by Greg Green
How to make hash
Hash is a compressed format of the cannabis drug but it is not just compressed bud. In fact compressed bud has nothing to do with Hash contrary to public belief.
Cannabinoids are the major drugs produced by the cannabis plant. We have already looked at Trichomes and we understand that these tiny stalked resin glands contain our THC and other cannabinoids. We also know that female flowers produce the majority of the little trichomes. Now this is all over the flower’s surface and is correctly referred too as “stalked capitate trichomes“.The gland heads (the rounded tips) secrete the major cannabinoids within an oil-like substance that you can remove by rubbing your fingers over the bud. We normally refer to this substance as resin. The stalks that support the gland head are secondary to the head in cannabinoid production amounts. The gland and the stalks may also burst. In the case of a strain like afghani#1 that is thick with resin, this sometimes-explosive action of the gland is automatic.
The reason why the cannabis plant produces resin oils is to gather fallen pollen from the male plant.
When we smoke bud, we hope to covert the oil into a vapour, which we can inhale. However the surface of the flowers is not the only area which produce cannabinoids. It is known that the bulbous glands on the leaves produce cannabinoids and so does the stem, but these are only in minor quantities compared to the stalked capitate trichomes.
Hash is made primarily from the collection of the stalked capitate trichomes. When the collected trichomes are compressed they form a blocky mass, which we refer to as Hashish.