one of its cons for certain people, and that’s potency.
Hash or concentrate products are extremely potent compared to other cannabis products, often containing anywhere between 60% - 90%+ THC.
Compared to cannabis flower, which at its peak is around 35% potency, concentrates are considerably more potent than cannabis flower and edibles.
This can be an incredible resource for patients who have a higher tolerance to THC and require frequent dosing, and it can be a lifesaver for patients who are suffering from severe symptoms like seizures or convulsions from Parkinson’s disease.
But for patients who are just starting out with cannabis and haven’t yet built a high tolerance to THC, these products are likely too potent unless a condition’s symptoms require a strong product. This is frequently the case with patients suffering from severe seizures, who often use concentrate products like RSO, or Rick Simpson Oil.
How Do I Use Concentrate Products?
Concentrates can be used in a variety of ways, but the most common methods of consumption are vaporization and consuming orally.
Many patients who use concentrate products, like RSO, take them orally, and this is usually done in very small dosages measuring around 0.1 - 0.25 grams. Concentrates like RSO can be effectively taken orally or combined with foodstuffs to make edibles, and RSO usually isn’t vaporized.
Traditional hash, and most of the concentrates you’ll find in West Virginia pharmacies like distillate or sugar, are made to be vaporized.
These products are loaded into either a dab rig or an electronic dab rig and heated to a temperature that effectively vaporizes the material, which is then inhaled similar to smoking.
The difference between vaporizing and smoking is that smoking involves combustion, and when a material is combusted, it can release toxic carbons and chemicals that are generally less healthy to consume.
Vaporizing “lifts” specific compounds from a material, turning them into a vapor that you can inhale, but vaping doesn’t create the same toxic carbons as smoking because there is no combustion.
Old school dab rigs typically require a butane torch to get the glass bowl to appropriate temperatures, which can seem intimidating to some patients.
Thankfully, there are many modern vaporizers that don’t require using a torch, or any open flame for that matter, and they are very easy to use.
Because concentrates offer such a high potency and immediate effects, they are favored by patients with severe symptoms or very high tolerances and offer some of the quickest and most efficient relief available from cannabis to medical marijuana patients.
Get Your Medical Marijuana Certification in West Virginia
Concentrates are available in West Virginia pharmacies for patients who have a qualifying condition and receive a medical marijuana certification from a doctor. West Virginia Marijuana Card offers online telehealth appointments with certified physicians who can help you get your medical marijuana certification in West Virginia from the comfort of your own home.
Take the steps to schedule your medical marijuana evaluation appointment today and get access to legal marijuana products available at dispensaries!
Being a West Virginia medical marijuana patient allows you the freedom to take your medication the right way for you. We’re dedicated to helping patients every step of the way! Feel free to give us a call at 877-303-8424 and we can answer your questions about getting a medical marijuana card in West Virginia.
Doctors Who Care.
Relief You Can Trust.
West Virginia Marijuana Card’s mission is to help everyone achieve
wellness safely and conveniently through increased access to medical marijuana.
Our focus on education, inclusion, and acceptance will reduce the stigma for
our patients by providing equal access to timely information and compassionate care.
If you have any questions, call us at 877-303-8424, or simply book a medical marijuana evaluation to start getting relief you can trust today!
Check out West Virginia Marijuana Card’s Blog to keep up to date on the latest medical marijuana news, tips, and information and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to join the medical marijuana conversation in West Virginia.
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