Hashish

Hashish (often shortened to hash, and also referred to by countless slang terms such as dope) is a psychoactive drug derived from the Cannabis plant. It is usually smoked in joints or pipes, but can also be pressed between two hot knives. It is also added to cookies or other food and simply ingested. It is used for its relaxing and mind-altering effects. Many people claim that using it gives them great insights.

Availability

Hashish is widely available in Europe, as opposed to marijuana which is more sparsely available on the whole, although recent reports suggest a rapidly expanding 'home-grown' supply chain. This is probably because hashish is much more compact, and thus much easier to smuggle than marijuana. Blocks of 100, 125, 200 and 250 grams of hash are common. Unscrupulous hashish dealers sometimes repowder the hashish, mix it with a foreign materials such as soap, or boot wax, and re-press the mixture into a hashish block, which is sold as if it was the pure product. This is sometimes known as soap bar, due to the fact that it is packaged in 250 gram blocks that resemble the shape of a bar of soap. Other suspected dilutants include camel dung and sand. Most commonly, if a diluent is employed, it is simply powdered low-quality cannabis leaf fragments. Rumours of hashish being mixed or laced with potent and dangerous intoxicants such as opiates and PCP are quite common, but without verification. Opiates and PCP are generally more expensive than the hashish they are supposedly mixed with.

Related Topics:
Europe - Marijuana - Gram - Soap bar - Camel - Dung - Sand - Opiates - PCP

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Pure, properly stored hashish of premium quality is soft and moldable by the heat of the fingers alone. Old, improperly stored hashish of poor quality is rock hard and brittle, and has to be heated substantially before it becomes soft enough for use (although some hashish, usually Moroccan, of considerable potency may also be found in hard form). Most hashish falls in between these two extremes, and the tactile qualities also vary according to the methods used in extraction and pressing.

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The only reliable methods of testing the quality of hashish are through chemical testing or consumption.

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