Rick Simpson oil (RSO) was developed by, surprise, Rick Simpson. Rick developed skin cancer in 2004, and having read about the healing powers of topical cannabinoids, decided to make his own topical oil to apply to his skin lesions. The cancer disappeared, and Rick became an advocate for cannabis as medicine. He became mildly famous for this, and his work is immortalized in the name of his oil.
RSO can be considered one of the earliest home-grown cannabis extraction methods. It is very simple: soak cannabis in a solvent, filter, evaporate, then decarb. (Actually, all extraction methods follow this protocol, except for resin press methods). Rick chose isopropanol as his solvent, which behaves like ethanol in dissolving the trichomes releasing the contained cannabinoids. (All the cannabinoids in the plant are on the plant, not inside). Basically, what he did was to take a mass of ground plant material, soaked it for several minutes in isopropanol, then filtered the biomass away. In boiling off the resulting filtrate, the cannabinoids are concentrated and decarboxylated. Now while ground-breaking at the time, this method can be very dangerous. Boiling off isopropanol generates copious amounts of isopropanol vapor. This is an extreme fire hazard, and must be done away from an ignition source such as flames or sparks.
Butane hash oil (BHO) is made in a similar fashion, except the decarboxylation is usually skipped. This gives a more solid extract (since THCA is a solid), allowing for the production of shatter and the like. Unfortunately, butane vapors are explosive when mixed with air. That makes this method extremely dangerous. The house fires caused by making home-made BHO are notorious, and changed the way localities regulate cannabis extraction.
Now that extracts made by professionals are available, there is no reason to make your own RSO. Professional extractors must follow strict fire codes, and for the most part, know what they are doing, and do it safely.
Let us do your extraction for you. Pick up one of our superb extracted products today.