I’m a long time lover of the Devil’s Lettuce, and all of its 105+ cannabinoids. I am however not a fan of the 100+ chemicals which combustion adds to to cannabis. Meaning I do not like smoking. Cannabis yes. Combustion no.

I am not a fan of edibles, since they typically have one or both of two cannabinoids; THC and CBD. What about the other 103+ cannabinoids?

To fit the market I suspect, most flower seems to have high THC and zero CBD. Selfishly personally I prefer flower with all of the cannabinoids present.

For the enhancement of the “unpleasant side effects” I first “decarb” the flower. I’ll use an ounce of flower with a liter of avocado oil. “Decarbing,” or “decarboxilization” serves to convert THCa, tetrahydrocannabolic acid in THC, no longer the acid. This makes the THC stonger.

The tettrahydrocanabolic acid, THCa, needs to be converted to the more psychoactive Delta-9 THC. The process has a great name: decarboxilate.” It means “break it up into nugs, pre-heat the oven to 250 deg F and put the buds in a baking dish. 1/2 hour at 250. Take it out of the oven, leave it covered and let it cool.

Here’s the magic.  Invest in a Magic Butter Machine. You put the liter of avocado oil, some lecithin, and flower, into the butter container, select the temperature and time as instructed, and in an hour, the oil is done and cooling.

A normal dose might be 1 tsp for six to 8 hours. A high, slam-you-to-the-wall dose might be 3 tablespoons. One tablespoon contains approximately one joint. Or is it 2 full joints in the large dose? Well, let’s do the math!

if one cannabis joint is one gram of flower, and an extract is made with one ounce of flower material in one liter of avocado oil, how many grams of THC are in a tablespoon of a final oil?

The Math Part of the Blog, answer at the bottom

To determine the amount of THC in a tablespoon of oil made from cannabis extract, we need to know a few key pieces of information:

  1. The THC content in the cannabis flower used for the extract.
  2. The efficiency of the extraction process.

However, since these details are not provided, I’ll make some general assumptions for this calculation:

  • Let’s assume the cannabis flower has a THC content of 20%. This is a common THC percentage for many strains, but it can vary.
  • The extraction efficiency, which is how much of the THC is actually transferred from the flower to the oil, is another variable. A typical extraction might be around 60-70% efficient, but for simplicity, I’ll assume 100% efficiency in this calculation. In reality, the actual amount of THC in the oil would likely be less due to less-than-perfect extraction efficiency.

Given these assumptions, here’s how the calculation would look:

THC MOLECULE, CBD MOLECULE

  1. Determine the Total THC in the Flower: 1 ounce of flower is about 28 grams. If each gram of flower contains 20% THC, then each gram has 0.20 grams of THC. So, 28 grams of flower would contain 28 grams * 0.20 = 5.6 grams of THC.
  2. Distribute the THC in the Oil: This total amount of THC is now distributed in one liter of avocado oil. One liter is equivalent to approximately 67 tablespoons.
  3. Calculate THC per Tablespoon: To find the THC content per tablespoon, divide the total THC by the number of tablespoons in a liter. So, 5.6 grams of THC / 67 tablespoons = approximately 0.0836 grams of THC per tablespoon.

Now, let’s do the math.

Based on the assumptions made (20% THC content in the cannabis flower and 100% extraction efficiency), there would be approximately 0.0836 grams of THC in each tablespoon of the avocado oil. Keep in mind that the actual THC content could vary depending on the specific THC content of the flower used and the efficiency of the extraction process. ​

In practice, it means that a normal dose might be a teaspoon or a half teaspoon, while a tablespoon or more might set you down in a chair. Falling is strictly prohibited! Be careful with the first dose or two from a new batch. They vary significantly in strength. Shake or stir the container. Otherwise, when you pour off the top and then get to the bottom of the container, you might have a bit of a psychedelic on your hands. So treat your drugs with respect. A little bit goes a long way.

Lensworth

Leonard Frieling
  • Senior Counsel Emeritus to the Boulder Law firm Dolan + Zimmerman LLP : (720)-610-0951
  • Former Judge
  • Photographer of the Year, AboutBoulder 2023
  • First Chair and Originator of the Colorado Bar Association’s Cannabis Law Committee, a National first.
  • Previous Chair, Boulder Criminal Defense Bar (8 years)
  • Twice chair Executive Counsel, Colorado Bar Association Criminal Law Section
  • NORML Distinguished Counsel Circle
  • Life Member, NORML Legal Committee
  • Life Member, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar
  • Board Member Emeritus, Colorado NORML
  • Chair, Colorado NORML, 7 years including during the successful effort to legalize recreational pot in Colorado
  • Media work, including episodes of Fox’s Power of Attorney, well in excess of many hundreds media interviews, appearances, articles, and podcasts, including co-hosting Time For Hemp for two years.
  • Board member, Author, and Editor for Criminal Law Articles for the Colorado Lawyer, primary publication of the Colorado Bar Assoc. 7 Years, in addition to having 2 Colorado Lawyer cover photos, and numerous articles for the Colorado Lawyer monthly publication.
  • LEAP Speaker, multi-published author, University lectures Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, Denver University Law School, Univ. of New Mexico, Las Vegas NM, and many other schools at all levels.
  • http://www.Lfrieling.com
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