Know Your Herbs

For most of us, when it comes to kicking back, relaxing and enjoying some good weed, it doesn’t really matter how you do it. A perfectly rolled joint, a clean bong rip, a light and tasty vape cloud —most of us are content as long as the result is being pleasantly stoned. 

Eating a delicious and potent edible, however, is a particularly wonderful thing many of us wish we could do more often, were it not for the complicated, time consuming, and awfully messy process of making cannabutter the traditional way. 

While crafting your own cannabutter isn’t terribly difficult, it’s a tricky and rather involved process which takes several hours to complete. The benefits of making cannabutter are clear and plentiful, yet enduring the process of actually making it is a major obstacle for even the most dedicated stoners.

But the days of standing over a double-boiler and straining your cannabutter through a cheesecloth are over — as are the days of destroying your kitchen in the process — thanks to the MagicalButter Machine. 

What is the MagicalButter Machine?

The MagicalButter Machine is a fully-automatic countertop botanical extractor, immersion blender and heating unit fitted perfectly together inside a compact, pitcher-shaped design. 

Equipped with a versatile immersion blade and a programmable thermostat, the MagicalButter Machine can grind, stir, heat and steep herbal extracts at exactly the right times and temperatures, yielding extremely high-quality infusions with barely any effort. 

Included with the MagicalButter Machine is the PurifyFilter 190 infusion filter for effortless infusion straining, as well as their signature heat-and-slip-resistant LoveGlove for safe and effective handling of infusions made in the MagicalButter Machine. 

In addition to classic cannabutter, you can also make tinctures, infused coconut oil and even medicinal salves using this machine. 

How to use the MagicalButter Machine 

If you’ve made cannabutter at home before, you know that decarbing your weed is a critical first step in the process. This holds true when using the MagicalButter Machine, too. There are several different ways to decarb weed depending on what you’re using it for, but to decarb your weed for cannabutter, your best bet is just to bake it in the oven. 

Break up the bud you want to infuse into the butter into small pieces and spread it evenly in a thin layer over a sheet of parchment paper, cover the paper with aluminum foil, bake for 25–30 minutes at 230℉ (110℃), and let cool completely before you begin your desired infusion cycle in the MagicalButter Machine. 

Once you’ve decarbed the weed and it’s cooled down, you’re ready to start the MagicalButter infusion process. The MagicalButter Machine is capable of all different kinds of botanical infusions like butters, oils, tinctures and oil concentrates. Cannabutter is, of course, a butter infusion, which are the simplest and most basic infusions to perform. 

How to make cannabutter with the MagicalButter Machine

Making cannabutter with the MagicalButter Machine takes approximately two hours from start to finish, and yields approximately 2–5 cups maximum (475–1180 mL) depending on how much butter you want to make. 

Ingredients: 

• 2–5 cups (475–1180 mL) of unsalted butter, clarified*
• 1/4–1/2 oz. (7–14 g) of decarbed bud per every 1 cup (240 mL) of butter used
• 1 tbsp. (15 mL) lecithin* per every 1 cup (240 mL) of butter used

*To ensure the best possible extraction process and the highest possible potency of your cannabutter, the MagicalButter chefs highly recommend you clarify the butter before adding it to the pitcher of the MagicalButter Machine. Clarified butterfat absorbs more THC than normal butter, and makes for a better infusion overall. All you have to do to clarify your butter is slowly simmer it in a small pan on the stove over very low heat until it melts and a white froth forms on the surface, then gently skim it off with a spoon until only the golden, clear, liquefied butterfat remains. 

*Lecithin is an emulsifier used widely in the culinary industry, among others, for binding ingredients to lipids like butter and fat. Adding lecithin allows the butterfat to absorb significantly higher amounts of THC and other cannabinoids during infusion, which increases the potency of your finished cannabutter. 

Directions: 

• Load your desired amount of clarified butter, proportionate amount of decarbed bud and lecithin into the pitcher of the MagicalButter Machine and tightly secure the head on top of the pitcher.
• Press the “Temperature” button on the top of the head and select the option for 160℉ (71℃), then the “2 Hours/Butter” button 
• Allow two hours infusion cycle to run 
• Once the infusion cycle is complete, unplug your MagicalButter Machine and remove the head. Put on your LoveGlove and slowly pour what’s in the pitcher through your PurifyFilter and into your desired storage container. 

And that’s it—decarb your bud, press a couple of buttons, wait two hours, strain and once it solidifies, you can infuse all of your favorite culinary creations with premium, potent homemade cannabutter. 

How to clean your machine

Once you’re done, the MagicalButter Machine is super easy to clean even if you’re stoned out of your mind on edibles already. You simply give the machine a rinse, fill it up halfway with dish soap and water and press the clean button. 

Whether you’re a veteran cannabutter chef you’re a novice who wants to learn the ropes of making edibles, the MagicalButter Machine is a solid investment. It’s as simple and straightforward to use as a botanical extraction machine/immersion blender/customizable heating unit can be without compromising the quality or the potency of its final products. 

So if you’re looking for a user-friendly way to make your own edibles (or you’re quarantined at home in need of new ways to get stoned like me) the MagicalButter Machine is the cure to your weed woes.

The post Everything You Should Know About the MagicalButter Machine appeared first on Weedmaps News.

Source: wm

If you’re following proper social distancing guidelines, you probably haven’t seen most or any of your friends and family in weeks. Since the novel coronavirus has spread across the world, forcing us to take shelter to keep ourselves, our friends and family, and communities safe and healthy, social life and interactions have distorted to the point of being nearly unrecognizable. 

For people who like to smoke weed with friends, it’s made all normal “seshing” cease. Most regular cannabis users can tell you that whether it’s for medical needs or personal enjoyment, part of the appeal of using weed is a communal one. There’s nothing quite like passing a freshly packed bong around the circle or sneaking off with a few people to share a joint in the alley. Without these small, intimate rituals, smoking weed alone can feel isolating and bleak. 

And this isolation comes at a cost. Vox’s Ezra Klein believes that along with a global pandemic and economic recession, we could find ourselves in a loneliness epidemic as well. Studies have shown that social isolation can have real mental and physical health consequences. And while social distancing can’t last forever, health experts urge us to keep our guards up and remain vigilant to flatten the curve and avoid a second wave. 

So where does that leave people looking to consume cannabis and get a bit of social interaction? Here’s the case for taking meetups and seshes into virtual smoke circles.  

Appointment Internet, but make it weed. 

New York Magazine’s Brian Feldman makes the case for “Appointment Internet,” in which smaller groups of friends and family make deliberate plans to meet up in a virtual setting rather than posting to a broad audience on social media and hoping to get engagement from strangers. 

The idea here is: “you can be assured that everyone else is seeing the same thing you’re seeing. It’s a more active and engaged use of the internet, and it’s a way to communicate with the couple of dozen people you actually want to talk to, and nobody else.”

When it comes to weed smokers, the same idea applies, but for scheduling time to login with your friends, smoke a joint, and catch up. 

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A post shared by Weedmaps (@weedmaps) on Mar 20, 2020 at 4:36pm PDT

As we move our daily catch ups, business meetings, happy hours, and birthday parties from office buildings, coffee shops, and bars into group messages, FaceTimes, Zoom meeting rooms, and Google Hangouts, we can move our smoke sessions to these digital spaces, too. It’s the “new normal” that we’re all still adjusting to, but it’s normalcy nonetheless. 

These rituals may seem insignificant until we don’t have them anymore. At Weedmaps, we have a gong that someone would physically ring everyday at 4:20 p.m. Since working remotely, someone always makes sure to send a gong emoji in the company-wide Slack channel everyday at 4:20 p.m, which prompts other co-workers to follow up with a variety of emojis and gifs. We even have a Slackbot reminder and a dedicated virtual meeting room for people to come in and share a smoke. 

Personally, last week my friends and I continued our weekly ritual of smoking weed and drinking whiskey while playing an incredibly complex board game by finding a simulator for the game and meeting up on FaceTime. It felt weird at first, but the comfort of chatting with my friends, seeing their faces, and enjoying some weed was something I really needed for my mental health.

Online sesh tips and etiquette. 

Just like an in-person smoke session, we should take proper etiquette and safety into consideration. We live in a society, afterall. 

A few pieces of etiquette to consider: 

• Start a group chat with your sesh friends. This is the easiest way to see who is interested and who is going to pass. 
• Try to set a recurring time. Same time everyday, once a week, whatever. Do calendar invites.
• Come prepared and ontime. Sure, it’s just a social thing, but respect everyone’s time. 
• Try to keep politics and “end of the world” talk to a minimum. These seshes are supposed to be social interactions that are meant to nourish you, not make you feel worse. 

Here are a few video platforms to consider: 

• FaceTime
• Google Duo/Hangouts
• Zoom
• WhatsApp
• Houseparty
• Discord

Here are a few smoking tips: 

• Avoid going into dispensaries, if you can. Check to see if your region allows curbside/pickup/delivery here and see if your local dispensary will let you order online here. 
• If you’re smoking with partners, family, or roommates, don’t share pipes, bongs, or joints. Each person should have their own device or product. 
• Be extra vigilant about keeping all your glass clean.
• Save money by looking for deals and using these weed hacks. 

Featured image by Gina Coleman/Weedmaps

The post You Should Still Make Time to Smoke Weed with Your Friends Online appeared first on Weedmaps News.

Source: wm

Former NFL player Kyle Turley believes CBD can prevent and cure coronavirus—and he’s not backing down on that clinically unsubstantiated claim despite pushback from marijuana legalization supporters and prohibitionists alike.

In fact, he accused those advocates of cowardice, alleging in an interview with Marijuana Moment that they’re afraid of the consequences of spreading what he claims is the “truth” about cannabis. He also said he would welcome Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforcement against his CBD company over these COVID-19 claims and would use such an action as an opportunity to expose the government for covering up the medical potential of the plant.

In a series of tweets in recent weeks, Turley has repeatedly hawked CBD products, arguing that because the compound interacts with the endocannabinoid system, which plays some role in regulating the immune system, they can be used to prevent and cure coronavirus. He says he’s basing that take on anecdotal evidence, as well as conversations he said he’s had with experts in the field.

But the claim about a CBD coronavirus cure isn’t backed by clinical research. And at a time when there is no vaccine or approved treatment option available for the virus, advocates and experts say this kind of marketing is dangerous and could lead people to avoid conventional health care options, putting them at risk.

“The last thing the world needs in these difficult and often confusing times is someone with any level of celebrity using their public platform to sell their personal products on false promises and pseudoscience,” Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “Marijuana and its components do not cure the coronavirus, to say the opposite just to put a few more bucks in your pocket is grotesque. All Americans should be on alert for these modern day charlatans and snake oil salespeople.”

But Turley evidently is undeterred by the criticism. He tweeted on Sunday that “CANNABIS WILL PREVENT & CURE COVID19!!!!!!!” and acknowledged that the statement would elicit “hate.”

In a phone interview with Marijuana Moment on Monday, the athlete-turned-entrepreneur said he has “lots of reasons to believe what I believe and I will continue to proclaim god’s truth in this whole thing because he saved my life through this plant. Period.”

But it’s not a point taken well by allies and opponents of marijuana reform, who’ve widely condemned the claim.

“All I’m saying is that the immune system will kill the coronavirus if you give your immune system cannabis. It will boost it to its levels where it will kill the coronavirus,” Turley said. “In return, it is very feasible and logical for me to back my statements and say CBD will cure and prevent the coronavirus. Why wouldn’t it?”

Turley is promoting a line of CBD products from his company, NEURO XPF, with an ad using the slogan “Crush Corona” along with artistic renditions of the virus. FDA would likely take issue with that kind of advertising, as it’s made clear it will take enforcement action against cannabis companies that make unsubstantiated claims about the therapeutic potential of their products.

The agency has sent several warning letters to such companies over the last year, imploring them to cease making therapeutic claims that aren’e backed up by research.

But as far as Turley is concerned, FDA action would represent an opportunity.

“I welcome it,” he said. “Please shut my company down so I can have another blockbuster press release on how the FDA and the United States government is suppressing truth and information when we have study after study now being driven by major cannabis companies in getting clinical trials to prove what I’m saying is true.”

Several people have commented on Turley’s Twitter posts, encouraging him to stop spreading misinformation about the therapeutic potential of cannabis when it comes to the virus.

In another tweet, Turley appeared to claim that cannabis products are “the cure for cancer.”

The former NFL player also said on Sunday that he would mail free CBD to individuals who reach out with documentation showing that they’ve tested positive for COVID-19. So far, he said, only one person has reached out with a positive test, and that that Louisiana-based individual will receive a full month’s supply of CBD from his company NEURO XPF.

Advocates have been loud and clear that businesses should not promote misleading claims about marijuana in the midst of this pandemic. They’ve further recommended avoiding combustable marijuana products, as the virus targets the respiratory system.

Turley had a simple message for advocates who have rejected his claims: “Cowards. Cowards.”

“I’ve been putting in work on my own dime, on my own time, taking away from my family, to move this conversation forward. And that’s what I’ve done,” he said, adding that they’re “scared to say too much because we don’t want the government, we don’t want the man, to start coming down on us.”

“Well guess what? I was a first round draft pick, I made millions of dollars, god saved my life through this plant and I live in America. So get used to it,” he said. “And I’m going to continue to spread his word.”

Featured image by Shutterstock

This article has been republished from Marijuana Moment under a content-sharing agreement. Read the original article here.

The post Why Won't Kyle Turley Stop Spreading Misinformation about CBD and Coronavirus? appeared first on Weedmaps News.

Source: wm