In research of improving and controlling the effects and properties of my own self-made hash-oil, I ran into this information from one of my favorite cannibisuers. Vlad the Impaler aka Justafigmentofyours.The purpose of this post is to capture some of his writings and add to my journal, with a clear portrayal that he is credited with the information.Mainly the isomerization and converting THC into the coveted THC-Acetate.THC-Acetate is a strong compound that is capable of inducing psychosis, and or hallucinogenic properties. In my younger years, I've utilized hallucinogens in many capacities, but not to act as a pain-killer. Supposedly, THC-Acetate provides better pain relief than Fentanyl.(one of the strongest synthetic opiods on the planet.Allow me to share what I learned from Vlad..Holds on to your seats guys, this shit just may...blow your mind..he he, enjoy. Isomerization/Alteration. Ah, the fun part! These are unnecessary, and are not needed for good hash oil. But, if you enjoy tinkering around and having fine tuning control over your hash oil experience, you may want to give these techniques a read. Firstly, the alterations: If your oil is hitting too harsh, is dry and crumbly, you can add up to 10% limonene (available online). This is a part of the essential oil of orange peel, and of marijuana. By adding this terpene back in, you smoothen out the smoke and add that citrus pot flavor that is so desirable. The commercial company Pure Gold uses 10% limonene in the oils it supplies to dispensaries. This has the added effect of making the hash oil a liquid at room temp, meaning you can use it with ecigs with some success (not much, there are many better portable vaping options, more on those later). You can also add a tinge of glycerin (a natural oil in every plant including pot), which adds a sweetness and smooths nicely. You can, with materials available at home, alter the cannabinoids in your concentrate. By dissolving you concentrate in isopropanol and placing it in the sun in the open air, you can accelerate oxidization several hundred percent a few hours is enough to break enough of the THC down in budder into CBN that after evaporation, that nothing but dark brown shatter is left. This is useful if you have anxiety problems and get a batch of paranoid inducing sativah, you can oxidize it and end up with some relaxing couch-lock instead. By evaporating white vinegar until you have glacial acetic acid, then (carefully) simmering your oil in the acetic acid, then allowing the mix to cool and straining out the oil, then throwing the oil into boiling water that has been removed from heat, then allowing these to cool and straining off the now solid oil, you can convert your CBD into THC (at about 80% efficiency), and your THC in to the much more potent THC-Acetate. Now, THC-Acetate is to THC as Crack is to Coke, and I would not consider it recreational as it induces psychosis (especially as youve just turned all your antipsychotic CBD into the hallucinogen THC), but if is better than a fentanyl/heroin/propofol smoothie for chronic pain, and so this is a useful tool for those patients who cannot get relief elsewhere. You can cause the same process but with Hydrochloric rather than Acetic by dripping muriatic acid (about 3 drops of 3% per gram of cannabinoids) into concentrate dissolved in isopropanol or ethanol, evaporate, then remove any excess hcl by throwing the concentrate into boiling water removed from heat (as above), and cooling then straining. There is a device that was sold in the seventies call the Thai Power ISO2 Extractor, which can be found for resale today at the same ridiculous price it debuted at. All this thing does is make an isopropanol extract and then you drop some of the included muriatic in and it isomerizes. It was highly sought after back then as isomerization was poorly understood and they didnt tell you what was in their magical isomerization packet you added at the end, so this crazy super potent (for the time) hash oil was well loved. Unfortunately, even though it has some increased potency due to isomerization, its still a crude isopropanol extract and is laden with nasties like tannins and chlorophyll. Finally, you can isolate the individual cannabinoids by fractional distillation. This is similar to the steam distillation, but uses no water, and shouldnt be attempted on whole plant material, only previously refined extracts. You will need, in addition to the still, an oil bath heater accurate to within .5 degrees F. You should heat cure the extract first to drive off any terpenes and plant oils. Place your extract in the still and set the heat for 315 degrees. This is the temp at which THC evaporates. After several hours, you will have a distillate that is pure delta-9-THC. Set this aside, put a new receiving dish under the condenser, and set the temp to 330. After several hours, you will have pure CBD. Then 350, which yields delta-8-THC. Then 365, which yields CBN. Then 428, which yields both THCV and CBC (these add only minor effects, can be discarded or used topically as an anti-fungal/anti-inflammatory). By going slowly up in temp, you isolate out in order each component, as each has a different evaporation temp. You can then recombine as you like for your desired effects. You can even just extract the THC, isomerize it, then put it back in with the rest, so you've got some nice CBD and CBN to even out the crazy hallucinogenic THC -Acetate, whereas if you isomerized your whole spectrum cannabinoid extract all that CBD would turn into THC, a mix that is often