agoodwinsmith | Entries tagged with cannabis

Back in 2018, I baked some Brown-Sugar Shortbread Cannabis Cookies, and misplaced my notes. Found them recently in a perfectly logical place (o noes!).

The process can be adapted to any baked good.

Brown Sugar Short Bread Cannabis Cookies

1.5 g dried cannabis
0.5 pound butter
0.5 cup brown sugar
1.5 cups fluffed all purpose flour

DECARB CANNABIS

Decarb cannabis in oven at 200 F for 30 minutes to an hour in a covered baking dish. Allow to cool.

INFUSE BUTTER

Infuse cannabis into butter. Melt butter in a mini-crockpot. Crush the decarbed cannabis very finely and add to butter. Allow crockpot to run on low for 6 to 24 hours. Pay attention to the aroma and stop the crockpot if it begins to smell bitter. Unplug the crockpot and allow the infused butter to solidify overnight.

MAKE COOKIES

Blend infused butter with brown sugar until the grittiness of the sugar is gone. Add flour in 0.5 cup amounts, stopping when the dough is no longer sticky, but is still pliable, soft, and not dry. Press bits of dough into a 0.5 tablespoon form, and tap out gently onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Chill the cookies on the cookie sheet in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

BAKE COOKIES

Preheat oven to 325 F. Place chilled cookie sheet directly in oven. Bake 11 minutes, and then reduce heat to 300 F and bake a further 20 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheet.

Well, in general, for me cannabis is a bit of a bust.

I have been using cannabis solely for pain relief since 03 Jan 23. I stopped using any other pain medication because you can't really tell what a new thing is doing if it is trying to do things that other meds are already supposed (hah) to be doing.

In both the salve and the gummies, I am using CBD heavy product, with some or limited amounts of THC.

I am using a salve that is no better than extra strength Tiger Balm. I am not naming the salve because regardless of its lack of efficacy, it *stinks* of bad eucalyptus. Eucalyptus doesn't need to smell bad - see both Tiger Balm and Vicks Vapo Rub, but this cannabis ointment is ew. If the cannabis worked I would be hunting for a different goo. I will use it up - it is briefly effective, after all, and waste not want not - but I won't be replacing the salve.

Gummies for sleep have been more successful. I have tried several, some in an effort to reduce costs (aieee), and the best balance of CBD and THC for me is 10 mg CBD with 2.5 mg THC per gummie. CBD gummies without THC are not effective for me. Lower amounts of THC are not effective for me.

I did try a THC only product - a can of pop - with 10 mg of THC. It was very pleasant, and I really enjoyed the bag of lime flavoured tostito corn chips I'd been saving. Mmm. It was also super effective for pain management because during the first part of the experience I no longer cared that I had pain (it was still there, but busy now), and then I slept amazingly well, and then the next day's residual glow manifested as reduced pain.

However, contrarian that I am, I do not wish to get stoned every night to manage my pain.

I had reached that conclusion before I had been shown this distressing study:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/healing-from-addiction/202303/long-term-cannabis-use-cognition-and-the-hippocampus

Long-term cannabis use rots the hippocampus.

Argh. We need our hippocampuses:
https://www.ataxia.org/scasourceposts/snapshot-what-is-the-hippocampus/
We need them to form new memories. We need them to know where we are in space and to navigate in same.

So. Then. How much and how often is "long term use"? Can I still rack up "long term use" if I started late? The study doesn't seem to have distinguished between CBD and THC and all the other canaboids and terpenes, but it does determine that it doesn't matter whether the cannabis is smoked or eaten. Tobacco cigarette smokers do not have the same level of hippocampus rot. And cannabis users who use the same amount whether eaten or smoked have the same level of rot.

Well. Ain't that lovely.

So. My favourite gummie is Shred'ems Wild Berry Blaze Gummies. In fact, if they put out just a plain gummie candy they would probably make their fortune because the candy is lovely. They are not cheap: they are $1.25 (CAN) each. So, I will be returning to using extra strength Tiger Balm (cheaper), and probably either ibuprophen or tylenol (also cheaper by a lot), and reserve the yummy gummies for very bad sleep nights.

The combination of ibuprophen/tylenol and cannabis seems to be mostly benign, however they all use the same liver enzymes to metabolize, so it is worth staggering the times of consumption.

Bum. I thought/hoped it was gonna be a miracle cure.

... I got to participate in the New Golden Age today.

Well, partly today and partly yesterday - but the payoff was today.

I bought cannabis products from an in-town on-line store and I had my purchase delivered! Woo!

The only thing was that there was not a delivery driver yesterday, but hey.

It came in a fancy bag, and I needed to show ID and sign for the fancy bag. The contents of the fancy bag are somewhat down-letting because the items are in their repellant-to-children packaging[1]. I find the little sealed containers nostalgia-inducing because I remember my Dad buying cigarettes with the same style of tax stickers across the opening.

Anyhoo. I am going to try CBD forward salves and edibles for my various aches and pains. We shall see.

[1] - which only proves to me that the developers have never actually *seen* real children in operation

The interior of BC is notoriously cloudy during the winter months. It often keeps things warm enough to prevent snow, in more southerly parts. When we do get sunshine, we squint a lot, but it really boosts the mood. Today we are having sunshine. :)

Also, while we have had two small snowfalls since the end of October, it hasn't stuck, and the ground is bare. Last year by this time we'd already had 6 weeks of knee-deep snow. This is much much much much much much better. Much.

I have been bummed by my cannabis experiments. I hadn't actually experimented much with it as a young woman, and not at all since I was 30 (30+ years ago), and I had forgotten how "nothing" some of my experiences were, and only remembered the two pleasant experiences. In general I am feeling nothing from the cookies. Bummer. Fortunately my SOGP is here to tell me that the effects of the cannabis cookies are just fine, thank you, so it's not like I bought a crummy batch. And I really like the smell of the house when I'm dorking about preparing it for baking. :)

While bare, it has been too cold to take Mr. Cat out for his daily chomp of grass. Last time he was out, the grass was too frozen to bite. But he still wants to go. He has a special spot to sleep on the couch in the TV room, piled up with a pillow and covered with a Grama-made afghan. If he feels that he is being ignored in his request, he goes down the hallway, climbs on his pillow, and sobs in the dark. It really is the most heart-rending cry. Poor little old dude.

Yes, I bought myself some pot from the BC Gov't online store. What with one thing and another, it cost me nearly $100.00 for 10.5 grams of pot. If you have heard the aghastness at the amount of packaging, all I can say is, "Wow - that's a *LOT* of packaging."

I have taken about 0.5 grams of each of the three kinds that I bought and baked it into cookies, which are even now cooling. Yes, I decarbed it in the oven, and then I infused it into butter using a crock pot, and then I used the butter to make brown sugar shortbread cookies.

Based on my calculations, there should be 3.34 milligrams of THC in each cookie, and there should be 1.67 milligrams of CBD in each cookie. We are going to consume one or two this evening and see what happens.

I must say that all this dorking about with heated cannabis makes the house smell good.

:)

So, yes, small businesses who submitted their applications as soon as the applications were available had their shops raided:
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/2018/10/19/cannabis-shop-raids-canada/?fbclid=IwAR3q4NTDSliq4osJnNjwij-2bIjt-4oVUzykcCOeiFjy-uZhtSrEH0pvT-c

As always - the small independent business gets crushed in the wheels of the processes that smooth the way for larger international corporations. I am ashamed of BC.

I didn't actually try to order any yesterday - but rumour has it that everything was gone by 8:00 am anyway.

I would laugh except I am too busy rolling my eyes.

:)

There's still only one physical legal store in BC today (Kamloops), but the BC Gov't has its online store up and running. According to the website, I am not permitted to provide a link to the store.

I am also not permitted to use any of the text of the website for any purpose any where ever, so I am paraphrasing.

paraphrase - The queen of England owns the website and she also operates it.

I wonder if Her Majesty knows.

The terms and conditions make a distinction between offer to sell and invitations to receive purchase offers.

Why is it important that the Province not be making "offers to sell", but instead "invitations to purchase"? Does an invitation rather than offer avoid the heinous sin of (dun dun duuuuun) solicitation? Gasp?

And, the online cost of one gram of loose weed is about $14.86 CAN before taxes and shipping. A one-gram pre-roll of the same weed strain is $15.99 CAN (again before taxes and shipping), and the roll includes a filter tip.[1]

I can't make up my mind whether to order some or not. :)

I will be interested to hear what various law enforcement agencies have been doing today. I wonder whether or not their activities will be covered by traditional media.

[1] - the strain I am comparing comes from the medical marijuana farm that I had previous emailed, about two/three months ago, asking whether they would be able to sell to non-medical customers. The first answer was a very pleasantly phrased "we don't know", and then when I followed up about two weeks ago, it was a very brusque "no never not not not". Why, once they knew, they couldn't have said that, while they couldn't sell directly, they were going to be supplying gov't stores, I don't know. Prolly back to the whole solicitation issue.

So - a month to go until recreational cannabis is legal in BC.

But lo:
https://vancouversun.com/cannabis/cannabis-news/partaking-some-time-b-c-to-get-just-a-single-cannabis-store-on-day-one-of-legalization

One store, in aaaaaaaalll of BC (BC is huge, folks), will be approved to sell legal recreational cannabis in BC by 17 October 2018.

However, our mighty public forces are absolutely ready to charge in and raid all the "dispensaries" that have been operating up 'til now, and charge them with the new legislation. The new legislation is what it has all really been about. New powers to grind down and stamp out the independent operators, so that the field can be cleared for the big companies.

I am so angry about this revolting chicanery.

While cruelly barred from using ibruprofen, I, of course, researched other pain-relief options, and CBD seems to be worth trying. Right now this can be accessed in Canada from an approved medical provider - as long as the patient has the correct approval from a doctor (we apparently cannot call it a prescription, but the doctor needs to diagnose and determine dosage - go figure). So, I found a medical provider who has products I would like to try.

I sent them an email asking them whether or not, once recreational cannabis is legal (FCVOL), a person can purchase their products, or if they will still be considered medical products requiring a doctor's recommendation. They replied that they don't yet know.

So. BC knows that they want tax revenue from the sale of recreational cannabis, but they don't know whether or not currently functioning and compliant providers can sell to a wider audience. Summer is nearly over, and 17 October 2018 is a little more than 2 months away.

Oh well, eh?

Well, Global News is attempting to cast the decision as primarily a money grab, and it's certainly a little bit financially motivated, prolly, but I really think it is annoyance about the Provincial Government:
https://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/news/osoyoos-council-votes-for-privately-operated-cannabis-retailers/

No gov't weed stores in Osoyoos - private or nothing.

And it might actually be *nothing* when 17 October 2018 rolls around. Not that I have any desire to get into retail again (shudder), but I have been checking my local city hall to see what process they have in place to approve (or not) a cannabis business in town. Zip. Zilch. There isn't even a business licence application form yet (I mean: there's a special form for opening a B+B, so *surely* ....).

A smaller town, about 20 kays away, has just said: nope nope nopity nope, and they are not permitting any cannabis stores in town. They've got as many liquor stores as we do, so I don't think it is puritanical fervor - I suspect their plan is to wait and see what kind of trouble other municipalities run into - and then reconsider.

It is going to be such a schmaaahhzzle.

Yes, further rantings about the new Cannabis "legalization". Here is the BC legislation:

http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/bills/billscurrent/3rd41st:gov30-1

Here are the enraging parts:

Under DEFINITIONS:

"public place" means

(a) any place to which the public has access as of right or by invitation, express or implied, whether or not a fee is charged for entry, and

(b) any vehicle or boat located in a place referred to in paragraph (a) or in any outdoor place open to public view;

Under DIVISION 5, OTHER RULES

Intoxication in public place

78 (1) A person who is intoxicated from cannabis must not be or remain in a place described in paragraph (a) of the definition of "public place".

(2) A peace officer may arrest, without a warrant, a person whom the peace officer believes on reasonable grounds is contravening subsection (1).

Back to the rant:

So much for your deck, your patio, your backyard, your balcony, your stoop, or your porch - unless, of course, you own vast acreages of space where you can have a purpose-built, single-use, high-walled pot enclosure - a Customized Curtained Cannabis Cabana, in fact.

Yes, I know, vehicles and boats are in paragraph (b), but I know of someone who was sleeping in the back of their car after too much booze, and they were charged with being in control of a vehicle while impaired. Whether or not the charges ultimately stuck, it did mean that the person was expelled from their vehicle, abandoned without transport, and their vehicle impounded. Some officious busybody somewhere, based on the loosey-goosey language "or in any outdoor place open to public view", is going to feel justified to charge people on their patio because children could theoretically see them from the street.

Maybe I'm anticipating things that won't happen. My faith in humanity is currently not high.

I was close, but still missed it:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cannabis-pot-legalization-bill-1.4713839

We won't have to wait for Hallowe'en though - but I bet this year is going to be a humdinger. Especially for law enforcement groups to show they aren't wusses, or something. Argh. Private parties at home, folks.

And Canada rejoiced while rolling their eyes.

Here's how BC is gonna roll it out, whenever they get their butts in gear:
http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/bills/billscurrent/3rd41st:gov30-1

The most a gov't weed store can sell to one person at one time is 30 grams. The most one person may possess anywhere, including their home is 30 grams. This is like saying the most the gov't dairy (old joke about gov't liquor stores) can sell to one person is a two-four[1] of beer, and that the most beer one person can possess anywhere, including their home, is a two-four.

This is sooooo stupid I can only assume that someone with black market ties was on the panel that drafted this legislation.

I mean: I'm fairly ignorant and I suspect that 30 grams of dried vegetative matter is actually quite bulky, but limiting it this way is just designed to make people want to hoard things, if WWII rationing is anything to go by.

Anyhoo. Here's the "retail brand" for BC weed stores:
https://www.bcldbcannabisupdates.com/news/26-04-2018-bc-ldb-establishes-retail-brand-non-medical-cannabis
You'll notice their header for the webpage is more alluring than that. Luscious green leaves. :)

The timeline for first retail sale is supposed to be 8 to 12 weeks. What do you bet that the first day of sale will be Labour Day (first Monday in September), which in BC is traditionally the last day of summer holidays before the first day of school. :) Maybe they'll go for Hallowe'en. :)

Nononono: Thanksgiving (first Sunday in October) - of course! :)

[1] slang for a flat of 24 bottles or 24 cans. Pop comes in 24s too, if you want it, but you wouldn't call that a two four. Two four is specifically beer.

So, in the bright new future of the Trudeau the Younger's hep liberal regime, Cannabis was slated to be legalized for recreational sale for Canada Day (01 July) of 2018. Bahaha.

So, the earliest it might happen is now August or so. Summerish for sure. It might still be 2018. In the meantime each province has framed its legislation for sale (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/public-safety/cannabis/legalization and https://www.bcldbcannabisupdates.com/). They are ready for the money grab, so that's alright.

What this has done is allow for increased punishment of "abuse" and several new definitions of abuse. Basically, if you have it in your house and your kids find it - you are in so much shit you will never get out (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/public-safety/cannabis).

So, as you know, I wanted to try my hand at growing marijuana in an old-fashioned pitiful THC counts way - but while I can grow up to four plants myself, if I grow them outside, they have to be in a place where they can't been seen from public places. There is not even one tiny spot in my yard that cannot be seen from some public place somewhere - you don't even need to stand on tippy-toes. Poot. Then I am wondering: no one owns the airspace above their property - if the neighbourhood kids are dorking about with a drone, does that mean my plants carefully hidden behind trellises are still publically viewable? Don't know, but considering the new climate of zero tolerance for corrupting youth (think of the *children*), I suspect someone would take me to court to argue yes.

Okay, so I am not going to horse around with plants. Fine. I don't like gardening anyway. Yes, okay, I like looking at pretty gardens, and I appreciate them, but I don't wanna do any of the gritty stuff.

I never wanted to smoke the cannabis, since lungs and whatnot, but just as I'm getting bummed about the horticultural project, mwahahaha, Banyen Books were having a sale on their cannabis books - so I bought a bunch of cook books! Woo! It's less exciting than I thought, since basically one uses one's dried cannabis to infuse butter or oil, or some other fat-based liquid (THC is fat-soluble and collects in the fats of your body - more on that in a bit) such as cream, and then you bake/cook your normal thing with the infused fat. Okay - that sounds like one could make a tasty shortbread - or even mac'n'cheese if one felt that way. I could become *really* famous for my vegetarian chili. :)

The tricky part with edibles is that since one eats it, it needs to be digested before it is felt - which can be 60 to 90 minutes after the first bite. And then the effects last longer. So this means that the project to have a carefully crafted dinner each course of which is delicately infused with different cannabis means that not only should you have a sleep over - but maybe for a week.

So, then I was wondering what to actually bake/cook that could be safely shareable at a party. Obviously it needs to be an early appetizer, like a spice coated nut, and it needs to be skimpy. In fact - it might be better to give people little individually wrapped favours of something like cannabis shortbread so they can take them home and enjoy them in safety (keeping in mind the whole issue of allowing them to fall into the hands of people under the age of 19).

So then I began to wonder why I haven't seen any campaigns about how much consumption will lead to impairment. How little leads to impairment for how long? I mean: we "know" about alcohol (https://www.cbabc.org/For-the-Public/Dial-A-Law/Scripts/Automobiles/190) - in BC it 0.05 - which is 50 milligram in 100 milliliters of blood, and all mediated by breathalyzers, and the ad campaigns were one drink for women, two drinks for men.

We (Canada) have apparently piloted a roadside swabbing device for saliva (https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/rl-fld-drg-scrnng-dvc-plt/index-en.aspx). "Oral Fluid" - ew. :) However, an important takeaway is that there are more false positives in colder weather. How excellent for Canada. :)

But that study didn't indicate what was being screened for - how much?

So I hunted around and found the Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines which sounds very cosy, and has been adopted by several Canadian agencies (https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303818), and which basically says: abstinence (which is stupidly idealistic at best), but eventually unbends enough to say that you shouldn't operate machinery (hello motor vehicle) until at least six hours after use.

But there weren't any numbers. So I kept digging until I found this incantation: ng/mL.

It took me a while to find, but that stands for nanograms per milliliters. The two numbers bandied about are 2ng and 5ng, and that's for 2 or 5 nanograms of THC metabolite per 100 milliliters of blood. These are numbers common to areas that are doing roadside screening for impairment. [Edited: apparently this is per single milliliter.]

But of course, there are problems. This is the best overview: http://www.globaldrugpolicy.org/Issues/Vol%2010%20Issue%203/Articles/Why%20a%205%20ng%20limit%20is%20bad%20public%20policy%20092616.pdf

Important bits - THC is fat soluble and not water soluble, so unlike alcohol, which stays mostly smoothly dispersed across all water venues in the body, it escapes from the blood stream into the fat bits (which includes the brain) as quickly as possible. Therefore, no matter what the measure in the blood or spit, there is no correlation to how much is in the brain. One can measure "safe" and be impaired.

Alternatively, apparently the half-life of marijuana in the body is 67 days (!!!) (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3842229/), and according to that demonizing article, some people can actually have a negative ng/mL measure.

So.

Piffle.

I was looking for some reasonable guidelines for consumption that would allow me to enjoy without becoming a danger to others - and I have mostly found that THC can be in your system for the rest of eternity, so there is no way beyond personal report (I feel fine!) to scientifically establish impairment. This is not acceptable.

No baked goods for my guests, then. Poot.

So. I am having difficulty using Facebook and Gmail. It's very similar to the problems I had using Shaw webmail at home before we left Vancouver. Since Facebook has become the family jungle drums, it is not *just* annoying - but I probably shouldn't be spending my whole retirement with my head stuck in Facebook.

So. As many know, cannabis will become legal in Canada in July of 2018. Each province is competing with all the others to come up with the most contorted laws and supply chain, which is tedious - especially since I suspect they will all tie for the WTF award. But, I am pretty sure that I will be able have at least one marijuana plant. And I want one. :)

So I have been reading up on marijuana cultivation.

Good grief.

There are boy plants and girl plants. Both plants set buds - little danglers for the boys and fuzzy fronds for the girls. The girl plants supply the most potent marijuana - but only if they are kept away from the boy plants. Telling boy from girl is only confirmed when buds start setting. Also - at least 12 hours of absolute pitch-black darkness is required for girl plants buds to set and become super marijuana. There are even methods to traumatize boy plants into behaving like girl plants to maximize the fuzzy frond supply.

And drying and curing methods for potency maximization gets even more intense.

Seriously - the paraphernalia and anxiety about potency are way outside of my scope of interest. I want to grow pot for the same reason I like to grow roses - to enjoy the roses. I'm not trying to win first prize at the fall fair.

I also suspect that growing pot is going to be like growing carrots - sure, it can be done - but it's a lot of work for something that can be picked up at the store for less than it costs to do it yourself. On the other hand - it might be like growing tomatoes - *waaaaay* better flavor and variety than available at the store. I suspect this is not the case for pot - the varieties listed in the medical-supply stores even now look pretty extensive.

But, you know, it will be fun to give it a shot.

But mine are going to live outside in the normal weather and make do with dirt and water and light from the sun. :)

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Page Summary

Cannabis Baked Goods - how to.
Cannabis as a pain killer - 10 week progress report
But hey ...
Sunshine
Right - the cookies are cooling.
Cannabis in BC - I told ya so
Pot Postscript
First Day of Legal Weed - BC version
Cannabis in BC - can you say schmaaaaaazle? I knew you could.
Cannabis and the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.
Go Osoyoos!
You'll need a Customized Curtained Cannabis Cabana in BC.
17 October 2018 - that's the day
Senate passed the cannabis bill yesterday.
Canada legalizes Cannabis - kinda. (Dearie dearie me.)
White Picket Fence and Pot Plants By the Door.

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Drat this working for a living all to heck.

Entries tagged with cannabis

Cannabis Baked Goods - how to.

Cannabis as a pain killer - 10 week progress report

But hey ...

Sunshine

Right - the cookies are cooling.

Cannabis in BC - I told ya so

Pot Postscript

First Day of Legal Weed - BC version

Cannabis in BC - can you say schmaaaaaazle? I knew you could.

Cannabis and the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.

Go Osoyoos!

You'll need a Customized Curtained Cannabis Cabana in BC.

17 October 2018 - that's the day

Senate passed the cannabis bill yesterday.

Canada legalizes Cannabis - kinda. (Dearie dearie me.)

White Picket Fence and Pot Plants By the Door.