Since its demonization in the 1930s cannabis has become a substance that is known by everyone. But it is generally only those who use it who know the various forms in which it comes. Cannabis for recreational use comes in two main forms -- a pressed resinous block, called hashish, and in a more natural form as flowering buds taken from the female plant, grass. Within these broad classifications there are many variations and we, therefore, deal with each separately below. Ingestible cannabis does, traditionally, come in other forms but use of these is usually restricted to particular geographical areas. However, they also come in for a mention below.

Hashish

Hashish is made from the resin glands that appear on female cannabis plants at flowering. These are either collected by gently running the hands over the buds so that the resin sticks to the palms or by placing the harvested buds in a container and agitating them over a fine silk screen.

When pressed, hand gathered hashish is black on the outside and dark brownish green on the inside. Although it is generally well pressed, black hashish stays fairly soft at room temperature; high quality blacks can, however, ‘melt’ if the weather gets warm. This is generally taken as an indication of quality. Hand rubbed hashish is associated only with India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan. Blacks are generally regarded as higher quality, that is more potent, than other forms of hashish. When burned, blacks produce a long spirals of blue smoke and a rich, spicy and very exotic smell.

Screened hashish is usually a yellowy/green to brown ochre colour on the outside and yellow ochre on the inside. It is pressed into flat bricks between one quarter and a half inch thick. The most ubiquitous of these come from Morocco and are known as ‘slates.’ These are usually pressed to be pretty hard and can shatter on cutting. The hashish softens up on heating but has neither the smell nor the potency of the blacks. Most screened hashish available in the West comes from Morocco, though both Lebanon and Turkey also produce it but mainly for domestic use.

Hashish processes a very bulky commodity into a much more compact form that preserves freshness and travels well.

Recent innovations in the processing of cannabis resin, made mostly in the Netherlands, have seen Holland becoming a producer of high quality hashish. After the grass buds have been manicured for sale in coffeeshops, the grower is left with masses of THC-rich but unsellable trimmings. The usual method for obtaining the remaining resin is called ‘Iceolating.’ This involves placing the trimmings in a large bucket containing four fine silk screens. Ice blocks are then placed in with the trimmings and the whole thing is agitated with an electric whisk for 20 minutes. The frozen resin glands fall from the trimmings and are caught by the finer screens. All the plant matter is retained in the topmost screen. The finest screen captures only pure crystals of THC. Looking at iceolated hashish under a microscope reveals a crystalline structure containing many sparklingly clear crystals each with a spectrum above it. Iceolated hashish is possibly the most potent substance available to cannabis smokers and is usually amongst the most expensive buys at coffeeshops.

Grass

Although in history, cannabis must have been ingested frequently in its natural form, hashish seems to have taken over in most Eastern countries. Although poor quality pressed Columbian grass was available in the States, in Europe hashish was the order of the day.

That all changed following the hippie revolution in the late 60s. Whilst the hippie ethos was created and propelled by LSD, it was sustained by grass. It created an immensely strong and dedicated following. Following the decline of the hippies, not a few smokers decided it was time to grow their own. Through the intelligent use of botanical selection and breeding techniques they produced new seed strains that were much more potent. The quantum leap in grass production and potency came when some of those seeds made their way to Amsterdam. Although most of the new strains would not flower outdoors in such northerly climes, the Dutch were very experienced in the techniques of indoor growing and soon applied these to cannabis production.

Through careful and intelligent interbreeding, new strains were created with increasing potency. At the same time seed types were produced that reduced the time from the inception of flowering to harvest from eight to 12 weeks to a consistent eight weeks. Concentrating on increasing the THC content of the plants, thus it was that Skunk came to be created.

While the THC content in hashish is somewhere between about 5 and 15% and in imported grass between 6 and 12%, Skunk has a THC rating that starts at about 15% and goes up to over 30%.

The implications of this big jump in potency are significant. These implications are discussed in the last part of this chapter.

There are many kinds of grass available and they all have their own qualities. Unlike fine wines, which have many different qualities but only one effect -- drunkenness -- different kinds of cannabis have slightly different effects.

Cannabis can be ingested in a number of ways. The least efficient of these is smoking, although it does have the virtue of being very controllable. Traditionally in India, cannabis is consumed as an infusion (bhang) but it is also smoked. The traditional smoking implement is a chillum. Elsewhere cannabis is consumed in long pipes called sebsi and in hookahs. Although in Eastern countries it is sometimes rolled with tobacco into cigarettes, known in the West as joints, that is non-traditional and is a Western innovation.

Although the eating or drinking of cannabis-based substances is a much more efficient way to ingest it, it is very easy to ‘over-dose.’ Unless it is taken on an empty stomach cannabis can take several hours to take effect. During that time it is possible to consume several more doses -- on the assumption that the first one didn’t work. When they all ‘hit’ together the effect can be somewhat overwhelming. The nature of over-dosing is discussed in the next section of this article. In Amsterdam nearly all coffeeshops sell ‘space cakes.’ One space cake should keep you high for four to six hours.

Traditionally in the West, joints were the order of the day. In England these were made with a mixture of tobacco and cannabis. In the USA more often straight grass was used. Although some of the terminology transferred it did not do so very efficiently. In England joints have a rolled up piece of card in the end to facilitate holding. This is called a roach. In the States a marijuana cigarette has nothing but soggy paper at the end but it is still called a roach. In order to smoke the ends of US ‘joints’ a special device is required called a roach clip.

Although there has been a global movement away from tobacco, it seems to me that cannabis and tobacco have a certain synergy. Smoking a proper joint (that is tobacco and cannabis) is a much smoother, more relaxed experienced than smoking straight grass. Straight grass can have a heavy effect on the chest feeling not unlike swallowing bag of hot coals. In coffeshops it is easy to spot the straight grass smokers -- they are the ones coughing, going puce in the face and having seizures over the table. Joint smokers never experience that. In fact, smoking joints seems to have a better effect on the lungs and chest than smoking straight grass or, indeed, straight tobacco.

The virtue of smoking joints is that -- with experience -- one can easily adjust the high by smoking different strains of grass and kinds of hashish.

As well as joints, many people in the West use pipes of various kinds. These can vary from credit card sized implements to things that look like they have been removed from a central heating system. Such pipes can contain water as a (rather useless) coolant. A pipe much used, particularly in the USA, is a bong. This consists of a bowl containing a little water with a broad tube emerging from its top and a smaller tube ending in a pipe bowl coming out from the upper part of the large bowl. On the other side of the bowl to the pipe, there is a small hole. The user fills the pipe, lights up, puts a finger over the hole and sucks hard on the tube. When the bong is full of dense smoke, if impatience does not get in the way a hand is placed over the top and the smoke is allowed to cool down. When ready the user places his lips over the tube and removes his finger from the hole. The smoke disappears instantly from the bong and hits the lungs like an express train.

As the use of cannabis has become a worldwide phenomenon an entire industry has grown to support and supply the burgeoning market. A number of new products have been introduced to make the smoking experience easier and more pleasant. Among these, the vaporizer stands out as an innovation in cannabis ingestion.

Vaporizers have taken the cannabis market by storm providing, as they do, a smoke-free but THC-packed smoking experience. Originally vaporizers consisted of an electric paint stripper customized with a pipe bowl and fittings to hold an elongated plastic bag. In vaporization, the cannabis is not ignited; it is heated to the specific temperature at which the active chemicals become vapour. The vapour passes into the plastic bag and is consumed from it. This is a smoke-free process and if there is smoke in the bag, the thermostat on the vaporizer is not properly adjusted. The hit from a vaporizer is immediate and strong. Most coffeeshops have one or more vaporizers.