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Strawberry There is a lot of information on various ways to process the herb on youtube, including how to make cannabutter. The Denver Post also has a section called The Cannabist which also has an article on how to make it. I don't think 180 is too hot. I've read that at least THC needs to be heated to at least 200 to change it from the precursor chemical (THCa ??).
I can't imagine why instructions on how to make the tincure would be forbidden. It's legal where I live and where you live. And instructions are available on youtube and other sites on the internet.
I dry the whole plant for several days (3-6), then snip it into the size pieces that will fit in my food processer (using heavy duty scissors), including the stems. Around 1" pieces.
I freeze it all for an hour or two, or until I have time to continue the process.
I grind it up in my food processer, to a powder as fine or finer than corn meal. Some parts of stems may still be larger than that. Parts of the plant are sticky and freezing it before grinding makes less of it stick to the food processer.
I put the ground herb in a clean glass jar with a screw-on lid. I eyeball the level of it in the jar and then add about 2 parts grain alcohol. (GemClear is the cheapest brand where I am; it's sold at the liquor store and is 190 proof, meaning it is 95% alcohol, 5% water.) (Using ethanol is safer than other solvents since it is manufactured for human consumption and I leave some of the alcohol in the tincure, but keep in mind that it is flammable. No open flames, please!) If it looks like a lot of herb has stuck to the food processer, I rinse it with a little of the alcohol before adding that to the jar.
I add a similar amount of distilled water, a bit less than the grain alcohol since the GemClear has some water already.
So, if the level of ground herb is, say, 1/2", I add about an inch of GemClear and a little less than an inch of distilled water. The exact amounts are not that important, but you could use a measuring cup if you prefer. I try to use the fewest containers possible since the herb is somewhat sticky and some gets left in each container.
I leave it to macerate (soak) on the top shelf of my closet for several days, at least three, but it's probably not important as long as it's a day or more. Longer will work, too, whenever I get the time, energy and urge to finish it. I've seen some recommendations that it macerate for a week or more, but I don't see any reason for it, especially when the herb is ground to a powder. I shake it up whenever I remember to.
Now the messy part: I use a layer of cheese cloth under a coffee filter, clothespinned to a two-cup measuring cup (any glass container will work). I pour the liquid and the dregs into the filters and let it drip through until there is nothing but herb left. I then press it with a spoon to get more liquid out. Then I pick up the filters and twist and squeeze the remaining liquid into the container. It will be green and will stain most of what it touches, but bleach will clean that up.
I have an electric stove with a flat cooktop. I pour the liquid into a flat-bottomed Pyrex bowl and "cook" it on low heat, about 200 degrees, to evaporate most of the alcohol and water. If you cook it down too much you start to get "Rick Simpson oil" which I don't like because it is so sticky and hard to deal with. That's why I stop the process while there is still some alcohol and water in the tincture. If there is a lot of black sediment that won't mix with the liquid, you've cooked it down too much. You can add back a little alcohol to get it back in suspension.
I let it cool a little, then funnel it into an empty herbal tincture bottle, left over from trying other herbal tinctures. The amount from one plant is around 1 oz. My bottles have eyedroppers so that is what I use to administer the tincture to myself.
I was sent some free seeds along with my medical varieties so I grew them, too. They have higher THC than my medical varieties so I process them separately, label the bottles with the variety, and use the higher THC tincture only right before bed, or when my pain is worse than usual because I've been overdoing it. With the eyedropped delivery system, you can adjust your dosage, drop by drop, until you get it how you need it.
If your stove has an open flame, I don't recommend using it for this purpose. Too high a chance of catching fire. I saw in some youtube video that some people use the keep warm pad of a coffee maker to evaporate the extra liquid, and some use a slow cooker/crock pot to do it. Anything with low heat and no flame.
I like the taste and smell of my medical varieties (Med GOM 1.0 and CBDKush) so I take them "straight." I don't like the smell and taste of the higher THC varieties so I sometimes add a little honey to the bottle while the tincture is still warm. And shake up the bottle before using, for all tinctures.
If I'm not going to be driving, which is usually at least 6 days out of 7, I start the day with a few drops of a medical variety and do it again two or three times during the day. Then switch to a stronger formulation right before bed.
The only unwanted side affects are increased appetite and some increased dizzyness (I already have ataxia) for maybe an hour after taking it. As always, start low and go slow.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask here or PM me.
Here's an interesting youtube video about medical cannabis:
Here's one on making cannabutter:
(one of my favorites; by MonaLisaLuvsMaryJane)
Making tintcures, various methods:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cannabis+tincture+making