Hashish

Hashish (better known as Hash) is the resin collected from the flowers of the cannabis plant. The primary active substance is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) although several other cannabinoids are known to occur.

Hashish is mainly and tradionally produced In Northern Africa, the middle east and major parts of Asia, like India.

Hash is usually smoked in pipes, water pipes, joints, and hookahs, sometimes mixed with cannabis flowers or tobacco. It can also be eaten.

A well-known method of using hash is the "knife-hit" method. Hash is placed on very hot pieces of metal and the resulting vapor inhaled. "Knife hits" is a method that involves heating up knives on a stove, crushing a little ball of the hash between them and inhaling the released vapor through a tube or straw. Hash cones is a method where a piece of hash is attached to a pin or metal wire and then heated.

brands and quality

The quality of hashish is dependant of two things: The country and especially the region where the cannabais is grown, and the production process.

Like for instance with wine, the end result of the production process is for a great part dependant on the soil, the climate and the manner of extraction of the resin.

also the effects differ slightly. The "black" hashish, like afghani and nepalese have a more dreamy, tranquil effect, while the "blonde" kinds, like the moroccan, have a "higher", more active effect.

• Moroccan - a dark green to grey white green hashish with a spicy smell.
• Afghani - a black, oily hashish with a seet.spicy smell. Strangely enought, the wars in Afghanistan did not stop the production and export, except for
• Lebanese - This can be divided in the "yellow" and the "red" Lebanese. This hashish give a pleasant smoke, with an aromatic taste, and was very sought after, until the civil war in Lebanon, after which the export came to a factual standstill.
• Turkish - a potent hashish, pressed to almost paper thin leafs.
• Pakistani - dark green, turning black on the outside. comparable to afghani
• Nepalese: grey/black hashish, with a peculiar, patchouli-like smell. The better qualities are hard to find. (more so than with the others.
• Kashmir - a rare (also because of internal struggles), and top-of-the-bill hashish. Usually referred to as "Charas" by local natives.
• India - In India, Hasjeesh is smoked for religious purposes, for meditation and to induce trances. For this a very potent hashish: Temple hash is smoked in chillums (straight conical pipes), made from clay, stone or wood.

Ice-o-lator is a high potency, hash like cannabis-product. See Ice-o-lator

Quality

The production processes differ in different countries, but generally it can be said that the quality of hashish depends on the relation between resin and plant matter.

For example: In Morocco, the first quality is called zero zero, because no sifting has taken place and the hashish is almost pure resin, with hardly any other plant matter.

after the zero zero, the plants are sifted through increasingly rude sieves, so the finest sieve produces the "primera" the next the "segunda" etcetera (Spanish nomination), the premiera being of better quality, naturally.