Below you will find everything you need to know about how to make cannabis oil just like Uncle Pete does. This oil saved his life from liver cancer, diabetes, hepatitis c, and more. Uncle Pete has worked with thousands of patients from across the globe over the last 10 years and helped to save the lives of countless others. This process has evolved over the last 10 years to what you see here, and produces a pure, full-spectrum oil that is transparent and golden, suitable for any use of cannabis oil.
Make your own cannabis oil. Do not rely on me or anyone else. This is the most important thing you will read on this page.
How To Make Cannabis Oil
Cannabis concentrates have acquired many names over the years including Rick Simpson Oil (RSO), CBD oil, THC oil, wax, rosin, hash, hash oil, shatter, butter, etc. The differentiating factor between these resulting products is the process used make the various forms.
This topic describes how we make pure cannabis oil or Rick Simpson Oil (RSO). While there are a wide variety of terms used to describe these processes and products, this topic describes a full-spectrum cannabis oil meant to be ingested. This page strictly discusses how Uncle Pete makes his oil - it saved his life and has a proven track record of helping many others with every qualifying condition under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act.
Solvent Selection
We use pure 99% isopropyl alcohol (also called IPA or 2-propanol) as our solvent. Use a variety that is intended as a medical antiseptic rather than industrial cleaner, as the other 1% is water. This is our choice due to our experience and expertise; it is not up for debate as it is a product of countless hours of research and testing. We encourage you to make your own solvent choice with proper education and testing. Many folks like to debate about solvent choices with no experience running lab testing between solvents, reading the MSDS sheets for them, or making any real effort to learn the chemical differences between them - they simply like to argue. Be smart, do your own homework, and make a wise decision like we did. We have had our cannabis oil tested using gas chromatography numerous times, and there is no residual isopropyl when using the process described below.
Isopropyl alcohol is the best solvent choice for extraction of cannabis oil outside of a laboratory because the detection limits for both smell and taste are far below the hazardous exposure limits. If you can no longer smell or taste alcohol, there is no safety risk for inhalation or ingestion.
Extracting The Oil From The Cannabis
Start With Quality Cannabis
We start with the best possible marijuana flower and leaf. A lot of people get hung up on specific strains, but all of the famous named strains vary from person to person and state to state because they have never been cataloged or defined like other plants have. We know a Roma Tomato is a Roma because it is defined by its specific DNA - we do not yet have that with cannabis. So we simply get the best cannabis we can source. Growing your own cannabis is preferred for a continuous and consistent supply. This also allows total control over the ingredients and the process. Those that cannot facilitate this or have the time to wait for plants to grow will obviously need to acquire their starting material in other ways.
We prefer to use at least four strains of cannabis to achieve the desired full-spectrum effect. Most modern cannabis strains are hybrids of indica and sativa - that is what we use. The best part of using modern cannabis strains is that they yield much more oil than was available from the classic strains. In other words, we are growing the world's best cannabis now - without question. Terms like indica and sativa are not scientific terms, so they are misleading. Traditionally, we use these terms to describe cannabis strains as a convenience despite their inaccuracy. The real focus should be quality - get some good leaf and flower to start with. We can judge good cannabis by its appearance, smell, taste, and texture. Much like fruits or vegetables, it should be appealing to our senses.
Freeze Both Cannabis And Solvent (99% Isopropyl Alcohol)
After identifying your solvent and quality starting material, the process begins with freezing both material and solvent. This will cause much more of the plant's wax and chlorophyll to cling together to be better filtered out of the end product. Freezing our material and our solvent is responsible for increasing our oil potency by 10% or more.
Mix Cannabis and Solvent Well
Use an appropriately sized stainless steel pot for mixing together the cannabis and the solvent. We prefer to use a large stainless steel stock pot - 22 quarts or larger. With the still that we use, about 20 ounces of flower and leaf is used with about 3 gallons of alcohol. Add the 20 ounces to the pot and pour in about 12 quarts of alcohol. Mix with a drill and a paint mixer for 5 minutes.
(video coming soon)
Filtering The Extract To Remove Plant Material
After mixing the cannabis and solvent thoroughly, we use three separate stages of filtration on the resulting extract.
Stage 1 - 75 Micron Bucket Filter
We use a 75 micron bucket filter remove the plant material in first stage of filtering. It is self explanatory in the video below - just pour the extract carefully through the filter. Be sure to move slow and steady so you don't create a lot of "waves" in the pot before you pour; spilling the extract is wasteful and sticky.
Stage 2 - 1 Micron Bag Filter (previously used)
We reuse the 1 micron bag filter used in stage 3 from our previous batch for this step. It helps make cleaner oil by adding a filtration stage and keeps the new stage 3 filter from getting clogged.
Stage 3 - 1 Micron Bag Filter (new)
For the final filter stage (finishing) we use a brand new 1 micron bag filter. An optional one-minute "second wash" on the previously extracted flower and leaf may be desired depending on the initial material and desired end product. Your experience will determine whether this step is necessary. We do a second wash on our indoor material and skip it for outdoor.
Removing The Solvent With Distillation
Removing the alcohol from the extract with a still is the next step. You can purchase the same unit used in the video from Amazon through this link. This is as simple as pouring the filtered mixture into our still and operating it as seen in the video below.
Ensuring Full Removal Of Solvent
As we distill the oil, we capture the alcohol that is cooked off. This is exactly why we kept track of how much we put in to begin with. As the captured volume nears the initial volume used for extraction, in this case 12 quarts, we know that the solvent has been removed from the final product. About 10% of the initial amount used for extraction is lost by evaporation and absorption by plant material and filters. Isopropyl alcohol is the best solvent choice for extraction of cannabis oil because the detection limits for both smell and taste are far below the hazardous exposure limits. If you can no longer smell or taste alcohol, there is no safety risk for inhalation or ingestion. The average amount of residual solvent in our oil made by this method is undetectable by standard gas chromatography - used by most labs for residual solvent detection.
In the video above you will see more about maintaining and operating the still while we are cooking off all the alcohol. This process takes both time and attention - be patient and ensure you have the time to do it properly before starting.
Final Removal Of Solvent
After distillation of more than 90% of the initial volume of alcohol, we have removed most of it and are prepared for the final step. This is a matter of alternately heating and cooling the mixture until we see no activity on the surface of the oil. This may happen quickly, within a few trips up and down the temperature scale - or it may take many. Activity on the surface of the oil indicates residual solvent. Allow the mixture to cool to 160 degrees Fahrenheit before heating it up to about 230 degrees Fahrenheit, being sure not to exceed 240 degrees Fahrenheit.
1) We know that isopropyl alcohol boils off at 180.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) We also know that water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add a few drops of water near the finish to give some extra insurance. If the water boils off at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, and the alcohol boils off at 180 degrees Fahrenheit, than we can be assured that all of the alcohol is purged. This water vapor will cause a cracking sound in the oil much like if we added a drop of water to a pan of hot bacon grease. You can see, hear, and feel it when it happens. Being aware of this may take a few experiences but is key to knowing what is happening in our pot.
The most important factor is to assure we can heat our oil up to about 220 degrees Fahrenheit without having any foam, bubbles, or activity on the surface. It should be flat as glass and motionless. This is not complicated, it just requires patience.
Finishing the process requires some patience. Take your time and watch all of these short videos carefully. Make some notes and pay attention to the little details. Use the same tools, the same equipment, and the same process if you wish to make oil like we do. There are no hidden secrets here - just honest sharing of experience and knowledge by someone who has done this a lot.
The finish is simple for those that are patient. Make sure the surface of the oil is flat.
We suction up the finished oil (still warm) with syringes, place the caps on, and put them in the refrigerator to cool for a little while. This will help stabilize the oil for travel and use.
Treatment With Cannabis Oil
Determining Dosage
Start with a dose of 1/10 to 1/20 ml. It is much easier to accomplish this if we mix it with some carrier oil like coconut oil. We prefer to use our cannabis infused coconut oil for our carrier. Mixing the 2 substances at a 9:1 ratio, or 9 parts coconut oil to 1 part cannabis oil, is a great way to make 1 ml capsules. We prefer the size 00 that are equivalent to 1 ml. By mixing them at this specific ratio we end up with capsules that are 1/10 pure cannabis oil, a good starting point to determine your dose.
Example:
We mix 90 ml of coconut oil with 10 ml of real cannabis oil or RCO to make 100 ml total. Each 1 ml capsule will then have 1/10 of a ml of cannabis oil in each capsule. This is an excellent starter dose. Cancer patients should work up to 10 capsules per day as quick as possible and stay there until the cancer is cleared and then some.
With every dose you take, you become more experienced with how the cannabis oil will effect you. As you feel comfortable, increase the dose by taking two per day, or even two at a time.
Continue to increase the dose until the desired effect is achieved. If treating something like diabetes or blood pressure, monitoring the result is simple. Increase the dose until the desired range is achieved. With other conditions it is not so obvious. You can usually tell when things are improving without testing, but there is nothing more reassuring than verifying your improved health through blood tests and physician monitoring.
Treating Cancer
Cancer patients should get up to 1 ml per day as quickly as they can tolerate it. The more advanced the condition, the more important it is. Stay at this dose until the cancer is cleared.
After the cancer is cleared, or the desired effects for other conditions have been achieved, it is time to work on a good maintenance dose. This varies from patient to patient and condition to condition. A good rule of thumb is 1/10 of a gram (similar to a starting dose) per day.
Cannabis Oil Is An Experimental Treatment
All conditions are treated the same with cannabis oil. It is not strain specific. It does not require any amount of research. It does take the best possible material you can acquire and the best process you can achieve to make the best oil available to you. Perhaps one day this will change, but we still have a long way to go.
Feel free to contact Uncle Pete any time with your questions. Joining the club is the best way to support our efforts here at Michigan Marijuana Seed Club. Your paid memberships are what fuel our efforts. I hope this tutorial was helpful. Thank you for visiting our website.
"My name is Uncle Pete and cannabis oil saved my life."
Peter O'Toole
Below you will see one of the earliest videos Uncle Pete made about extracting cannabis oil. Kenneth Gibson assists in the video below and is still active in the Michigan medical marijuana community today.