Beyond Buds: Marijuana Extracts-Hash, Vaping, Dabbing, Edibles & Medicines

Beyond Buds is a handbook to the future of marijuana. Prohibition’s end has led to a technological revolution that’s generated powerful medicines and products containing almost zero carcinogens and little smoke. Marijuana icon Ed Rosenthal and leading cannabis reporter David Downs guide readers through the best new consumer products, and demonstrate how to make and use the safest, cleanest extracts. Beyond Buds details how award-winning artisans make hash and concentrates, and includes modern techniques utilizing dry ice and CO2. The book is a primer on making kief, water hash, tinctures, topicals, edibles, and other extracts from cannabis leaves, trim, and bud bits, and it goes on to explore and simplify the more exotic and trendy marijuana-infused products, such as butane hash oil (BHO), shatter, wax, and budder. More complex than lighting a joint, these innovative products call for new accessories — special pipes, dabbing tools, and vaporizers — all of which are reviewed and pictured in the book. Beyond Buds expands on Rosenthal’s previous book Ask Ed: Marijuana Gold: Trash to Stash. Completely updated with full-color photographs that are both “how-to” guides and eye candy, this book enables not only the health-conscious toker but also the bottom line–driven cultivator.

Ed Rosenthal is a researcher, writer, author, political activist, and consultant. He has written many books about marijuana cultivation and culture, including Marijuana Grower’s Handbook, Marijuana Pest and Disease Control, Why Marijuana Should Be Legal, The Big Book of Buds series, and more, which have sold over two million copies combined. He lives in Oakland, CA.

Freelance journalist David Downs has covered the arts, technology, and criminal justice for publications including WIRED, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and many more. He has received and shared numerous professional honors, including a 2010 Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism. Downs launched the "Legalization Nation" syndicated column in 2009, cofounded the prescient Marijuana Business Report in 2010, and has edited the San Francisco Chronicle blog "Smell the Truth" since 2012. He lives in San Francisco.