My Experience, the Dabbit Hole

In 2014, Concentrates were new, expensive, and only available on the black market in Florida, which is where I lived at the time. I enjoyed black market shatter on hundreds of occasions, I even used to make my own vape cartridges with it! It only took one bad experience tasting residual butane and I was done, A hallucination accompanied with nausea and an immediate migraine I couldn't get the smell of butane out of my nose for hours, I was sick, it was unpleasant. I felt dirty, but like I deserved it, I was overcome by guilt and felt as though I had relapsed and I told myself, "That's what you get, Dummy!"

When I woke up the next day I felt somewhat guilty and shameful, but the truth is, I was afraid for the future of cannabis, I didn't know what I didn't know. I swore off concentrates and vapes for a long time. From time to time I would hear someone talk about some great new innovation in concentrates, but the cost was high and the potential for error was higher. I chose to stick with the flower

Once it hit the legal weed market THCA Diamonds was the first Cannabis product that I can say I was legitimately afraid of. My fear was not of the high concentration of THC that would be delivered, but the visual similarities of THCA diamonds to meth or MDMA on top of the fact that butane had likely been used to achieve it! I was at a crossroads between my own “sobriety” and searching for the ultimate relief for the world at large. My mind rapidly fires images and connects all the dots from the poppy plant to opium to heroin to fentanyl… I was in stark terror. I could visualize the first THC related death (OK Maybe I was freaking out, but this was definitely not the same as the natural leaf and bud I have advocated so hard for). There was no way I was trying this stuff and I was sure I didn’t want to find myself going down that psychological rabbit hole! I was now unsure of my place in this next level world of cannabis and I was certain the only use for this stuff was to push it to the extreme and try to see if THC could actually kill ya.

When I started working in the industry, I became familiar with solventless concentrates like Bubble Hash, Live Hash Rosin, and THCA. Solventless THCA cost $100 per gram so I was not in any hurry to buy it, then they gave us our company discount, so I bought some. I smoked it in a dab pen first just to try it. I was expecting a panic attack, after all, this stuff came back from lab testing at 99.99%! My experience was quite the contrary. I felt calm, clear minded, free of worry or stress, I literally watched my anxieties disappear with the vapor I exhaled. This was a life changing moment for me… I was high, but I wasn’t wasted, and that was perfectly OK. I was perfectly OK, this was nice, pleasant, comfortable. Yesss.

As an addict, or former addict if there is such a thing, I definitely look for that feeling, the high, the effect, (I was the textbook relief seeker). I knew if I was treating pain or anxiety, I was going to feel better with the reduction of pain or anxiety, but honestly, probably not enough relief for me. As expected, with CBD, I would feel nothing, with THC I would feel euphoric but not a high level of reduced pain. When I mixed CBD and THC, I felt a significant absence of pain without any high, I would estimate a 50% reduction in pain. Add an Extra Strength Excedrin© and I was good for the next 4 hours! But I couldn't go on taking these pills forever, so I was out to find a solution. I had read quite a bit about raw THCA and its effects on inflammation. I decided I wanted to give it a shot, the results were astounding! (My disclaimer: This is NOT a recipe, I do not have the ability to accurately measure my dosing, as this was a personal, in-home experiment.)

First I dissolved some into MCT oil:

Raw THC-A, NO HIGH = 60-75% Pain relief!

Then I mixed it with CBD oil:

Raw THC-A + CBD, still NO HIGH = 80-95% Pain relief!

The effects lasted about 4 hours, however, I have since tried staggering low doses throughout the day, produces much better results for me than large doses fewer times. I do very much enjoy working with THC-A now! It is expensive, but I will be experimenting more with it over time.

I understand what THC-A is all about now and I admit, I could not have been more wrong in the beginning, I was hypersensitive and struggling with my own personal recovery, I focus so much time in efforts to dispel the myths of cannabis to the more conservative folk. Today I realize, I had recently been thinking like one of 'them folk'!

Now dab a little THCA with your favorite concentrates for some next level shit!!