Green Dragon??? Like to get high?

Tired of coughing shit out of your lungs?

Wanna save money? Some pot smokers feel this way, but they're turned off by the idea of cooking with pot for several reasons. First of all, you can accidentally get too stoned and become paranoid. This is because digesting food takes a long time, so at first you'll think you're not stoned enough, eat some more "special brownies," and then later on it's too late and you have to go through a scary experience. Nobody has ever died from a marijuana overdose, scientists cannot prove that it causes brain damage, and it's unknown whether long-term heavy use has permanent effects (see Erowid.org for more info). Despite marijuana being a relatively safe drug, it's still not very fun to accidentally get too stoned. Another reason smoking is preferred: many people say that eating pot is a "different" experience, which is a polite way of saying "not as good" because these people usually choose to smoke it instead. When the effects come on more quickly, like taking a hit off a bong, this can be a better high. In other words, some people like to get really fucked up really fast! Also, food might not deliver all of the psychoactive substances in pot. And quite simply, some people just don't like the taste of pot, or they like the feeling and social aspect of smoking something. A green dragon soda can almost offer everything that pot smokers like, without the smoking part. "Green dragon" is essentially a marijuana extract. It's a quick, controlled way to get high without tasting pot or putting carcinogens into the lungs. Compared to other marijuana drinks, it's relatively compact and easy to carry around in public, and it can be added to any type of drink or food. If you make a large batch and strain out the weed, then you'll know exactly how strong it is after the first sample. Another advantage of green dragon: you won't smell like pot! On an empty stomach you'll reach a peak high at about 60 to 90 minutes, whereas a toke or a bong hit takes about 15 to 45 minutes to peak. Stove Method

Supplies: Cooking pot, mug or measuring glass, candy thermometer, fork, coffee filter paper, rubber band, and a drinking cup.

Ingredients: 1 fluid ounce citrus extract (lemon, lime, or orange) and ½ gram of weed.

Cooking with alcohol is a fire hazard, but this is a less-dangerous variation using a water bath. Never do this when you're already stoned. Always have good ventilation because concentrated alcohol vapors can explode! The amount of pot shown here would work for most regular stoners if it's a high-grade marijuana ("chronic"). You would most likely get high enough that you wouldn't be disappointed, but not quite high enough that you would get a panic attack. No guarantees, so each person has to experiment and figure out the right amount. Somebody who has not been high in a really long time would be very sensitive, so they would need to use less pot or use cheaper stuff ("schwag"). A total pot-head would need to use more pot. "Green dragon" is made with very-concentrated alcohol because the cannabinoid compounds (the stuff that gets you high, including THC) do not dissolve in water, but they do dissolve well in alcohol. Everclear is ideal, but this is not available in some states. For large batches, use liquor with the highest alcohol content that is available. The more alcohol, the easier it is to extract the cannabinoids. For small batches, citrus extracts are ideal because they have a high alcohol content (80-90%), and they taste good when added to a drink. Mint extract also has a high alcohol content but it's incredibly gross to drink. Rubbing alcohol or methyl alcohol will both make you go blind (it's not a myth!), so nobody uses those. Cannabinoids are also fat-soluble, but oils and fats take longer to digest, and it's kind of gross to drink vegetable oil, unless it is so concentrated that you can take a few drops under the tongue (sublinguilly). Step 1: Microwave *dry* weed on medium 3 x 20 seconds with cooling time in between. This converts THCA (inactive) to THC (active). This process is known as "decarboxylation." Do not put any alcohol into the microwave because that would be dangerous. A common question: how much to microwave? Over-cooking may result in THC vaporization (that's bad unless you're inhaling). As a general rule, the decarb is complete when the weed is crunchy, but the plate should not be too hot to touch. Here are some educational links about decarboxylation:

http://cannabisculture.com/articles/3037.html

http://www.druglibrary.org/SCHAFFER/Library/studies/ledain/ldc2b.htm

[ctrl]+ [F] and search for "THCA"

Step 2. Fill the cooking pot with a couple inches of hot tap water and place on a burner. The water helps control the heat so that the temperature doesn't change too fast. And if you accidentally bump and spill the whole thing, it can help prevent a fire. Remove any seeds. Add the weed and extract into the mug or measuring cup, then clip the candy thermometer on the inside of the container so that the bulb is touching the bottom. Place mug or measuring cup in the center of the cooking pot.

Step 3. Turn on the burner and set the heat to a low setting (light the flame first if you're using a gas stove), and watch the temperature slowly climb. Carefully adjust the flame or electricity to keep the solution between 160 ºF and 165 ºF and maintain this for 20 minutes. Ethyl alcohol boils at 173 ºF at sea level, so the candy thermometer helps to avoid an accidental boil-over. If you see the alcohol boiling a little, then back off the heat a little. This happens when the solution is heated unevenly. You can fix this problem by putting something underneath the container so that it's not directly touching the bottom of the cooking pot, but it has to allow the vapor bubbles to escape without causing vibrations. Alternatively, you can use a floating steel bowl instead of a glass measuring cup. If the temperature goes above 165 ºF, and you turn down the heat, but the temperature is still climbing and getting close to 170 ºF... then just lift the cooking pot off the burner, let it cool down to 160 ºF, and then put it back on the burner. While the solution is being heated, it's important to stir with a fork once in awhile, just in case some of the weed is not completely covered by the liquid. Some alcohol will inevitably evaporate. How much is lost depends on surface area.

Step 4. Cool off the solution by slowly adding tap water into the cooking pot and repeating a couple times.

Step 5. Put coffee filter paper inside and around the drinking cup, wrap rubber band around the outside to keep it in place. Pour the solution onto the filter paper and let it drip into the drinking cup. Once it's done dripping, grab the filter paper and the weed and squeeze out every last drop.

Step 6. Now you have "green dragon!" The high alcohol content makes it unpleasant to drink straight, so it's better to add it to something. For an exciting high, add to coffee. For a relaxing high, add to chamomile tea. With soda it tastes really good! A marijuana drink is faster than eating marijuana in food, but not quite as fast as smoking it. On an empty stomach you'll get some immediate effects, with a peak high at 60 to 90 minutes. This will slowly wear off over several hours. If you make a large batch, then you'll know how strong it is after the first time, and then you can easily decide how stoned you want to be the next time... Microwave: No!

NEVER USE A MICROWAVE FOR EXTRACTION! Anything metal or reflective inside the microwave will spark and light the whole thing on fire and really fuck up the microwave! If the fan is not working, then the vapors will concentrate, and an explosion might blow the door off the microwave and throw shrapnel in your face. This recipe has been removed because it's too dangerous. It's also the least efficient method and is wasteful of expensive weed. However, it is safe to use a microwave for decarboxylation (THCA conversion to THC, a.k.a. "drying the weed"). Extraction is dangerous because it involves concentrated alcohol. Cupboard Method This is the easiest way to make "green dragon." First, dry the weed in a microwave on high for at least two minutes, then put it in a bottle of lemon extract, stick it in a warm cupboard, and wait two to four weeks. Some people don't have this kind of patience, and sometimes getting high is a spontaneous social thing: you're at a party or a friend's house listening to music or watching something funny and you just wanna get high. ("Hey, let's make something!" not "Hey let's wait three weeks and try this!") Or sometimes people decide that after finishing a boring week of work they just wanna go home and have a mini-vacation on a Friday night. Not everybody likes to plan their highs so far in advance. The cupboard method is, however, the safest method. Microwaving is the easiest method for decarboxylation, but it should never be used for extraction. Solar Method → The solar method is probably the best method because it's not as dangerous as cooking with alcohol, doesn't take forever, and it's very efficient so it doesn't waste good pot. In theory, it's the best method. The basic idea is to put a small black sealed container inside a clear container, then put the whole thing inside a reflective metal bowl and leave it outside on a hot sunny day. The black container would need to be light-proof and have very strong threads to hold the pressure. A baby food jar with metal threads would probably work, and it would easily fit inside a peanut butter jar. Sunlight breaks down THC, but several coats of black spray paint primer might be enough to keep everything dark inside. This method might only work in the summertime or for people who live in the desert. The big downside is that it could get stolen or blown away by the wind. Also, the whole thing could explode from vapor pressure and that would suck, so it's important to use a strong container and a lid with strong threads. In theory the pot could be dry-baked one day and extracted the next day. To use the solar method for decarboxylation, it's important to use a packet of salt to keep the humidity low. Update: a very simple version of the solar method is to use an old container for water purifications tablets, place it inside a black glasses case (light-proof), and place that on the dashboard of a car during the summertime.

Some cool links:

Gyp's Image Imagine

Blue Ball Factory

True Art or a Fake?

M.C. Escher and the Droste Effect Only educational questions please. I have fallen behind on emails.

Message board will be active again sometime...