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Comment by ivvs | Hacker News Reader

Unfortunately, no.

Quick primer on cannabinoids. The plants don't produce THC, CBD, etc... they produce THCA, CBDA, etc. This -A form, called the acid form, has a carboxyl group attached to it which changes how the cannabinoids interact with your body.

Heat, even temperatures as low as 250F / 120C can de-carboxylate the cannabinoid, yielding THC from THCA, and CBD from CBDA. When you smoke weed, the act of smoking is decarboxylating the weed as you consume it. Same as when you make pot brownies - the cooking of the brownie "activates" the THC.

This research, however, shows that it is precisely the acid forms that block cellular entry. So THCA and CBDA are good, but THC and CBD have not been shown to be as effective.

Long comment short: don't smoke weed, instead make a room-temp tincture with it. It won't get you stoned, but it might help stop covid.

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5549534/

Read the final section.

It doesn't all undergo decarboxylation. You are still inhaling THCA and CBDA

I love this community sometimes and thank you for that serious reply to my less than serious joke.

BTW: Has anyone got a good, working recipee for pot brownies that a) don't taste terrible and b) don't require lab equipment? I haven't had much sucess in the past

> BTW: Has anyone got a good, working recipee for pot brownies that a) don't taste terrible and b) don't require lab equipment?

Don't make brownies, you'll always taste the herbal flavour. Instead, make savoury treats, as that flavour becomes more subtle I found. I used to like making mini sausage rolls. I've heard carbonara or stroganoff works well too if you want a hearty meal to weld you to your couch.

I only did it once - the whole apartment floor smelled like a dispensary afterwards. Make it into a butter first and it’ll taste great. Unless you don’t like that flavor at all.

My recipe has not a lot of basis in science, and this is just a personal anecdote of a recipe that works for me:

Break your bud up! Then, soak it for a few days in water (distilled, preferably) in a covered container. Then, before you make cannabutter out of it, blanch your weed (bring to a boil, then put it into ice water). This will take most of the flavor out of it. Strain all the water out.

The rest of the process is as usual - Decarboxylate your herb by baking it at 240F for ~45 minutes, mixing it up every ~10m so it doesn't burn or toast unevenly. Then simmer it with butter and water for like 4 hours. If you have a thermometer, make sure the temperature stays under 180F. After 4 hours, strain all the butter thru a cheesecloth or whatever strainer you have, and discard the solids.

You'll be left with a reasonably flavorless butter you can use in any sort of cooking :)

Decarboxylate your flowers in the oven. This converts CBDA into CBD and THCA into THC. I preheat the oven to 114C / 237F, place thinly divided flowers on a sheet of baking paper and cover with another sheet of paper or tin foil. Bake for 40 minutes. The plant will turn brownish.

Infuse butter or coconut oil by simmering water, butter and plant material for several hours. Cannabinoids are soluble in alcohol and fat. This step makes so called "cannabutter". You will have to add water several times to keep the butter about 1" / 2.5cm above pot's bottom. If the water level is too low, plant material may burn out and become useless. After 4 to 6 hours, your solution will become glossy on top. Separate the fat from plant material. Place - still liquid - butter with water in a bowl at room temperature and wait for it to solidify. Don't place the solution into fridge as solidifying too fast may leave impurities in the butter.

Get rid of water from underneath. The butter can now be frozen for several months.

Find a cake recipe which calls for larger amounts of butter. Chocolate brownies are a great choice.

Bake a cake and divide it into equal pieces. For example, if I use butter infused with 30g of plant material, I cut the cake 5x6 to have 30 pieces.

So is this the same as getting vaccinated then?

Unfortunately, no. But it will help you social distance.

> BTW: Has anyone got a good, working recipee for pot brownies that a) don't taste terrible and b) don't require lab equipment? I haven't had much sucess in the past

Use a crockpot to make butter first: Add 1 oz ground up bud, 1 lb unsalted butter, and 2 cups of water. Set it on low for 8 hours, stirring occasionally. When it's done, use a strainer / cheesecloth to filter out the plant matter, pouring the butter / water mixture into a tupperware container. Squeeze as much butter as you can out of the cheesecloth into the tupperware, and put it in the fridge overnight. The (green) butter will separate from the water and solidify. Take the solid chunk of butter out of the container and place it on a paper towel to dry in the fridge.

You can melt the butter down in the microwave now that the water has been removed, and pour it into 4 oz containers to solidify into 3-4 sticks of cannabutter. Wrap each stick in foil (if you want) and freeze any that you don't plan on using right away.

Then just use some standard brownie mix that calls for 1 stick of butter.

In this case I'd opt for making a salad :-)

What about CBD oil?

Most CBD oil is decarboxylated for a variety of reasons, both market driven and regulation driven. That being said, all CBD oil should have a COA with it (certificate of analysis). Read the COA to determine exactly how much CBDA, CBD, and other cannabinoids are present.

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