Cannabis capsules are an easy, discreet, and super effective way to medicate. Taking a pill blends more seamlessly into most people’s daily routine than smoking, vaporizing, or eating an edible.
Making cannabis capsules at home is a simple way to ensure you’re ingesting clean medicine that’s created to suit your individual needs.
A daily low-dose of cannabinoids can help ease a wide variety of ailments, and when you’re treating a chronic disorder it’s important to consistently flood your body with healing cannabinoids.
There are two routes to take when making your own capsules — infused oil or decarboxylated dry cannabis flower.
Some prefer to have an oil base because raw cannabis can be slightly harder for sensitive stomachs to digest. But if you’re looking for speed and ease, raw flower is the way to go and it’s just as effective.
To determine potency, let’s do some quick math:
We will be using “0” size capsules which can hold approximately 0.5 grams (weight).
For calculating the decarbed flower capsules, we’re going to assume the material used is approximately 5% THC. This means there is 50 mg of THC for every 1 gram (weight) of plant material. Each pill capsule holds about 0.1 gram (weight) of plant material which is approximately 5 mg of activated THC. By those calculations, each decarbed flower capsule will contain approximately 5 mg of THC.
For the oil-based capsules, you can adjust the potency based on how much cannabis you infuse into the oil. I’ve laid out two options below and if you’d like a stronger pill, simply infuse more flower in the oil. As mentioned above, a size 0 capsule will hold about 0.4 gram (weight), but we will aim to fill the capsule to about 80% of its capacity (400 mg / 0.4 gram in weight which is equal to 0.4 ml in volume).
For the sake of consistency, we will assume that the average gram of cannabis contains 50 mg of THC.
7 grams of cannabis into ¼ cup oil: (7 grams x 50mg THC = 350mg of THC) *¼ cup = 62.5 mL
— 350mg divided by 62.5 mL = 5.6 mg per mL
— 5.6 mg THC per mL x 0.4 mL (per capsule) = 2.24 mg THC
14 grams of cannabis into ¼ cup oil: (14 grams x 50mg THC = 700mg of THC) *¼ cup = 62.5 mL
— 700mg divided by 62.5 mL = 11.2 mg per mL
— 11.2 mg THC per mL x 0.4 mL (per capsule) = 4.48 mg THC
If you’d like a capsule with an infused-oil base, begin by making cannabis-infused oil — follow these recipes to make homemade oil with coconut oil or olive oil.
If you’d like raw herbs, begin by preheating your oven to 220 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is preheating, grind up your cannabis finely by herb grinder, coffee grinder, or mortar and pestle. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread your cannabis crumble evenly on top. Bake for about 60 minutes being sure the oven doesn’t rise above 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you’re looking for an extra punch of herbal healing in either recipe, try adding some of the following herbs into the canna-oil or simply mix them with your post-decarbed cannabis powder:
For Calming Sleep Capsules add powdered valerian root, skullcap, lemon balm, or hop flower.
For Nutritious Superfood Capsules add spirulina, chlorella, turmeric.
For Energizing Daytime Capsules add gingko root, astragalus, or maca root.
After the cannabis is decarbed or the oil is infused, it’s time to fill the capsules. Using a capsule machine shortens this process to 5 minutes or less, but it’s possible to fill them without it. I would definitely recommend a machine, they are less than $20 and save a lot of money in the long run if you consistently make a variety of herbal capsules.
Begin by separating the tops and bottoms of the capsules (the bottoms are the longer sides). Place the bottom half of the capsules in the base of the capsule machine.
If you chose the dry herb capsules, pour your herbal mixture into the pill maker. You can do straight cannabis, but I decided to mix some valerian root and nettle into mine for that extra nutritious oomph.
Use a card to evenly spread the herbs across the capsule openings. Use the tampering tool included with the capsule kit to gently press the herbs down, and add some more if there’s room. Fill the lid of the capsule machine with the capsule tops and place on the device. Remove the machine from its stand and press down with both hands until the capsules are joined together. Lift, remove the filled capsules, and voila!
If you chose the oil-based capsules, use a syringe or dropper to carefully fill the bottoms of the capsules. (Note: if you’re using coconut oil it needs to be warmed in order to remain viscous and make the filling process easier, however, if the oil is too warm it can melt the capsules so it’s important to stay in that neutral temperature zone). Once the capsules are filled, place the tops of the capsules into the lid of the machine and place on the device. Move the machine off its stand and press down on the top of the machine with both hands. Lift, remove the filled capsules, and you have some golden cannabis capsules!
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I need one of those pill dispensers, thanks for the share.