Hashish () or cannabis resin also charas (a transliteration) as a contradiction of Ismāʿīlī, using the suffix -iyya which is a way to make abstraction from a noun.
Oxford English Dictionary online states the (their) first evidence for the word "hashish" is 1598 in a translation of book one volume two of The Voyage of John Huyghen Van Linschoten to the East Indies by Jan Huygen van Linschoten. Infact the word is not found either in the original of 1596 or the 1598 translation, instead exists as an annotation in a 1885 edition edited by P.A. Thiele.
Usage history
Hashish has been consumed for many centuries, though there is no clear evidence as to its first appearance. North India and Nepal have a long social tradition in the production of hashish, known locally as charas. In 1840, Louis Aubert-Roche reported his successful use of hashish against pestilence and typhoid. Baudelaire later wrote the 1860 book Les paradis artificiels about the state of being under the influence of opium and hashish. Around the same time, American author Fitz Hugh Ludlow wrote the 1857 book The Hasheesh Eater about his youthful experiences, both positive and negative, with the drug.
Hashish was also mentioned and used as an anesthetic in Germany in 1869. It was imported in great quantities especially from India where it was called charas. However, there were also people who did not deem cannabis as harmless. (here, a transliteration of, an arabicization of Persian: bang (bhang in Hindustani, Bengali ) - from; mang / manga- ) is a subject of anti-narcotics literature of al-Muzanī (9th century) and aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī (10th). and in the annotations of a 1891 republication of a 1563 text. was the peak of the medicinal use, where hashish compounds were most commonplace in almost all European countries and the USA. Evidence of misuse at that time was practically non-existent (as opposed to widespread reports in Asia and Africa).
Production
It is believed that massive hashish production for international trade originated in Morocco during the 1960s, where the cannabis plant was widely available. Before the coming of the first hippies from the Hippie Trail, only small pieces of Lebanese hashish were found in Morocco.
Morocco has been the major hashish producer globally with €10.8 billion earned from Moroccan resin in 2004, but some so-called "Moroccan" may actually be European-made. however studies suggest there is a "hashish revival" in Morocco.
Hashish remains in high demand in most of the world while quality continues to increase, due to many Moroccan and western farmers in Morocco and other hash producing countries using more advanced cultivation methods as well as cultivating further developed cannabis strains which increases yields greatly, as well as improving resin quality with higher ratios of psychoactive ingredients (THC). A tastier, smoother and more aromatic terpenes and flavonoids profile is seen as an indicator of a significant rise in hashish quality in more recent years. Hashish production in Spain has also become more popular and is on the rise, however the demand for relatively cheap and high-quality Moroccan hash is still extremely high.
Changes to regulations around the world have contributed greatly to more and more countries becoming legitimate hashish producing regions, with countries like Spain effecting more lenient laws on cannabis products such as hashish. Washington State followed by Colorado started regulating cultivation, manufacturing and distribution of cannabis and cannabis derived products such as hashish in the United States, followed by many other places in the US (such as Humboldt, California) and around the world.
European market
thumb|Hashish shown next to a diameter [[U.S. penny for scale]]
According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Western Europe is the biggest market for cannabis resin with 70% of global seizures. However, the European hashish market is changing. Cannabis cultivation increased throughout the 1990s until 2004, with a noticeable decrease reported in 2005 according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. The potency of unprocessed cultivated or stock cannabis flowers increased greatly—with flowers containing upwards of 25% THC by weight, circa the early 21st century.
In a study conducted in 2014 by Jean-Jaques Filippi, Marie Marchini, Céline Charvoz, Laurence Dujourdy and Nicolas Baldovini (Multidimensional analysis of cannabis volatile constituents: Identification of 5,5-dimethyl-1-vinylbicyclo[2.1.1]hexane as a volatile marker of hashish, the resin of Cannabis sativa L.) the researchers linked the characteristic flavour of hashish with a rearrangement of myrcene caused during the process of manufacture.
In the early 21st century, the terpene hashishene was identified as possibly responsible for the characteristic smell and aroma of hashish, as compared to raw herbal cannabis.
Depending on the production process, the product can be contaminated with different amounts of dirt and plant fragments, varying greatly in terms of appearance, texture, odour and potency. Also, adulterants may be added in order to increase weight or modify appearance. Not all hashish can be consumed orally as some is not decarboxylated during manufacture. Generally the methods are similar to overall cannabis consumption.
As hashish’s active ingredient is THC, it has the same effects as cannabis. The onset is felt within 15 minutes when smoking, and about 30 to 60 minutes when eaten. Common effects include:
- changes in perception; including a feeling of relaxation, pleasure (“high” or euphoria)200px|right|thumb|Blood-shot eyes are a sign of cannabis use.
- poor short-term memory The flowers of a mature female plant contain the most trichomes, though trichomes are also found on other parts of the plant. Certain strains of cannabis are cultivated specifically for their ability to produce large amounts of trichomes. The resin reservoirs of the trichomes, sometimes erroneously called pollen (vendors often use the euphemism "pollen catchers" to describe screened kief-grinders in order to skirt paraphernalia-selling laws), are separated from the plant through various methods.
The sticky resins of the fresh flowering female cannabis plant are collected. Traditionally this was, and still is, done in remote locations by pressing or rubbing the flowering plant between two hands and then forming the sticky resins into a small ball of hashish called charas. This method produces the highest amount of cannabinoids (THC content up to 60%) without chemical solvents or distillation. The best quality charas is produced in Central Asia, and sold in sausage-like shapes.
Mechanical separation methods use physical action to remove the trichomes from the dried plant material, such as sieving through a screen by hand or in motorized tumblers. This technique is known as "drysifting". The resulting powder, referred to as "kief" or "drysift", is compressed with the aid of heat into blocks of hashish; if pure, the kief will become gooey and pliable. When a high level of pure THC is present, the end product will be almost transparent and will start to melt at the point of human contact.
Ice-water separation is another mechanical method of isolating trichomes. Newer techniques have been developed such as heat and pressure separations, static-electricity sieving or acoustical dry sieving.
thumb|180px|right|[[Trichomes isolated with ice-water extraction method]]
Trichomes may break away from supporting stalks and leaves when plant material becomes brittle at low temperatures. After plant material has been agitated in an icy slush, separated trichomes are often dense enough to sink to the bottom of the ice-water mixture following agitation, while lighter pieces of leaves and stems tend to float.
The ice-water method requires ice, water, agitation, filtration bags with various-sized screens and plant material. With the ice-water extraction method the resin becomes hard and brittle and can easily be separated. This allows large quantities of pure resins to be extracted in a very clean process without the use of solvents, making for a more purified hashish.
Chemical separation methods generally use a solvent such as ethanol, butane or hexane to dissolve the lipophilic desirable resin. Remaining plant materials are filtered out of the solution and sent to the compost. The solvent is then evaporated, or boiled off (purged) leaving behind the desirable resins, called honey oil, "hash oil", or just "oil". Honey oil still contains waxes and essential oils and can be further purified by vacuum distillation to yield "red oil". The product of chemical separations is more commonly referred to as "honey oil". This oil is not really hashish, as the latter name covers trichomes that are extracted by sieving. This leaves most of the glands intact.
Solventless Rosin Method was discovered by Phil Salazar in 2015. Rosin is created by pressing Cannabis Flower, Dry sift, or Ice water hash in between parchment paper using a pneumatic or hydraulic press with heated plates to create force and pressure to expel the oil from the product. The moisture present in the flower, Dry Sift, or ice water hash will create steam pressure and force the oil from the source creating a solventless hash product.
Quality
Tiny pieces of leaf matter may be accidentally or even purposefully added; adulterants introduced when the hashish is being produced will reduce the purity of the material and often resulting in green finished product. If hash is particularly sticky, this can mean that additional oils have been added to increase the overall weight of the product. The most common quality indicator is the smell. High-quality hash will smell fragrant and aromatic, whereas hash of low quality may have a distinct mouldy or musty aroma. The tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of hashish comes in wide ranges from almost none to 65% and that of hash oil from 30% to 90%. Hashish can also contain appreciable amounts of CBD, CBN and also contain trace amounts of other cannabinoids.
As mentioned above, there has been a general increase in potency as the competition has grown bigger and new hybrid plants have been developed.