Wait Until You See My New Storage Jars!

How do you store your Cannabis?

Have you ever given it a second thought beyond just keeping it out of sight, or away from little hands? Both valid details to be aware of, of course! But did you know some containers can actually degrade your product? I don't mean just bud, or just hash. However you prefer to take your medicine, its storage is important.

No matter what form your Cannabis is in, it contains cannabinoids and terpenes. Both have medicinal value, and both are sensitive to heat, light, and oxygen. It is always best to medicate with clean, fresh product. When I say fresh, I mean newer product. The older it gets the more likelihood of it being exposed to more light, heat and oxygen, degrading its potency and efficiency. No one wants to waste their money, or time on product that's gone stale. How especially sad if its preventable.

Terpenes are the ignored sisters to the THC's and CBD's of Cannabinoids. Very little is written about

terpenes. Most know that it's terpenes that give cannabis its distinctive smell. Fewer know they also give the subtle flavours to the different strains. But its the terpenes that are most responsible for the different names of strains, like Grape Ape, or Animal Cookies, and even Sour Diesel. There are cannabis flavour wheels all over the internet that show the veritable palette of scents and flavours available. And if you look a bit more you will find that many of the healing properties of the different strains are actually linked directly to their scents and flavours more than anything. (I'll have to write a blog about this one day...back on track).

Let's first address the three biggest enemies, light, heat, and oxygen. Keeping our medicine, whether in bud form, oil, shatter, hash or kief, away from these three is most important. Easy enough, store said product in a dark container. Those of us picking up our medicine from a local Ma and Pa set up are likely getting baggies and maybe brown paper bags. Those should be changed right away. Keeping your flower in the original baggie does nothing to keep those three enemies away.

Those of us with LP's receive our medicine in opaque plastic containers, air tight sealed, with "child proof" lids. These plastic tubs or bottles reduce all three enemies so it's easy to assume it's the perfect container to keep your product in.

But, it's not.

According to Ed Rosenthal, in his book Beyond Buds, its the terpenes that break down certain containers, and are in turn degraded by the chemical reaction. The worst containers to use are rubber and plastic. Some kind of chemical reaction occurs between those two compounds and causes the terpenes to degrade, which causes the container to degrade.  The best containers to use would be glass, metal, or silicone. Metal and silicone are usually excellent at keeping out light, provided we close our containers properly. If choosing glass, then preferably it should be dark. If it is not, then store the jar in a dark place when not needed, or paint the outside of it with an acrylic paint from the dollar store, or decoupage it with white glue and dark tissue paper, or news print...anything to keep out the light. Don't paint the inside though, you don't want to contaminate the goods!

Also be mindful of others in your home. I have teens and a husband at home who do not partake in my medicine. So I have had to label, freeze, hide and tape off my foods, oils, honey, and capsules for many months now. This weekend though I went out and purposely pick up special glass jars that are distinctive. I have never owned anything like them before and they have never been used for anything in my home before. I emptied all my various products into the different jars, and labeled them with dissolving labels. I then informed all my family members to steer clear of any products in either of these two styles of jars as they were exclusively for my products, to keep mine separate from everyone else's. I have yet to darken them. I'm considering something that can handle the humidity of a fridge, and washable.