Rick Simpson’s Hemp Oil

If you haven’t heard it before, the story of Rick Simpson is worth hearing.  Rick is a trailblazer in the Cannabis oil industry.

After a serious head injury in 1997, Rick Simpson, who lived in the small town of Maccan, Nova Scotia, sought relief from his medical condition by using hemp oil.

Eventually, the post concussion syndrome vanished completely. Rick’s doctor discouraged him from smoking, so Rick decided to grow his own THC hemp and extract the oil from whole plants. He reduced a pound of plants by slow boiling in a solution to get a small tube of thick THC concentrated oil.

Soon after he began taking the hemp oil, Rick was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma. After one of the three cancers was removed surgically, it came back. So he tried the THC laden hemp oil topically. Within days, all three skin cancers were completely healed. Rick deduced that THC hemp oil cured cancer, but smoking marijuana would not.

Rick began to share this miracle oil with others free of charge, curing and controlling the illnesses of many people.  Unfortunately, when the story went public, the police stepped in and took his plants and oil, leaving many people without their cancer treatments.  Rick was charged with possessing and trafficking marijuana.

So many people have been cured using Rick Simpson’s hemp oil, and he continues to be an advocate for the industry.

Watch the video documentary of his story, Run From the Cure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0psJhQHk_GI

Also, check out his website:  http://phoenixtears.ca/

And, his Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rick-Simpson/298774923502987

Many types of solvents can be used to create an oil with properties similar to Rick Simpson Oil. Using heat (~250f) and time (30 mins) otherwise known as decarboxylation the oil is ‘activated’ and can be used in many types of medical delivery methods such as topical lotions or edible foods. An individual patient’s sensitivity to solvents should always be considered when discussing a choice of effective solvents.

The HeatVac can be used to assist in removing residual solvents from an extract before decarboxylation and makes a great addition for anyone making medical-grade oil similar to what Rick Simpson has done.

How to Turn BHO Into a Cancer Fighting Machine

he Cannabis plant produces beneficial cannabinoids, but they exist in a form that can’t readily pass the blood brain barrier to reach the important CB1 receptors.

The blood brain barrier is semi-permeable, allowing some materials to cross from the blood into the brain, but prevents others from crossing.  It protects the brain from foreign substances, hormones, and neurotransmitters.

Cannabinoid receptors are part of the cannabinoid receptor system in the brain and are involved in a variety of physiological processes including appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory.  The CB₁ receptor operates mainly in the brain, but also in the lungs, liver and kidneys. The CB₂ receptor operates mainly in the immune system.

To enable the cannabinoids to pass the blood brain barrier, they must first be decarboxylated.  Decarboxylation is simply removing a carboxyl group (CO2+H) from the phytocannabinoids THCA and CBDA to create the active THC,and CBD that can break through the blood brain barrier and reach the CB-1 receptor on certain cells. This process occurs through heating.

Why decarboxylation? If we are fighting cancer, we need to optimize the potency of treatment. THC and CBD kills cancer by shredding the mitochondria to disrupt its energy metabolism, while leaving normal cells untouched.

When we use low heat to convert the THCA and CBDA into THC and CBD, the conversion happens much more efficiently than would happen normally in the combustion/smoking process. We need to control the decarboxylation temperatures carefully because overheating causes the active compounds to degrade and break down.

Flowers and oil are very hard for the body to absorb directly. Flowers are best made into concentrates such as BHO, bubblehash, Rick Simpson oil, High-CBD Hemp Oil, etc, which should all still be properly decarboxylated, then mixed with an edible oil source such as coconut oil or grape seed oil and made into pill form. The recommended temperature for decarboxylation is 225f for about 25 minutes and can easily be done in a home oven.

When using concentrates extracted with solvents, it is important to have clean degassed material to give to patients who may be have a sensitive nervous system. Long periods of time under heat and vacuum help to pull the solvents from the oil. And that is exactly what the HeatVac heated vacuum chamber does.  It digitally controls the temperature during the degassing and extracting process, maintaining a constant temperature and resulting in the purest degassed concentrated oil possible. The HeatVac can help to turn organic, pest-free Cannabis into a concentrate which can then be decarboxylated and mixed with coconut oil in pill form to make an extremely effective medicine.

Why is Heat So Important in Making Cannabis Oil?

There are “do it yourself” articles all over the internet, describing how to make marijuana, hemp, hash, BHO, or Cannabis oil yourself.  This process can be made simple and safe if we always remember to only use flammable solvents outdoors away from any sources of ignition (flame, static, anything electric) given the highly combustible properties of the solvents needed for extracting the essential oil. Most methods of purging the residual butane from the product are simply not efficient and don’t produce the best quality oil.

The best way to purge oil is to combine two complementary processes during extraction: vacuum and heat. The HeatVac utilizes an internal temperature controlled work surface that will maintain a set temperature (while the vacuum is constant) during the entire extraction process. The heat causes the gases in the material to expand, while also melting the product, making it easier for the gas or solvent to be removed from the material.

Unfortunately, most vacuum chambers marketed today do not have the added advantage of an internal heat source. Using a heated vacuum chamber (www.heatvac.com) makes the process of extraction much quicker and creates the purest essential oils possible.

When making BHO the consistency of the final product is very important. The HeatVac can be digitally set to your desired temperature, making different consistencies much easier. When the product is purged at a higher temperature around 115 – 140f, it is possible to produce several types of budder or wax. A smooth honey can be made at temps around 160f. And the most desirable, with the most flavor / terpenes remaining is known as shatter. This stable product is made at low temperatures around 88-100f, requires long vacuum times and produces a brittle, touchable sheet of glass-like consistency.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s CNN Video, “Weed”

Check out this video by medical reporter, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He used to be against medical marijuana, but has now become an advocate!