How to Decarboxylate Marijuana

If you want to get high from marijuana, you must decarboxylate THC.

Even dried and cured buds contain mostly “acid” forms of THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids that won’t get you high or give you full medical benefits.

You can eat potent raw or dried/cured buds and not get high.

If you want to get high, you must decarboxylate.

When you heat buds in a vaporizer, bong, or joint, it decarboxylates cannabinoids– changing their molecular structure from un-intoxicating to psychoactive.

You must decarboxylate whole buds, kief, dry sift, bubblehash, and other forms of cannabis including concentrates if you want psychoactive effects.

If you’re doing other things with marijuana—such as making medibles, edibles, tinctures, or extracts—you first decarboxylate the cannabis using the method I outline here.

The two crucial factors in decarboxylating marijuana are time (heating duration) and temperature.

Other factors almost as crucial are whether you’re using dried bud, raw, fresh bud, or cannabis concentrates.

If you’re using dried and cured buds, decarboxylate by putting them into a precision temperature controlled pre-heated oven for 50 minutes at 245°F.

Take the buds out of the oven precisely after 50 minutes have passed.

If you’re using raw undried buds, decarboxylate by putting them into pre-heated oven for 100 minutes at 245°F.

If you’re using kief, dry sift, or bubblehash, decarboxylate by putting the material into the oven for 50 minutes at 220°F.

Here are some other facts for you about how to decarboxylate marijuana:

• Get an accurate oven thermometer.
• Watch your thermometer carefully during heating. You may discover that the oven can’t hold a constant, precise temperature. Adjust your time and temperature settings to counter the unreliability.
• Use only clean glass or uncoated oven trays.
• Don’t cover the material.
• Bubblehash, kief, dry sift may degrade/melt if heat is too high.
• Store decarboxylated cannabis in top part of refrigerator for short-term storage or freezer for long-term storage.
• I don’t recommend using these methods to decarboxylate solvent cannabis concentrates such as butane honey oil or rosin.
• Only use a precision oven, not a toaster oven. Never use a microwave.
• Experiment with using lower temperatures for longer periods of heating, but don’t use temperatures higher than 255°F.

Now you know how to decarboxylate cannabis!