Certified Marijuana Doctors - Cannabis Card

Marijuana bud is the dried flower from the marijuana plant.  The flower of the plant has oily glands called trichomes that contain the cannabinoids which are chemical compounds and terpenes which provide the smells, both of which provide medicinal benefits. Concentrate is merely an extract of the trichomes, leaving the plant material behind. Concentrates can range in density.  The more concentrated a marijuana extract is, the stronger it is.  Concentrates typically range from 10% to 90%.  The more concentrated the extract is, less is needed to feel an effect.  Dabs are very thick concentrates as seen in the picture. Tinctures are less concentrated, and typically extracted with alcohol or vegetable glycerin.  Both bud and concentrates have benefits.  The benefits of bud, are you can see the quality, smell the aroma, and know if a bud has terpenes that typically agree with you from an allergy standpoint.  The benefit of concentrates are they can be used more discreetly, without the strong odor of bud, and they are more versatile.  Drops can be taken orally under the tongue or stirred into food or drinks, oils can be rubbed on skin or added to body products, or inserted into capsules to swallow. Both oil concentrate and bud can be vaporized. And if you buy, you can make your own concentrate or even your own marijuana "budder" to use in recipes.  

The concern with most patients about concentrates, is how are they produced, and are they adding anything that could be bad?  Concentrates can be harmful if not produced produced properly.   In recent years, consumers have started to realize that big corporations have lied and cheated their way to market domination, with the help of government agencies that are suppose to be watching out for consumers. However, time and time again regulators are caught looking the other way, often taking a well paying job, or payoff in the corporation they were suppose to be regulating.  Take big tobacco for instance, they were caught adding chemicals that made nicotine more potent.  Or how about the weed killer roundup which has been banned in countries all over the world due to harmful effects that have been discovered, yet is still widely used in the U.S.