[liquidlight]

Ok i wasn't sure quite where to post this question but figured this would be the best forum with the brainiest people. I just want peoples thoughts on the matter ...

Now as a young teenager i experimented with solvents ... butane gas and shoe conditioner (lady esquire). Luckily for me this was just a brief flirtation. However, often when i smell freshly dried cannabis, i get a whiff of those oils and turpenes and i think "solvents" (because they are!).

So i was talking to someone earlier today about how some people really don't get along with cannabis and it messes them up (yes they smoke way too mutch and do nothing else), but i realised that most, if not all commercial skunk is freshly dried and sold as quickly as possible, so all those oils and turpenes particularly are in a fresh form and have not had a chance to degrade. Now i know absolutely nothing about what happens to these things when they degrade, but i can see how smoking fresh skunk is a bit like burning solvents and inhaling the fumes. And so i speculated .... what if all the skunk people smoked was nicely cured? Can we attribute any negative physical or mental health symptoms to this smoking of solvents? Is cured cannabis a healthier form of cannabis? Are the solvents in freshly dried cannabis messing with our heads?

Any thoughts are appreciated!

[HushemFlupskluk]

If it is smokeable I would smoke it cured or not cured.

But it is true that a cured product has a better final result. So perhaps that makes it more healthy.

[trichrider]

smoking is not healthy in any regard.
it is however a means to acquire all the 'aspects' of the plant in the shortest time.
imo, smoking trumps edibles and vaporizing, but both those means of ingestion are definitely healthier.
as for the peoples using it as medicine and not seeing it as holistic, well...it is a subjective perception of overall benefits derived, and these seem to be as different as the faces on a busy street.

in my experience cured cannabis is more complex in flavor and altitude.

[Smoking Nomad]

It is obvious that the more refined and pure the product smoked, the safer and less UNhealthy. I would recomend (if you are DEEPLY health concerned) that you use nothing less refined than hashish (buble or otherwise). I only like that.

[liquidlight]

a subjective perception of overall benefits derived

... good comment, i like that!

[Farm Hero]

Many tobaccos are cured for a few years before it's ready for consumption, before that it can be harsh.... I see harsh as a sign that there are more impurities than when the harshness has disappeared.

Yes, harshness depends on many factors like retained nutrients, too quick of a dry, chlorophyll and others. Just makes sense that curing is healthier since you're not coughing a lung up.

Guess we are lucky cannabis only takes a couple months to cure rather than years.

[BakedBandit]

Holy necrothread batman!

[Drewsif]

If everyone was sitting around the table smoking the same bud, these types of discussions could exist. But the fact is, Ive seen people call fuel strains "unflushed" and I've seen chemical filled strains called " that gas".

Having vaporized upwards of 8% terpene content herb, I can say 10% would be pushing my comfort level in any vape. Of course all terps arent the same. Those high terp strains became more pungent and fuely over time. But again, I've seen other people curing to get rid of the fuel smell from lemon strains. I dont know how that's possible, and really assume their terpenes came from a bottled gimmick juice, as I've visited dispensaries first hand (HWC phoenix Az) where every single strain was dripping Botanicare Sweet Citrus. It smelled like a shoe store and tasted like a shoe factory. Other people loved it though and complained when the dispensary stopped using it, because then the bud had no smell.

Terpenes are solvents. They are used as solvents. Turpentine is directly related to common Cannabis terps. When several terpenes combine, they form new substances such as Turpentine. Keep in mind thats a homeopathic medicine in countries like Russia. Not just a paint thinner. There is a possibility of some of those new substances formed from combined terpenes being unhealthy, but I haven't ran across any evidence yet that suggests so.

As far as concentrates go, I've seen upwards of 30% terpene content. I would never take large dabs of something that stout. It would be like smoking distilled essential oils, most of which will burn sensitive skin on contact.

Going back to the original question, It really amazes me how some growers bud looses terpenes over time while others gain terpenes that were not there immediately after harvest. Its got to be the highly worked crossbred genetics attempting to get faster finishing times. Because there's no way some of the loud I've cured out of Northern Cali was hiding its terps behind chlorophyll. The terps simpley weren't there yet. Where Im at now, most bud looses its terps over time, it never comes back in the cure, even though it smelled like a skunks candied butthole when it was growing. Right now the stuff Im growing peaks around 3-5% terpene, and that peak comes after 3-4 month cure. There is no hint of solvent when smoking the popcorn leading up to that date, it taste weird and fake to me. I only vape. All of the sudden after 3-4 months it gets fumey like when it was growing. By 5 months, its dropping off again. I dont get it, shouldn't have to time it out so specifically to get what Im looking for out of mj.

If anyone can remember wild hemp growing in fields, you could always find something skunky smelling. Now that smell is rare, and comes n goes randomly through the plants cycle. The genetics are so fucked up in today's weed.

[Douglas.Curtis]

Most of the issues are from contaminates, some which break down over time are less harmful after a 'cure' period.

Smoking 'clean' cannabis is like smoking hash and will not give you even the most minimal smoker's cough. Even with bong hits all day and night for months. It'll be a grand day when most cannabis is significantly cleaner than the average found today.

[OregonBorn]

To inject some reality into this thread (for one, terpene is spelled with three e's):

What happens when an MJ plant is fresh and green and blooming is that an enzymatic process is happening where cannabinoids and terpenes/terpenoids are manufactured by the Cannabis plant. The two cannabinoids that we focus on the most are THC and CBD, but when the plant is green and active, they are in the carbonic acid forms of THCa and CBDa. While the plant is alive and fresh, they remain mostly in the acid state, but some decarboxylate and become THC and CBD. When the plant is harvested and dried, OR if the plant is harvested and cooked at about 130 degrees F., all of the rest of the THCa and CBDa are decarboyilated, meaning the Co2 that makes THCa and CBDa acids is all wafted off, leaving THC and CBD.

Now, is THC and CBD that better for you than THCa and CBDa or not? It completely depends on what effects you are after. THCa has been found to be better at killing cancer cells and at preventing seizures than THC. However, THCa does not get you high. Only after decarboxylation will it become THC and get you high. CBDa has different effects than CBD does as well. In the end, THC and CBD mimic natural human analogs and they interact with CB1 and CB2 neuron receptors with differing effects. CBD will interfere with THC and dull your high.