What is Cannabis Resin?

You’ve heard of cannabis, but what is cannabis resin?  

Cannabis resin is a sticky substance found on the flower of the cannabis plant. When collected and smoked by itself, cannabis resin produces a powerful high: compared to smoking dried cannabis flower, consuming cannabis resin can produce enhanced euphoria and more intense psychoactive effects. 

Cannabis resin can be consumed in several ways. When collected, it can be made into a variety of potent forms of THC concentrate, from hashish to wax. Read on to learn the intricacies of cannabis resin: what it is, how it differs from the mother plant cannabis, and what forms it can take. 

What is cannabis resin?

Cannabis resin is the sticky substance that connects the trichomes (those tiny hairs on your weed). These trichomes affect the plant’s smell and flavor, as well as produce its cannabinoids, like CBD and THC.  

Cannabis resin is considered the most potent part of the marijuana plant, as it contains the highest concentration of THC. Because THC is responsible for the psychoactive effects that smoking marijuana is known for, smoking resin is thought to deliver a more potent high.  

Resin can be collected from the plant and made into a variety of smokable materials, such as hash and rosin. 

What’s the difference between cannabis and cannabis resin? 

Cannabis refers to the plant that marijuana is derived from. Though sometimes used interchangeably with terms like marijuana or weed, cannabis is the name of the plant whose flower is used as a recreational drug. Cannabis contains cannabinoids like CBD and THC. Because of the varying effects of these cannabinoids, cannabis has a wide range of uses, from medicinal to recreational. 

Cannabis resin is found within the flower on the cannabis plant. It is the sticky substance with a crystally shine that connects the hair-like trichomes on the cannabis plant. It is thought to be the most potent part of the plant. Because of this potency, it’s often collected from the plant and smoked in several forms. Because its THC concentration is so high, cannabis resin is most often used recreationally for more substantial psychoactive effects. 

What are the different uses of cannabis resin?

Cannabis resin can be collected from the cannabis plant and smoked for a stronger, more psychoactive high. 

Cannabis resin is typically collected through dry-sifting, either manually or through the bottom screen of a three-compartment grinder.  It can also be collected by hand-rubbing your growing cannabis plant and brushing the resin off of your hands. This resin, also known as kief, can be smoked on its own. However, it’s commonly made into compounds like hashish and rosin. 

Kief

When cannabis flower is ground using an herb grinder, trichomes and resin often fall from the plant and coat the sides of your grinder. In three compartment grinders--like this one from Vessel, the bottom compartment serves as a kief catcher. Vessel’s aluminum grinder even comes with a scraper to help you collect the kief as it builds up. 

This kief is a fine, sticky texture. It can be sprinkled onto a bowl or rolled into a blunt or joint for extra psychoactive enhancement. For the daring, it can also be packed into a bowl and smoked on its own. 

Hash 

Hash is the shortened name for “hashish.” Hashish is made by collecting resin and pressing it into a compressed block. Because hash is a concentrated material from an already concentrated substance, it produces a more powerful high. This high may induce more intense psychoactive and euphoric effects. 

Though the compressed hash block is usually smoked, it can also be made into concentrated hash oil. Consuming this hash oil produces similar effects as smoking hash. However, it can be used in a variety of methods, such as vaping, eating, or rubbing into the skin. 

Rosin

Rosin is a type of cannabis extract made using compressed kief. When dry-sifted, cannabis resin is pressed with heated pads and compressed. The combination of heat and pressure squeezes out a THC-rich oil. This oil can then be added to a vape pen. Additionally, after a few hours in the refrigerator, rosin can be dabbed using a dab rig or nectar collector. 

Live Resin

Live resin is another type of THC concentrate that is made from cannabis resin. To make live resin, cannabis resin is extracted from plants that have been frozen immediately after they were harvested and made into dabs (also known as wax or shatter). This freezing process is best for preserving the plant’s terpenes, making for a more flavorful dabbing experience. 

To sum it up 

While “cannabis” refers to the flowering plant where we harvest our weed, cannabis resin is a substance on the plant’s flower. Cannabis resin is the part of the plant that’s richest in THC, producing more intense highs with the potential to produce powerful psychoactive and euphoric effects. When cannabis resin is collected, it can be made into a variety of smokable materials, from several types of dabs to blocks of hashish. 

FAQs

What’s the difference between cannabis and cannabis resin?

Cannabis is the name of the plant whose flower is dried and used as a recreational and medicinal drug. Cannabis resin is a substance on the cannabis flower that contains high levels of psychoactive ingredient THC. 

Are resin and dabs the same thing?

Dabs are a type of THC concentrate made from resin using heat and pressure or a solvent. The term “live resin,” ‘however, references a type of dab that is made by freezing the plant before collecting the resin. 

Is resin the same as hashish?

Though sometimes used interchangeably, hashish and resin are not the same substance. Hashish, or hash, is made from compressed resin. Hash can be vaporized or smoked in a joint, bong or pipe, or hookah.