This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012)

One gram American "bubble melt" Cannabis indica hashish

Hashish, often known as "hash", is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed and/or purified preparations of stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients - such as THC and other cannabinoids - but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves.

Hashish may be solid or resinous depending on the preparation; pressed hashish is usually solid, whereas water-purified hashish - often called "bubble melt hash" - is often a paste-like substance with varying hardness and pliability, its color most commonly light to dark brown but varying toward green, yellow, black or red.^{[citation needed]} It is consumed by being heated in a pipe, hookah, bong, bubbler, vaporizer, hot knife, smoked in joints, mixed with cannabis buds or tobacco (the latter being more common in Europe and Africa), or cooked in foods.

Like most cannabis preparations, its use both as a medicine and recreational drug in human history dates back to at least the 3rd millenium BCE. However, it is currently illegal to use or consume nearly everywhere in the world.

History[link]

A Hash store in Kathmandu

It is believed that hashish originated in the Middle East and Western Asia, where the cannabis plant was widely available.

Northern India has a long social tradition in the production of hashish, known locally as Charas, which is believed to be the same plant resin as was burned in the ceremonial "booz rooz" of ancient Persia.^[1] Cannabis sativa subsp. indica grows wild almost everywhere on the Indian sub-continent, and special strains have been particularly cultivated for production of 'ganja' and 'hashish' particularly in West Bengal, Rajasthan and the Himalayas.^{[citation needed]}

The earliest hashish was created by gently rubbing palms and fingers on cannabis buds for hours to accumulate resin, which would then be scraped off the hand. In more technologically advanced areas, modern hashish is now made with more advanced technologies by compressing and/or refining or purifying a great quantity of trichomes harvested from cannabis sativa plants using such processes as Ice-water separation, also known as "bubble melt", producing "bubble hash" or "water hash".

Manufacturing processes[link]

Making cannabis resin, Uttarakhand, India.

Hashish oil

Hashish is made from cannabinoid-rich glandular hairs known as trichomes, as well as varying amounts of cannabis flower and leaf fragments. The flowers of a mature female plant contain the most trichomes, though trichomes are 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), are separated from the plant through various methods.

Mechanical separation methods use physical action to remove the trichomes from the plant, such as sieving through a screen by hand or in motorized tumblers. The resulting powder, referred to as "kief", is compressed with the aid of heat into blocks of hashish. Ice-water separation is another mechanical method of isolating trichomes.

Chemical separation methods generally use a solvent such as ethanol 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, 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, hence leaving most of the glands intact. The reason hash oil is fluid, is that the resin glands have been broken, leading to what is called a Bonani.

Quality[link]

Tiny pieces of leaf matter or even purposefully added adulterants introduced when the hash is being produced will reduce the purity of the material. The tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of hashish comes in wide ranges from almost none to 70%, and that of hash oil from 30–90%.^[2]

Fresh hashish considered to be good quality is soft and pliable and becomes progressively harder and less potent over weeks and months as its THC content oxidizes to other cannabinoids and as essential oils evaporate. Hashish color usually reflects the methods of harvesting, manufacturing, and storage. Hash is generally said to be black (Afghanistan), brown or blonde (Morocco); there is also hashish of greenish or reddish (Lebanon) hue. A green tinge may indicate that the hashish contains a large amount of leaf material.^{[citation needed]}

Ash after burning should be white and soft; hard, dark, cinder-like shapes may indicate impurities.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

Cannabis portal

• Ice-water separation
• Club des Hashischins — A club in Paris in the 1840s, dedicated to explore the effect of drugs, specifically hashish.
• Charles Baudelaire—A member of the club mentioned above, who in Les paradis artificiels (1860) described the effects of opium and hashish.
• Fitz Hugh Ludlow and his autobiographical The Hasheesh Eater (1857).

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Hashish! by Robert Connell Clarke, ISBN 0-929349-05-9
• Artificial Paradises by Charles Baudelaire; first edition 1860
• The Hasheesh Eater by Fitz Hugh Ludlow; first edition 1857
• Indoor Marijuana Horticulture, by Jorge Cervantes, ISBN 1-878823-29-9; 2001, reprinted 2005
• Starkes, Michael. Marijuana Potency. Berkeley, California: And/Or Press, 1977. Chapter 6 "Extraction of THC and Preparation of Hash Oil" pp. 111–122. ISBN 0-915904-27-6.

External links[link]

Look up hashish in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Description of the Hashish Experience by R.P. Walton M.D. Ph. D.
• Bibliography of scholarly histories on cannabis and hashish. (Updated to include article abstracts.)
• Various THC Extraction Methods
• Growing method and gear.

Boom Pam
Origin	Tel Aviv, Israel
Genres	Mediterranean music, Balkan music, surf rock, instrumental rock
Years active	2003—
Labels	Essay Recordings
Website	www.boompam.org
Members
Uri Brauner Kinrot Yuval "Tuby" Zolotov Itamar "The Kid" Levi
Past members
Uzi Feinerman Dudu Kochav

Boom Pam is a rock trio from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Founded in 2003, Boom Pam took its name from Aris San's song of the same name,^[1] and plays a mixture of Mediterranean, Balkan, Greek,^[2] rock and surf music in a format of a power trio consisting of electric guitar, tuba and drums.^[3] They have been playing in a variety of venues, from small clubs to large concert halls. Boom Pam served as the opening act for the reunion show of the well-known Israeli indie rock band "Minimal Compact", as well as Emir Kusturica's No Smoking Orchestra. That, along with a showcase at WOMEX 2006, launched their worldwide touring career.

Boom Pam's debut album was recorded in Frankfurt for the German label "Essay Recordings". The band co-produced the album with DJ Shantel. This LP was released during the Spring of 2006 and is distributed worldwide. The album went straight into the top ten list of the European World Music charts. They released their second album, "Puerto Rican Nights", in 2008. Their debut show in North America was at the GlobalFest 2007. Afterwards they toured throughout the USA and Canada, opening for The Ventures in California and playing at the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Boom Pam's third album was recorded in late 2009 and was released in 2010 by the Tel Aviv based label "Audio Montage". Following the album release, they made promotional appearances at SXSW^[4] and various venues in Europe.

Boom Pam have also been actively involved in various projects. They worked with the Batsheva Dance Company, released several Israeli hit singles, recorded film music, collaborated with Balkan Beat Box and Kutiman,^[5] and played a concert with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Discography[link]

• Boom Pam (2006)
• Puerto Rican Nights (2008)
• Alakazam (2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website