Dablets Are the New Cannabis Concentrate – Marijuana Doctors (2024)

Concentrates like resins, rosins, shatter and budder are high-potency cannabis products. Many patients who have debilitating symptoms like chronic intractable pain, cachexia (wasting syndrome), or severe muscle spasm disorders find that concentrates can provide fast relief.

One of the problems with vaporizing concentrates is the complicated process of administering doses. A limitation of using wax or resins is that it is almost impossible to determine an accurate dose. Concentrated cannabis just got an upgrade that will make it easier for patients to dab medical marijuana.

Photo: ​ilo Vapor™

What States Have Legalized Concentrates?

Patients who have a medical card and want to tryconcentrates may or may not have access to the specialty cannabis product. While some states have legalized medicalcannabis, other states have limited THC for registered patients. And that meansno concentrates.

Many states have legalized cannabis concentrates for medicalmarijuana patients. Those statesinclude:

At the time of writing, there were only 10 states that had not legalized concentrated cannabis products for patients. However, in some of the states where wax or resin concentrates are legalized, there are proposed laws that would limit the THC levels of concentrates.

The concern for regulating the potency of concentratesregards minors. Lobbyists and communitygroups feel that concentrates should not be accessible for children withchronic health conditions. States likeFlorida have limited THC potency for minors.

Some clinical studies have reported that cannabis in higherconcentrates can have a negative developmental impact on children. However,caregivers who are supervising and administering medical cannabis to minorswith severe health conditions, are unlikely to use dabbing as a preferredmethod. In fact, tinctures (sublingualuptake) or capsules are more common for administration to patients under theage of 18 years.

Patients who have severe health symptoms that prevent them from activities of daily life can rely on cannabis concentrates as an effective method of pain relief.

Why Do Some Patients Prefer Cannabis Concentrates?

Concentrates have a very practical place in cannabis therapeutics. If available and legalized in the state, a patient can smoke whole flower for relief of pain or symptoms like muscle tremors. Inhalation is one of the fastest ways to experience the effects of cannabis.

For patients who have severe symptoms, however, they may need to smoke half of a pre-roll or a bowl. Or, the patient could vaporize a concentrate, and take 1-2 hits to achieve the same relief. Not only are concentrates well, concentrated. Wax also reduces the number of times patients have to administer cannabis.

What is the Difference Between Extracts and Concentrates?

Extracts are concentrates. For example, CO2 extracted wax,butane hash oil (BHO), and RSO are produced in different textures. Some appear as a crumbled medium yellowcannabis product. Others are smooth like spreadable butter. Hence the nameBudder. And other types of extracts (shatter) look like broken hard shards thatmelt when vaporized.

True concentrates like resin and rosin are made from kief and cannabis that has been filtered to remove the parts of the bud that have the lowest amounts of THC. They are made with the use of solvent extraction methods. Which also helps preserve a higher concentration of terpenes and THC.

The process of dabbing the traditional way is a little complicated for patients who have physical disabilities. To use concentrates, you would use a spoon or utensil to put a portion of your concentrate on a ‘nail’. Dabbing accessories are different than dry weed because of this small part. It acts like a superheated element that vaporizes the concentrate so it can be inhaled.

This process involves a lot of steps. And it can be hard to measure an accurate dose. That is a problem that has been solved by the new dablet products that are being introduced into medical dispensaries. A less complicated, faster, and less messy way for patients to use concentrates.

Two Different Methods of Using DabTabs for CannabisConcentrates

If you are trying dabbing for the first time, and you havepurchased dablets, you may want to choose a cold start method. When you get a little more confident usingconcentrates, you may want to migrate to a pre-heat method.

1. Cold Start Method

Break off one of the dablets. Place it on the head of the nail of your dabbingpipe. Apply heat and inhale. Discharge any excess smoke from the pipebefore taking a fresh hit. Stale smokewill make you cough.

2. Pre-Heat Banger and Drop Tablet on Nail

Apply heat to the nail of your pipe. Then drop the dablet on top of the nail andinhale. There isn’t really an advantage to pre-heating the banger, but it is apersonal preference for some patients.

Some people prefer to use a torch for dabbing. It works, but the variable temperature of atorch can also release (and waste) some of the beneficial terpenes. Accessories like an eNail or Mini Nail are electric. The benefit of the eNail or electric naildevices is that the temperature can be controlled. The ideal temperature for dabbing and dabletsis 500°F to 800°F. The eNails are much easier to control (and safer) than anopen butane torch.

How Many Hits Can You Take from a DabTab?

After you have placed your dablet in your vaporizer, you cantake roughly 3-4 hits from each tablet. For some people, one hit isplenty. Remember, concentrates are highpotency. If it is your first time usingconcentrates, start slow. Inhale one hitfrom your pipe or vaporizer, and then wait for 30-minutes to measure theeffect. Take a second hit if you need tofor pain relief.

For therapeutic use, most patients do not consume more thantwo hits of a concentrate. And the mostcommon mistake using concentrates is to consume too quickly. Remember, most concentrates can be in thehigh 30% THC range. Others can exceed40% or higher. It is a learning curvefor patients who want to moderate pain symptoms. And the effects can vary depending on thestrain and terpenes.

One of the great benefits of dablets is that you can consume 1-2 hits, and then leave the dablet in your vaporizer or pipe. Using dablets, it is no longer a case of “you can vape what you can scrape” when consuming concentrates. The dablets are ready to use the next time you reach for your vaporizer. And they are easier to clean out of your accessory, compared to soft resin, rosin, and wax.

Where Can You Buy Cannabis Dablets?

Finding dablets is going to be a bit of a problem for alittle while. First, companies thatmanufacture the technology to create them, have to partner with cannabismanufacturers in each state. They wereinnovated late in 2019, and they have started to appear in select dispensaries.But they are not available in every state.

Expect medical cannabis dispensaries to carry CBD dablets aswell, with 0.30% THC. The CBD dabletsmay become available sooner in states that have not legalized medical cannabisyet.