Oil, Extracts & Concentrates: What's the Difference?
Aside from the traditional method of smoking marijuana, there are numerous techniques for consuming the drug. These include taking oils, extracts, and concentrates.
Since cannabis flowers alone contain so many chemical compounds and active ingredients, the desired effects can sometimes get lost in the mix.
This is where extracts, including oils and concentrates, come in to provide a specific experience to the user. For this reason, long-time cannabis enthusiasts will usually transition into these substances at one point or another.
What Are Cannabis Extracts?
Cannabis extracts are almost exactly what they sound like: active ingredients that are extracted, or taken out, from the plant to create an entirely new substance.
All marijuana products, aside from the actual flowers, come directly from extracts. The edible baked goods that you eat and the topicals you apply to your skin are all made from extracted cannabis chemicals.
Oils and concentrates are also considered to be extracts since only the most desirable ingredients are taken out to produce a specific set of effects. Even though they both fall under the same category, knowing the differences between the two is worth it for anyone, who is looking for a particular experience.
What Is Cannabis Oil?
Cannabis oil is a type of extract that is taken out of the plant and transformed into a concentrated liquid. There are generally two specific variations of oils that each serve their purpose once consumed.
Variations Of Cannabis Oil:
THC Oil
CBD Oil
Vaporizer Cartridges
Direct Ingestion
Capsules
Shatter
Wax
Dab Oil Concentrate
Hash
Tinctures
Wax Concentrate Cartridge
Cartridge Pen Dab
THC and CBD are the main cannabinoids, or chemical compounds, that are derived naturally from marijuana. THC is responsible for the psychoactive effects in the brain that produce a high feeling to the user once consumed. CBD, on the other hand, is ideal for bodily relaxation and serves as a treatment for many medical conditions.
When cannabis flowers are ingested by smoking, both sets of effects are combined, which is not beneficial to someone who is looking for only one. Cannabis oils solve this problem by pulling out only one ingredient from the plant, resulting in only one type of reaction.
How Cannabis Oils Can Be Consumed:
The most popular ways to consume cannabis oils include loading the substance into a vaporizer cartridge and smoking it or ingesting it directly through a variety of methods.
What Are Concentrates?
Cannabis concentrates, on the other hand, are extracts from the plant that are transformed into a solid substance, as opposed to liquid oil. The physical description of concentrates can be most closely compared to a scoop of butter or honey.
Products Made With Cannabis Concentrates:
Concentrates from cannabis make up a variety of popular products, including capsules, hash, and dabs. All of the above methods can be inhaled, taken by mouth, or smoked using a specialized device like a pot wax pen.
The Main Differences
While concentrate and oil extracts from cannabis all come from the same place, there are a few main discrepancies between them. The first and most obvious difference is how the substances look and feel.
Cannabis oils are in pure liquid form, while concentrates take on the profile of a solid mass. This translates directly into the products that are created from them as well. Oils are typically added into another medium to create a new substance, such as a lotion or cream, while concentrates are consumed as they are.
What they have in common, though, are the increased effects that they provide to users. Through extracts, concentrates, and oils, you can experience hand-picked cannabis profiles while only consuming the purest form of the drug.
Whether you are bored with your current methods of cannabis consumption or you are seeking alternatives to smoking, you will undoubtedly find what you are looking for with this family of products.