8 Ways To Put Your Leftover Stems To Good Use

4. Make THC Butter

Fair warning: To make THC butter using cannabis steams, you’ll need a lot of them.

As with everything, there are multiple ways to make cannabutter. Here’s a simple one for you:

1. As you would with any other weed edible, start by decarboxylating the stems. THC is pretty much ineffective unless it is activated.

2. Melt a stick of butter in a pot set to low heat. You can use salted or unsalted butter — whichever you prefer.

3. Next, grind your leftover stems and add them to the melted butter. Cook the materials together with butter for 45 minutes. Keep the temperature low and stir frequently. You know you’re done when the mixture turns a brownish color.

4. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth to remove all plant matter. Give the cloth a squeeze to extract every last drop of THC butter.

5. You can consume your cannabutter immediately. Or you can refrigerate it and save it for later. If you plan to use it for longer than two weeks, you can even freeze it.

5. Rub It On Your Skin

You don’t always have to put cannabis in your body to feel its effects. Topicals like cannabis bath bombs, ointments, and liniments can be a great way to use weed without ingesting it.

Sure, it won’t be as potent as smoking it, especially if your topicals are made from stems. But if you’re going to be using topicals anyway, this method could add a nice, low-THC twist on regular topicals.

Cannabis topicals can be used to treat bug bites, bruises, swelling, or even as a skin toner. Because of its mild numbing properties, they are also great for local pain relief and treating swollen muscles.

To make your own basic topical from stems, begin by splitting them down the middle, length-wise. Cut them up into tiny pieces and place them in a sealable jar.

Pour alcohol over the material and seal the jar. Allow it to sit in the dark until all the plant pieces sink to the bottom.

Now you can either strain it or let the stems stay in the bottle. You can even transfer the liniment to a spray bottle for easier application. To keep it simple, use cotton balls to rub it onto your skin.