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Making Medicinal Marijuana Tinctures

To make Tincture
Cold Method (recommended)

Here is the recipe for highest quality tincture. This method does not use heat so keeps the integrity of the cannabinoids intact.  FromWAMM

▪   Fill jar ¾ full of herb

▪   Fill rest of jar with alcohol; leave some room at top, stir.

▪   Shake jar [vigorously] one or two times a day  for 2 weeks [or leave it until there is no green color left in the plant matter]

▪   Strain through metal tea strainer or silkscreen.

You can use whatever kind of clean glass, not plastic, jar you have with a tight lid. One-quart mason jars are ideal. Grind the herb thoroughly in a blender. It should be well ground but doesn’t have to be a powder. You can use leaf, bud, shake, joint leftover, or stems. Too many stems will wreck your blender and a weaker tincture. Leaf work fine but for higher potency use shake or bud. Fill the jar ¾ full of herb; it does not have to be exact. You can use anywhere from ½ to 2/3 part herb but ¾ will make a full strength tincture. Use the highest proof alcohol you can, Everclear, which is 180 proof, but hard to find. So just use the highest proof Vodka you can find. Pour alcohol over the herb, filling the rest of the jar. Leave just enough space (an inch or so) at the top so that you will be able to shake the jar. Stir the mixture; the herb will absorb some of the alcohol so you may need to add more. Put the lid on tightly; label the contents and the date you started. It takes two weeks for the alcohol to extract all the active elements from the herb. Shake the jar once or twice a day for 2 weeks. The alcohol will rise to the top and a deep green/red color will develop. After 2 weeks of aging you can strain the tincture through a metal tea strainer or a silk screen into a small tincture bottle with a dropper. You can leave the rest in the jar if you want, it will age and mellow in flavor and you can strain off as much as you want at a time. Alcohol is a strong preservative it will hold for a long time, be careful when handling the tincture, it satins and will turn everything it comes in contact with green. Use Ultra Palmolive anti-bacterial dish soap, the orange kind, to clean the glass, metal or other ceramic utensils, (do not use plastic) sinks and counter tops works best at dissolving THC residue.

Dosage varies per individual but start with half a dropper dissolved in hot tea or water. Hot tea will dissipate some of the alcohol and activate the THC a bit. It can be taken straight but may burn the tongue and has a very strong herbal taste. [If you cut it with equal parts water, you can hold the dosage under the tongue without burning. Takes effect in seconds.]

Upcoming Important Public Hearings on Bills to change Maine's Medical Marijuana Laws

This is reprinted from the Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine website

There will be Public Hearings this week on three bills that would change Maine's medical marijuana laws. When: Tuesday, February 11th, starting 1:00pm Where: Health and Human Services Committee, Room 209, Cross Building, Capitol Complex, Augusta What: Patients, Caregivers, and all who care about Maine's medical marijuana law are encouraged to attend and testify at the Public Hearings on proposed changes to Maine's medical marijuana law this Tuesday, February 11th, in Augusta. If you can't attend the Hearings, you can email written testimony to the Committee Clerk: beth.walker@legislature.maine.gov You can listen to the hearings live online at: http://www.maine.gov/legis/audio/health_cmte.html Phone calls, emails, and letters to your Representative and Senator can have a major impact on the outcome of these bills. You can find your Representative and Senator's contact information at: http://www.maine.gov/legis/house/townlist.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Summary of Bills: LD 1739 An Act To Amend the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act  Sponsored By: Representative MARK DION of Portland Cosponsored By: Representative GATTINE of Westbrook; Senator HAMPER of Oxford; Representative HICKMAN of Winthrop Note: This bill is being put in at the request of the Department of Health & Human Services, but some of the bill's Sponsors appear open to making changes. Key changes proposed by the DHHS Bill: 1. Adds certified nurse practitioners to the list of medical professionals allowed to issue a written certification for the qualifying patient's medical use of marijuana. 2. Prohibits the use, possession or sale of kief, defined as: “the tetrahydrocannabinol crystals and hairs from cannabis plants that have been extracted by scraping or shaking or another method.” 3. Clarifies that tinctures containing marijuana are considered food containing marijuana, and fall under the same legal restrictions on the production and sale of foods containing marijuana. 4. Amends the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act to state that a registered caregiver is allowed to: “Assist a maximum of 5 patients who have designated the primary caregiver to cultivate marijuana for their medical use of marijuana.” (The current provision states that a caregiver can “Assist no more than 5 patients at any one time.”) 5. Clarifies that a medical provider's written certification for the medical use of marijuana expires within one year after issuance (allowing a recommendation to be dated for less than a year.) 6. Authorizes disclosure of registered primary caregiver and dispensary information to the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Maine Revenue Services for taxation compliance purposes. 7. Authorizes the DHHS to investigate complaints against a registered primary caregiver or a registered dispensary to ensure compliance. 8. Authorizes the Office of the Attorney General to file a complaint with the District Court seeking civil fines. injunctive relief, or both for a violation by a registered primary caregiver or a registered dispensary. 9. Authorizes the DHHS to collect, possess, transport and perform laboratory testing on soil and plant samples, and samples of products containing marijuana from registered primary caregivers and registered dispensaries to determine compliance and for evidence purposes. 10. Moves regulation of best practices for pesticide use on medical marijuana from the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, to the Department of Health and Human Services. Full text of the bill at: http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_126th/billtexts/HP124501.asp ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  LD 1623 An Act To Further Protect Patient Access to Safe Medical Marijuana by Allowing Dispensaries To Purchase Excess Marijuana from Other Dispensaries Sponsored by Representative Deb Sanderson of Chelsea. Cosponsored by Senator Margaret Craven of Androscoggin; Senator Tom Saviello of Franklin; Representatives Farnsworth of Portland; Gattine of Westbrook; Wilson of Augusta Summary: This bill allows Maine dispensaries to purchase and sell excess prepared marijuana from and to each other. Full text of bill at: http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_126th/billtexts/HP119501.asp +++++++++++++++++++++++ LD 1597 An Act To Clarify Provisions of the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act Sponsored by: Representative Drew Gattine of Westbrook Cosponsored by: Senator Tom Saviello of Franklin; Representatives Casavant of Biddeford; Farnsworth of Portland; Hickman of Winthrop; McCabe of Skowhegan; Sanderson of Chelsea Summary: This bill amends the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act to specify that access to a marijuana cultivation facility operated by a patient, a primary caregiver or a dispensary is open to government officials acting within the scope of their employment, under the direct supervision of the patient, the primary caregiver or a principal officer, board member or employee of the dispensary. Currently, a dispensary is subject to inspection by the Department of Health and Human Services, but there is no law allowing government officials (other than law enforcement with a warrant) to inspect a caregiver of patient's personal cultivation site. Full text of bill at: http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_126th/billtexts/HP116801.asp +++++++++++ Maine's medical marijuana laws have been improving over the years, thanks in part to everyone who has taken the time to contact their legislators and give testimony at Public Hearings. The content of these bills is expected to change in response to input at the Public Hearing and the Work Sessions that will follow in the coming weeks. If the bills are reported out of the Health & Human Services Committee, the House of Representatives and Senate will vote on the legislation sometime in late Winter or early Spring. More information on this and other proposed changes to Maine's medical marijuana laws can be found at: http://www.mmcmonline.org/news.html