Current Dilemma

How do I begin to do what I am about to do!?

I’m about to have to discuss openly all the particulars of how and why I medicate with Cannabis. FACE to FACE! With people in the medical community!! Holy Shit!!

Everything new, all at once. Why not?

Let me set the scene so you too can speak expletives, or not.

I’m in Montreal with my 13 year old daughter. She is scheduled for surgery this coming Monday, and a second the following Monday. They are correcting scoliosis, so it’s a big deal that they are doing stuff to her spine. Creeps me out! But this is not something that a medicine can correct.

At first I assumed that while she was in hospital I would still be sleeping in the hotel. I discovered hours before the flight that I would be staying in the hospital room with my daughter after surgery. The ideal situation for any loving parent who wants to care for a recovering child. Except when that parent uses medical marijuana all day. 

1. Its a Children's Hospital 
2. I’m not the patient who has a right to my prescribed meds
3. I’m with a minor.
4. The hospital has strict rules about how and where medicines are stored….even for the attending parent  i.e. Behind a locked door, even the parents meds, locked up and doled out. So…ya! 

Can you imagine!?! Suddenly not having freedom of access to your own marijuana?

ha..ha..

…oh!   :(

Sounds a little like the Drug War, Hopefully its not what will happen as the Liberals work out the details of legalization. It’s certainly what would happen if Big Pharma got ahold of cannabis! Yikes!!

Well, my current reality, apart from being a concerned Mom with her daughter set for two major surgeries a week apart, is dealing with a partial restriction on my access and use of my medicine. It’s a big stressor for sure. Without properly medicating I can certainly go back to pharma for pain meds. But the anxiety and depression would worsen. And the restless leg stupid thing I get has already returned, because I’m under medicating already. Just not being at home effects my ability to medicate properly. 

ADD on top of all those unknowns and stressors the fact that I’m going to have to be open and transparent with these medical professionals, and possibly even other parents is kinda scary! I've been hiding for a year after all. Behind Newbie, behind my barn, behind my fear. So, now I'm kind of being forced by circumstances to start being open. It's very uncomfortable. But I also see it is very necessary. 

I so want to be a good witness, and reliable voice in this community! I want to be able to say I helped, I made a difference in the war on drugs (hehe). 

Maybe I’m ready for this. Maybe I’m not. I have been trying to learning as much as I could, but I realize I know so very little. I want to learn so VERY MUCH more!! (Gotta get to Prohibition for some heavy reading material while I’m here) But I do know more than someone whose never encountered a medical marijuana user before. So, I will be many peoples first example of one over the next few weeks. I will probably be spoken about for a long time too. I might be just a nobody most days, months, or years, but this is a chance in a lifetime to be a world shaker.

But no pressure!

Purchased for discreet use while at hospital. Thanks Prohibition!

Come follow me on Facebook. Get blog updates, and extras as I post pics and status daily. Especially when interesting stuff like this goes on. 

Let me know how you like my blog. Comment below and invite you're friends to join me on my second year as a newbie.

Making Canna-Oil: Math Included

If you have ever tried to find a definitive answer to a dosage question on the internet, you were out of luck, until now that is. 

As a Medical Cannabis Partaker (and a busy parent) I need to know what my results are going to be before I make my oil. I also need to know that my results can be reproduced. But how do I do that with kief instead of bud was my dilemma.

I understand the typical ratios for bud to butter to use for baking. I didn't know how to measure and account for the dosage using kief, or how many pills to take instead of food. So I had a few questions that were nearly impossible to find consistent answers to. Not one source I checked out agreed with the next as to how much kief to use. There is apparently no Bud To Kief Ratio "rule of thumb" out there either, though I'm proposing one here.    

And I've done all the math.  It was confusing at first, but I've figured it out. There will be diagrams, or at least pictures. With all the guess work now gone we can happily medicate knowing our results should be the same every time and increasing our dosage as our tolerance increases will be easy as well.

The Bud to Butter Ratio

For making Canna Budder, or Canna Oil for baking or cooking you will get consistent results using these ratios.

My Cheat-sheet 

 Kief, which is basically the tiny resin particles that have fallen off the bud, weighs much less than bud. So 1oz. of bud is not equal to 1oz. of kief when it comes to strength of dosage! One ounce of kief would be much stronger.

That was the challenge! Sadly, every "weed authority" I searched online did not discuss the topic at all of how much kief to use instead of bud. Oh, there are more than a few kief recipes out there, just nobody but me is apparently looking for this exact information.

Except, this is exactly what is needed in the industry; a standard to use that will deliver the same results every time for edibles, tinctures, and other blends. Listening to The Cannabist has taught me that the industry in Calorado has (and still is) suffered lots of different growing pains,  inconsistency of product was one of those major issues!
About to give up, I finally found a reliable source! Big shout out to MFT. If you have never heard of them, please check them out. These bunch of guys might look rough, but they are a bunch of sweeties! Marijuana For Trauma in Oromocto, New Brunswick. A few good people there have been cooking with Cannabis for a long time and so the information was passed down to me verbally.

Here's the ratio I finally found and would like to propose that this become the...

Golden Ratio of Bud to Kief

1oz Bud  =  4g Kief

14g Bud  =  2g Kief  

7g Bud  =  1g Kief  

3.5g Bud  = 0.5g Kief 

Keeping to this ratio will generally give you the same results as the Bud to Butter Ratio above, all other things being equal, of course. Consistency is as important at home as it is from the edibles you purchase at your local or favourite dispensary.


Quick note about the kind of oil or fat you are using to absorb the cannabinoids while it is decarboxing. Butter, olive oil, coconut oil are all fats, but not all fats are the same. One might absorb less cannabiniods than another, even with all else the same. I'm not a scientist, but I know that this area needs research to take all the guess work out of making the most potent oil infusion. Until that happens take time to learn about what you are putting into your body.


Decarboxylating: Don't forget about it!

Decarb the kief the same as Bud; in oil or dry but make sure you cook it at no higher a temperature than 285'F, for no less than 30 minutes. This time around I personally used my Crockpot on low, than high, than low again. I used a candy thermometer to test the temp of the oil over the 5 hour process. It never when over 275'F. Important to note, a temp higher than 285'F will cause the THC to evaporate off, losing some of your high. So a lower temp, but a longer time should give you better results.There are lots of methods out there, find yourself a favourite and get to it; as long as it follows these general rules above for temp and time it should work.


Note: I've been informed that though adding lecithin to the process of infusing your chosen oil with Cannibis is a suggestion and not necessary, it does increase the potency. And a real quick Google search of Lecithin tells me there are varying qualities and sources of it to pay attention to when purchasing. 

The Big Math: How to know your dosage

The big complicated math...well not really. The trick is having the formula!
And I'm giving it to you right here.
As medical marijauna users managing a chronic condition know, it is important to know your dosages. We keep track of how much or how often we dose, so consistency, quality, and potency are imperative. 
To know what dosage your baked goods are when making cookies or brownies fill in the blanks as best you can. I realize, if your medicating illegally you might not have the ability to know what percent your bud's THC is, so you will have to guess. I think I've read that most street side weed is around the 15 -16%THC. At least it's a good ballpark figure to guesstimate with.

The formula is:

 g x 1000 x THC% divided by #pieces = THC dose per piece.

So in Real life my last brownie batch I measured the dose like this:

4.09grams (bud) x 1000 = 4,090mgs

4090mg x 13.3%THC = 543.97mg

543.97mg divided by 24 pieces

= 22.66mgs per piece.

So my tolerance level for edibles right now is just over two doses, according to Colorado's term "Dose" which is 10mg (other States list a "dose" as 5 mg). Perhaps that is not a big deal to know now if you are not in a place where edibles are available, but it is good to know what constitutes a dose so you are aware and don't have to guess or even be in fear of over doing it. 

With the Kief in Coconut oil to put into pills the math got a little more complicated, because there were two different formulas I ended up needing to use. I can't describe this math. But I wrote it out nice and took a picture...

One last time, I'm not a scientist or professional anything. I'm a medical marijuana user. And I like to know what I'm putting in my body. I like consistency, I like predictability. I do not like to be in the position of being over medicated and suddenly incapable of getting my chores or errands done, or visa-versa, haven't medicated enough and in too much pain to be as active as I wish.                                                               This formula can be used to determine how much bud (or kief) to use for your right dosage, as well as say,  how many pieces to eat or divid the recipe into.                                                                                       

The bonus is, if you know how potent your cookies or brownies are you can wisely introduce a newbie with a low first dose of 3 or 5mg. There's nothing more sad than turning someone off Mother Natures best medicine by over dosing them on their first time like I did with my daughter...

but that's another story.

P.S. If you know for a fact that I am incorrect in this proposal that 28g of bud = 4g of kief, please comment below. I'm still learning and willing to be corrected.

A Retrospective: Not So Newbie Anymore

I have a confession to make. I'm a medical cannabis user.

Being a medical cannabis user is entirely different from being a recreational user, or an occasional user.

Using marijuana medically takes a whole new level of commitment. And not just from you, but also from the ones you live with and the medical professionals who support you. Strangely enough it takes a community of support for a person to be a medical marijuana patient, so I realize I'm contradicting myself when I say that. I have complained before that being a MMJ patient is a lonely place to be because I have had chosen to learn so much alone.

Hubby "hot boxed" the Barn!

I focused on the 'doing things alone' and so sought out others who also smoke marijuana. Whether it was recreational or medical use wasn't an issue for me. I wanted to experience the culture of puff, puff, pass. And I totally have! But I eventually came to the realization that I was sorely lacking in one side of my support system. I had no one else around me who was a medical user and I was starting to feel that lack.



It took nearly a year of reading, discussion and documentary watching to come to the terrifying decision to try Cannabis in the first place. It has been nearly a year of using it now, but somewhere along the way I stopped reading, talking and learning. The reason was because I knew more than everyone else in my  immediate circle about cannabis. I'm no scholar! I know I really know very little on such a vast yet vastly under scientifically studied subject! But any time I tried to have conversations with someone about the science, or the effects, or even the politics of marijuana usually left me exhausted from talking so much. I'd have to back tract all the time, needing to first explaining three other articles I read that somehow related to the topic that was on my mind at the time. Eventually I just stopped learning all together since I didn't have anyone to converse with about the things I was learning.

THAT was lonely! So I ignored that part of my life and just eventually got off track.

Then I meet a real newbie, and that changed everything!

meme and picture are my originals

A friend introduced me to someone who has been a secret pot smoker most of her 45+ years. Nice lady. Some stuff started to dawn on me as we smoked. Like when she was surprised to hear that it is impossible to die from an overdose of pot. I wondered why, if you actually thought something could kill you, why would you ever smoke it?!! But then again I'm not much of a risk taker in life; proven by a full year of learning before asking the one person I knew for a try.

It was my second encounter with her that really woke me up to where I had allowed myself to slip to. Pure coincidence that she was part of it actually. A common friend invited us out to a bar to see a great local band one evening. Not having those invitations often I jumped at the offer and said yes. "Oh, could you do us a favour and roll us a joint, we'll pay your way in and your drinks". I almost hesitated. But when we sit around a table we all pitch in so I didn't really worry about it. It wasn't until we arrived and the ladies had to find a hidden corner to light their newly acquired joint before they went in, that I realized my blunder.

They had to hide. I did not.
I had with me my vape, and my licence from my mmj provider. As long as I followed the laws regarding smoking I was fully allowed to stand outside the bar and use my vape, or smoke a joint if I choose, no fear. Then it dawned on me that I had given them that weed, and by mere association in that situation I could be in trouble legally. It was THAT moment I realized I needed to smarten up, and pay more attention. I recognized I needed to include more people in my life who were likeminded and pursuing a similar life path. I needed a medical marijuana community and I needed to get over my fear of doing that.

So here I am. Not so much of a Newbie as I once was, and again actively learning. I wouldn't give up
my Barn buddies for the world! They have been a big and wonderful part of my life over the last year!  To round out my support system I have now been to two meetings at my local MFT and met some wonderful military and non-military women who are also new medical marijuana users. That's a total of four things I have in common with them right there! It took a lot to get into that first meeting. Lots of will power over the fear that was trying to escalate to terror. But I did it, and I am SO very glad I dared to be brave.

Its been a very unexpected and wonderfully stretching first year. Here's looking at a second year of building new friendships, deepening my understanding of how best to medicate for me as well as understanding the issues and the science behind Cannabis as a whole in general. I don't want to be a simple follower, or user. I want what I do to matter.  But I will just have to see where year two takes me.
I know one thing for sure! I intend to be more pursuant regarding life and less reactive.

Bring on Year TWO!

Follow Up on AVB Recipe from Merry Jane

Today marked one month from the time I began the AVB oil steeping in my bedroom closet. Nothing planned today at all so I thought a month was long enough to brew. At lunch I pulled out the jar and buttered my bread with the back of the spoon dipped in the dirty oil for a grilled cheese. Wasn’t enough to feel anything, as I suspected. 

I called it dirty oil there for a reason. As described in the previous blog on how to make this THC rich oil I added Already Vaped Bud to olive oil. The Bud was light to medium brown and brittle from being toasted at the perfect temperature in the oven of my Pax Vape. That now soaked in oil is just as delicate to pressure as it was dry, only not so easy to strain out of oil now. So the dark green brown oil that is the result also has all the bud. Most sunk to the bottom of the jar, but about 10% seems to be suspended throughout the oil. Trying to skim oil off the top is pretty impossible without plant material clinging to the spoon or slipping into the round of the spoon itself. So, it looks like dirty oil. Gross but not unpalatable. My grilled cheese had bits of bud after cooking. I didn't notice them when I ate. In this case the crunch of the oil fried bread matched the texture with the brittle cooked bud. And although yummy, alas there was no buzz to indicate I medicated enough.


Several hours later I was able to try again at dinner. This time I measured out exactly 1 Tablespoon of AVB oil into the small fry pan and cooked my steak strips, then the veggies, and lastly mixed together and flavoured with asian sauces. I made my families dinner exactly the same but with regular oil in a larger pan and at the same time. Again the texture of the dirty AVB oil was hidden with the multiple textures of the stir fry and rice on my plate. The subtle taste of the earthy cannabis terpenes mixed well with the soya sauce, sesame oil and beef. It was a good meal. 

It was a bit longer for this high to kick in for me than usual compared to when I eat my morning dose in brownie or cookie form. I have to take into consideration that this is an entirely different mix of strains coming from my Vape. So this oil has a completely different high for me than my brownie high. When I make Canna-Coconut Oil I mix a high CBD, an Indica and a Sativa, in roughly thirds. But when I vape it’s usually day time so ALL the AVB is only high CBD and Satvia. No Indica at all. So this is pretty much the highest head high I’ve ever had. One Tablespoon it is for my dosage. And perhaps, given that my AVB oil is Sativa I may change my medication habits and cook breakfast with this oil and save the cookies for later in the day when I should be winding down. 

This is what my oil looks like now. Most of the bud sinks to the bottom, when I get down that far I will carefully strain off the oil through a sieve, cuz no one wants THAT much bud in their food! Top floaty bud is not a bother but could be strained off by spooning it through a small sieve right back into the jar.

Did you start collecting your AVB yet? If not you should start! It’s like getting twice the weed for half the money! I just grabbed a clean glass jam jar and keep it on my desk next to the Pax charger. This is where I store the already vaped bud, in a clean air tight jar instead of the garbage. Usually I dump the bud after a few uses, when the green turns a light toasted brown colour. If you toast it too dark there won't be any THC left to get absorbed into the oil. If you vape regularly you will get used to how long it takes you to toast the bud to get enough medicine then, but still have a lightly toasted bud to soak in oil for more medicating later.

Any questions? Anything you would like me to try? Got a recipe I could blog about? Lets make this interactive!

Happy Medicating everyone.

I Could Have You Eating Edibles for Your Next Meal. Interested?

I ran out of 'Med'ibles last week and my stash is the lowest its been in a year. I placed my order, but it didn't make it here before the weekend. Canada Post for ya. Less reliable that a local dealer. But it's what I got. So I make due until I pick it up this aft. (yay!)

Making due but really missing the place my edibles take me to every day. That's why I love this
recipe! It is very simple. And don't assume that because this is not a space brownie or a pot cookie that the high will be less! Who said your first edible had to be a sweet made from a big batch of butter made in a crockpot?!?

Best part? You don't need a lot of weed to make it! Not everyone buys a months supply at once. Not everyone can bake! But if you know how to make eggs already you too can make this healthy breakfast! (Eggs aren't just for breakfast anymore). Just takes a bit of time. Ready?

Green Eggs and Toast
I admit I have stolen this recipe from Water Melon. And for a change I didn't change it. Just made it like I learned it.

Ingredients:
Two Eggs
(Splash of milk)
Two slices of bread for toast
Butter (I suggest at least a Tbsp)
Fresh Bud
Salt and Pepper to taste

The only thing not explained is how much bud to use. In another of her videos she explains that 0.7g per person is a good rule. Especially if you haven't had edibles before. It might seem like a small amount but when you eat Cannabis your body processes it differently than when you smoke it, so a little is all you need! REALLY! And feel free to lessen or increase the amount if you medicate methodically and know how much you take. I for instance know that I need less than 0.7g of bud, being a Newbie and all.

I measured out 0.02oz, which translates into 0.57grams. The 0.7g would be close to the same as a loose and level tablespoon of busted up bud.

Add butter to a fry pan and melt, adding the measured Bud after its melted.
*Important! leave fry pan on low or 2 and stir the bud into the butter every few minutes. This will bubble slightly. It's what you want to see. The bubbles indicate that the THC, Cannabidiol and Terpenes are being released from the plant and absorbed into the butter. Too high, too fast and you burn the butter, and the medicine gets burned off too = No high and No feel good medicine!

Let your butter absorb as much medicine as possible, so let it sit over Low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. The longer the better of course. It means more medicine will be usable. So, if you have the time, let it bubble longer than ten minutes. The result is brownish or greenish butter. Pour most of this off into a small bowl to butter your toast with. Bud and all.

Replace pan on heat and turn up to cook eggs as you normally would. The pan is greased with High Butter and probably some cooked bud. I made scrambled eggs so added a splash of milk, salt and pepper. This way the left over oil and bud on the pan got mixed into the whole meal and added flavour, colour and texture....I know, you just want to get high! Who the fuck cares about texture! ME actually. Cuz I love good, well made food.

When eggs are cooked as to your preference, butter the toast you remembered to make while the eggs were cooking. I literally just spooned the High butter, buds and all as evenly as I could across my toast. I don't like to see dry spots on my toast so when the bowl was drained and scraped out I did add a tiny bit more normal butter to fully cover it.

Plate your finished product. Looks good, smells good and tasted AMAZING!

I had two surprises. The first surprise was how right I was on the amount of medicine I choose to use. About the second paragraph in to writing this and I was happy, dancing in my seat and not really interesting in writing anymore. The Clash was on 105.3 The Fox so I cranked it and danced instead. LOVE that place! The place my edibles take me. Love it.

The second surprise was the taste! The Bud I had on hand was a Sativa called Luminarium, a small amount of Indica called Remissio (Headband) and my high CBD called Avidekel, all from MedReleaf. The flavours were earthy and slightly salty, making it a great addition to eggs and toast. I don't think I could actually enjoy eggs without that flavour now.

In case you are concerned about eating the actual plant material. It was not too much that I felt like my mouth was full of plant matter. Nor did it dissolve into nothing. It was there. But it really did add to the full experience of the meal. It did not detract from the overall enjoyment, in fact it was barely noticeable because the flavour was so overly enjoyable!

Bon Appetite!
Happy Medicating!

And if this is your first try at edibles, You're welcome.

I OD'd on THC

Well this is certainly not a topic I set out to write about, or experience. It's embarrassing to say the least! But I did over do it and I'm still alive and sane to talk about it. So, as per usual I'm using this experience to help educate those who are seeking information.

First off. I didn't die. Didn’t even come close! I didn't go crazy. I didn't try to hurt anyone, and I didn't run around my city, street, house or anywhere else talking nonsense or trying to jump off bridges. I didn't even need to go to the hospital. Whatever your preconceived notion is that could go wrong did not. All that did happen was I went to bed. Boring, eh? 

Here's everything I did wrong. 

The other night after work I made the family some banana bread. Most of the way through the process I decided this would be a great time to try using some of the AVB (already vaped bud) in some baking and then I could blog about it. With the batter ready I filled one large loaf pan and two small ones with normal batter. I added my finely ground AVB to the left over batter and made my own mini loaf. Alas, I was not my normal careful self. I got sloppy. 

I had assumed that AVB was not as strong as freshly

de-carbed bud. Correct, but WRONG!  The 1/8 cup (...Yes, I said cup!) of AVB I added was WAY too much for the TINY loaf pan I had. Oh, but it smelled heavenly! Here’s where I REALLY went wrong…I ate two pieces. It was a small loaf, I thought, one slice is like a half of a regular slice. No problem!  
Oh, yeah….then I had a half joint right after cuz that’s the habit I’ve gotten into each evening before bed. 

The result? By the time I got back home from our evening walk around the block it was rounding the hour from when I had eaten the AVB Banana Bread. I started to feel dizzy, had difficulty seeing straight and I just started to feel generally bad. This was when it dawned on me that I had eaten too much. I decided to put myself to bed right away. I was able to behave normally, nobody knew I had over done it at all nor was I mentally incapacitated. Though I did fall asleep pretty quickly. (It's taken my describing this twice to my husband for him to realize I wasn't just normal sick that night, I was over-dose sick).

Poor guy!

Normal bodily functions woke me twice in the middle of the night (unlike overdoing it with alcohol and literally pissing yourself in a drunken sleep). It was the middle of the night when I noticed my mouth really tasted bad! Like I had eaten an ashtray, all of it! Teeth brushing and mouthwash only lessened this nasty taste for a little while. It was like the taste was coming from the inside of me rather than from something I had put in my mouth. 

The next morning I got up for work, but still felt horrid. Nauseated actually. I got ready anyway, but standing looking at the door to leave was as far as I could get. It was my own fault I felt like this and I deserved to feel this way for being so stupid. But the people at work did not deserve to have me bale on them cuz I was stupid….I called in anyway and was pretty much in tears as I told the supervisor I couldn’t leave the house for fear of throwing up. The deed done, I stripped off my uniform and fell back into bed, make-up on and all. That’s where I remained for several hours, slipping in and out of sleep and often wondering if I should run for the toilet; was this going to be the time I finally threw up? I never did, but the feeling persisted for the better part of two days. And the taste that lingered contributed to the nausea. 

For those who don't understand, and may think I'm exaggerating, or may think I didn't actually over dose, let’s recap…. I literally used more AVB in a small 1/3 sized loaf pan than I should have for a whole recipe. That's nearly 8 times more than I should have eaten in one sitting. 

Things that happened when I over dosed on THC:

1. I got dizzy
2. I had trouble seeing well (This strain of bud that I used is known to counter the eye pressure of glaucoma. I figure this explains my vision problems)
3. I fell deeply asleep.
4. I was nauseated and had little desire to eat for about 48 hours.

What did NOT happen when I over dosed on THC:

1. I did not die
2. I did not fall into a drug induced coma, preventing me from waking to my own bodily needs
3. I didn’t attempt suicide (or attempt self propelled flight)
4. I did not lose my sanity. 

I did throw out the rest of my medicated banana bread though. Just the smell of it made me sick. And the thought of attempting to bake with AVB is not as exciting as it once was. I’m still saving it mind you. I can’t bring myself to throw it out though. Its extremely economical to save it and use it on an edible fire cracker or something. It’s like free THC! You use it once to medicate, save it and use it again with just almost as much benefit.

Just heed my warning, as non-life threatening as OD’ing on THC is, it’s not necessarily pleasant. That goes for smoked, vaped, or eaten. Though I think it’s easier to over do it with edibles for two reasons, it takes so long to kick in, and unless you do the actual math you don’t know how much medicine you’re eating. So, please! Be aware of what you eat. 'Measure twice, cut once' are my fathers wise words that could apply here just as easily as they do to most of life's little odd jobs. 

So tread lightly friends, and be diligent with measuring out your medicines, especially with edibles! But know too, in case you do hit a snag like I did, this too shall pass and you will live!

What I'll be doing from now on is using a method more like this...

AVB Weed Recipes. 

              Happy medicating.

(P.s. Thanks Chef Luigi for making this great video!)

How and Why I use Cannabis Infused Oils

None of my Non-medicating friends (that's all of the people I know pretty much) want to hear me talk
about what I've learned and why I do what I do. That's fine. My husband has to hear about it, until I over load him with details. Last night while explaining something to him I realized, it's exactly what I need to explain in my next blog post. How and Why I use Cannabis Infused Oils.

From my reading, video watching and experimenting there are now a few things I do because it makes medical and/or logical sense to me. This works for me. Something else might work best for you. I also realize that there are places with fewer or more regulations than I now have in Canada. You do what's best for you. I'm just giving you some ideas that you might want to learn or adopt. In the mean time, I'm always learning! So tomorrow it's possible, with more information, I may change how I do things.

When I purchase my medical marijuana I get a full range of strains. My desire is to get the best strains to fit the physical issues I have, gently intertwined with the type of high they produce. I have to factor how the product will be used, if I had it last time, as well as taste. Taste matters to me since vaping releases way more of the specific taste of each strain than smoking a joint does. I always choose the high CBD strain, two Sativa and two Indica strains. About 1/3 of the bud goes to oil and the other 2/3 to vaping or joints (maybe its closer to 1/2 and 1/2). 

The Oil 

I use Coconut oil because I have read that Coconut oil is more bio-available. It has a higher fat content than butter, and thus a better

carrier for the cannabinoids. Coconut oil has many of its own health benefits and is easily absorbed by the skin since it melts with your own body heat. It smells great, and adds flavour. It is both edible and great for topicals so I don't bother with Cannabutter anymore. I can make one small "batch" (all of 1/4 cup today) and divid it up, half to some edibles and half to topical use. Two separate jars of course so as not to end up eating what I've stuck my fingers into. 

 Note: storage can be fridge or counter top, depending on how hot it is. Coconut oil will liquify in a warm room. This does not change the medicinal (or other) effects of the infused oil, but it affects what I store it in. I found a small sample glass jar (0.5oz) to be the perfect size to store or carry my Infused oil. As testament, my jar of liquified oil did not leak during my recent cross Province flights (but my face wash did). 

The Cannabis Infused Coconut Oil

I infuse the coconut oil with at least three different strains of Cannabis. About 1/3 of the weigh is the
high CBD, 1/3 Sativa and 1/3 Indica. The reason for this is so I get a wide spectrum of medicinal value for my effort. The CBD strain is great for reducing inflammation which causes or contributes to pain and it reduces spasticity (like Restless Leg Syndrome). The Sativa provides a happy or euphoric energy that I like in the day. It has anti-depressant properties that have changed my life! The Indica provides good pain killing effects that I need. Yes, the indica usually produces a heavy body feel making one dopey and sleepy. Not a great effect when I need to medicate every day, all day. The benefit of having all three strains in the oil in equal-ish amounts is the CBD and Sativa help counter the sleepy and the high effects of the Indica strain. It sort of levels everything out so that there is less (but still some) effect of the high, with all the medicinal value. That being said, if I take in more than the 1/4 tsp I use I can still get pretty blazed!

How I Medicate

A typical day when I can medicate freely and without interruptions involves four methods of intake.
In the morning I will ingest about 1/4 tsp of Infused Coconut oil. Either by melting it in my morning coffee (which I do in a small cup on the side, like a shot) or in a food item I have made. Eating the Infused Oil provides a good pain reducer for up to five hours I've found. Before getting dressed I rub infused oil into my arthritis (AO) affected knees and the muscles on my left arm. The oil absorbs in quickly and does not leave a greasy feel. Because I apply it to or near the source of pain and inflammation it is a more targeted approach specifically to reduce them. Since I first tested it out I will not work a shift without first applying the oil to my knees.

The rest of the day I use my Vape. Throughout the day I vape a mix of High CBD and one or both of the sativas I have. This, layered on top of the body/pain relieving high that I've already started by eating the oil helps the medicine to stay at the same level with little drop off, unless I have restraints in my ability to vape, which can happen, especially while at work.
Come evening is when I exclusively use the Indica/CBD mix. I could vape this, but for some reason, out of habit since it's the first thing I tried maybe, I like to roll a joint with one or both my Indicas. I have also used a bong and a pipe instead of a joint from time to time, but I find the activity of sitting outside for a puff rather relaxing while the weather is nice. The reason I use no Sativa and only Indica/CBD at bed time is to keep me relaxed and sleepy rather than energetic. I mix the Indica and CBD strain because the first is
pain relief and the CBD strain relaxes and stops the restless leg syndrome I fought for about 2 years. It helps me fall asleep and stopped my over active mind, the pain in my arm and knees, and completely stopped the leg spasms that kept me from falling asleep every night for hours.


This method of medicating works for me because most of it is discreet, easy to do anywhere, anytime, and its effects are long lasting. I'm sure if it was necessary to go a period of time without being able to go out for a puff I will still be able to medicate without anyone being the wiser with just my infused coconut oil.