This is an excerpt from:
THE MARIJUANA GROWER'S GUIDE
by Mel Frank and Ed Rosenthal
but Im sure you "experts" know more than Ed about growing.....pay close attention to the last line...
Chapter 21
AFTER THE HARVEST
Once the marijuana plant is harvested, it ceases to produce cannabinoids and resins, and the main changes in potency that occur are degradative. However, when the material is handled carefully, dried or cured properly, and then stored well, little degradation will occur. During drying or curing, the resin content may seem to increase, as the plant's tissues shrink away from their resinous coating.
More than 70 percent of the fresh weight of the plant os water. Drying is done to evaporate most of this water, so the marijuana will burn evenly and smoke smoothly. Additionally, the cannabinoids in fresh plant material are mostly in the acid forms, which are not psychoactive. The acid cannabinoids decarboxylate (they lose the gas, carbon dioxide) during the drying or curing processes, which convert them to their psychoactive neutral forms. Decarboxylation is complete if the marijuana is actually smokes. For this reason, no special procedures are needed to decarboxylate the marijuana unless it will be eaten. In that case, the recipe should include a period of dry heating. The heat converts the cannabinoids to their psychoactive neutral forms, and also melts the sharp-pointed cystolith hairs that cover leaves, stems and petioles. Cystolith hairs can cause stomach pains if you eat uncooked marijuana or chew on raw marijuana, which we strongly advise you not to do.
Commercial marijuana us usually composed of just the flower tops (colas), which have been stripped, manicured, cured, and dried. Homegrowers often do not cure their crop before drying, and if the smoke is smooth, there is no reason not to dry it directly. But harsh-smoking marijuana can be cured so that the smoke is smoother. Curing has little affect on potency when done properly.
