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Diamonds and Liquid Diamond

Diamonds and Liquid Diamond

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We’re in a new age of cannabis- more legalization, greater freedom, new research, and new products. This, of course, varies depending on where you are in the world, but I think it’s fair to say these changes have far-reaching impacts.

Change has also brought uncertainty. The potential for discovery carries with it the potential for confusion and misunderstanding. Today, walking into a dispensary can bring a distinct sense of “I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” One major contributor to this is the world of cannabis extracts.

This is a world that I’m quite familiar with, having worked in extraction for approximately ten years. In that time, I’ve seen it go from, “Look at this random goop I made” to, “I’m going to make this specific goop that’ll look exactly like demerara sugar. Then, I’ll turn it into something that fits in a cartridge.”

The timeline of modern extracts has seen the popularity of different types of extracts, wax and wane. Today, one of the most popular products is known as “Diamonds.”

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Laying Some Groundwork

I would love to continue with the sentence, “Here’s what Diamonds are,” but first, some groundwork must be laid. An important point about THC needs to be clarified.

What if I told you that the cannabis plant does not produce THC?

If that sounds weird like I’m flying in the face of everything you know, let me be specific- the cannabis plant can contain THC, but it doesn’t produce THC itself.

What it can produce is THC-a, and the difference matters! Yes, two different things with quite similar names aren’t ideal for learning, but I’ll explain.

If you’re sitting there thinking – “Why have we only ever talked about THC and not THC-a?” – let’s first talk about what THC is.

THC is short for tetrahydrocannabinol, which is usually short for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. That mouthful is why we mostly just say “THC.”

(For those of you who have heard of other “THCs,” like Delta 8 and Delta 10, we’re going to keep it simple for this article- we are only talking about Delta 9).

THC is the primary chemical responsible for a lot of the classical effects of being “stoned.” It may not be the only one- we are starting to understand that there may be other chemical interactions involved. THC may just be one partner in a neurological “dance,” but for now, it’s fair to say that THC is the primary driver of your red-eyed, cotton-mouthed, “music feels great” high.

To put it simply, so long as getting stoned remained our priority interest in cannabis, our attention was significantly focused on the chemical responsible- THC. Thus, this name was often repeated in phrases like “THC content” and clever acronyms like “Toronto Hemp Company,” to the effect that most people seem to have only heard about THC.

But again, the cannabis plant doesn’t produce THC. It can and does produce THC-a. THC-a has a different set of neurological effects. THC-a stands for tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, which is short for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid.

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The Million Dollar Question

So if cannabis produces THC-a (not THC), and THC-a has different effects than THC, why then does consuming cannabis result in feeling like you’ve consumed THC?

It turns out that changing THC-a into THC is pretty easy. It’s so easy that it occurs naturally. It also occurs through common methods of cannabis consumption, such as when we ignite it.

This changing process is called decarboxylation (often shortened to “decarb”). It occurs when a THC-a molecule receives enough energy to break a bond within the molecule. When the bond breaks, a section of the molecule known as a carboxyl group separates from the rest of the molecule, which is why it’s called “decarboxylation.” When this carboxyl group is broken off of the THC-a molecule, it becomes a THC molecule.

Recall that THC and THC-a refer to Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, respectively. We can see that the word “acid” is present in one and not in the other. The carboxyl group that breaks off as a result of decarb contributes to the difference. Some people refer to THC as “non-acidic THC” and THC-a as “acidic THC” as a way to distinguish between the two.

The energy required for decarb is commonly provided through heat energy and/or light energy. This conversion can happen while the plant is still growing. It is also why it happens when the plant material is burned, such as in joints or bongs, and it can also happen while your dried flower just sits in whatever container you keep your stash in.

The cannabis plant synthesizes THC-a. This THC-a can be converted to THC at many different points in time through decarb. Decarboxylation is why cannabis that contains THC-A gets you stoned.

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Okay, So What Are Diamonds?

Extraction has leveled up to a point where we can concentrate many specific chemicals found in cannabis. We can and have been doing this with THC-a.

When THC-a is concentrated to a high purity level, it tends to form crystals, just like many other pure compounds do. Sugar is another example of this phenomenon. THC-a is also not the only cannabinoid that crystallizes! The world of crystals and crystallization is a bottomless rabbit hole to dive into. For simplicity’s sake, another way to understand the crystallization of THC-a is to say that at room temperature, THC-a is a frozen solid.

How crystals form can be controlled by human intervention. We can choose to grow them large or small; we can manipulate them in all sorts of ways. The extract known as “Diamonds” are not real diamonds but simply large crystals of THC-a. They are popular because of their potency and because of their aesthetic appeal. There’s just something about big shiny crystals that humans fall in love with.

The trick to making diamonds is creating a favorable environment for them to grow, which in some way mimics crystal growing kits you might have tried as a kid. Some key points to growing diamonds include choosing starting with cannabis with a high thc-a ratio and using an extraction method that is effective at excluding impurities- this can be done with solvents or without.

They are usually consumed via dabbing, i.e., breaking them into small manageable sizes and placing them into a heated glass or metal crucible where they are vapourised and inhaled.

When consumed in their absolute purest state, they are flavorless, and for this reason, they are often not consumed alone. Diamonds and sauce is a common product, where the sauce is another type of extract that provides flavor. Less commonly labeled but similar in nature are “dirty diamonds,” which trade purity for the inclusion of some natural flavoring present in the initial cannabis resin.

Diamonds are quite popular, but they have one main drawback. They’re not the most convenient. Solid extracts, even when used in portable vaporizers, still aren’t quite as easy to use as liquid extracts in portable vaporizers (i.e., vape pens).

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Enter Liquid Diamonds

A more “recent” (it depends on who you ask) entrant into the world of extracts is a product called “Liquid Diamonds.” Unlike the solid crystals that are diamonds, liquid diamonds are a clear, thick oil.

How does something solid become liquid? Maybe your first thought is “melting”! But that’s not exactly what’s happening here.

When winter approaches, you may observe a freezing and melting cycle. A puddle at the bottom of your driveway alternates between being ice and water. In this cycle, the H₂O molecule isn’t fundamentally changing; you can thaw, refreeze, thaw, and refreeze ice/water pretty much indefinitely. Once diamonds have been liquified they cannot become diamonds at room temperature once again (…at least not easily, anyway).

So why is that? What are liquid diamonds?

Let’s recall decarboxylation/decarb from earlier. Decarb of THC-a yields THC, and this is often achieved through heating.

Liquid diamonds result from heating diamonds to decarboxylate the THC-a, turning it into THC.

It looks like melting, but it is not. It is a chemical conversion process from THC-a (a solid at room temperature) to THC (which is liquid at room temperature). Another way to look at it is to say that THC has a freezing point that is below room temperature, and THC-a doesn’t, so when you convert THC-a into THC, you see it change from solid crystals to liquid (oil).

In this sense, “liquid diamonds” are similar in nature to THC distillate. Both products are an attempt to create a concentration of exceptionally high THC. Some people eschew the term “liquid diamonds” instead preferring to use “crystallite,” a portmanteau of crystal and distillate. Liquid diamonds will be as flavorless as the diamonds used to make them but can have flavor added to them.

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Why Liquid Diamonds?

It comes back to convenience…and also marketing. A potent, flavor-able extract suit for vape cartridges that also has “diamonds” in the name- plenty of reasons for a customer to pick such a product, so “Liquid Diamonds” it is!

Recap

In time, both diamonds and liquid diamonds may be relegated to the annals of history, an interesting footnote in the history of cannabis extracts. Perhaps we will settle on different terms for them. Instead of diamonds, we’ll perhaps say “THC-a crystals,” and instead of liquid diamonds, “THC oil.”

There are many product names for extracts floating around. An informed consumer stands the best chance of steering clear of deceptive marketing tactics.

Follow on social media: www.instagram.com/extractwise

Photos courtesy of the author

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