no im not growing medicine. there is nothing wrong with me. i am growing drugs. i am also brewing cider, and thats not medicine either
OK, but does it matter
at all to you how your cider tastes, or are you just looking to get drunk, period?
For instance, if just getting drunk is your goal, then there are cheaper and faster ways of getting there than brewing a decent tasting cider.
That aside, having good-smelling cannabis can be important, for an even
more crucial reason than simple flavor-aesthetics;
the flavor and scent components in cannabis are produced by an array of over 120 terpenes/oids, many of which are responsible
for a
-huge- amount of the sensations and effects provided by your herb. Some produce euphoria, sedation and narcotic effects
all on their own, others help cannabinoids through the blood brain barrier faster and more effectively, and even others do all of the
above.
Some are also anti-mutagenic/anti-cancer/anti-tumor, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory.... when you remove them, it's
guaranteed
that you are decreasing the effectiveness of your herb,
regardless whether it's for medicinal or recreational purposes!
For patients, this means fewer components that produce the medicinal benefits they are after.
For recreational users this means it doesn't
taste as good, AND it doesn't get them as high!
This is why there is a 'Mango Theory'... it's not just a theory, it's proven fact! Although there are MUCH better sources of myrcene,
that can provide much more noticeable improvements (lemongrass essential oil, hops extract, wild thyme etc, each have gram for
gram, many times the myrcene content as a mango). Myrcene is the chemical that mangoes share with cannabis, which can
contribute to the effects provided by your herb particularly if the myrcene content in the cannabis is low... which is what happens,
when you water-wash herb, by the way.
Many of these chemicals are considered more water-soluble than your cannabinoids, meaning they can be lost much more easily.
And those that aren't very water-soluble,
including your cannabinoids, even
aside from the entire trichomes you lose, can still
become detached, resulting in not bonded, but rather free-floating cannabinoids along with other crucial components in your waste-
water, to be dumped away during the 'cure'.... which is realistically not quite so much a
curing method, as it is a quick-fix flush.
This is even a trade-off that occurs in a matter of minutes, when producing hash, with a washing machine.... a longer run produces
more hash, but it's considered to be of a lower grade and flavor than a short wash, due to all those lost terpenes. This is specifically
why people choose to first perform a quick-wash run, allowing them to collect the more flavorful and potent hash, before running
the same plant matter
again to claim the remainder of the glandular material. There is more agitation during the hash making process,
but the usual week-long water cure, in order for it to be effective, more than makes up for and even
surpasses the amount of loss.
This is all related to your question on drying too fast, by the way.

Back on topic......
Your herb dries faster once you've removed all these extra beneficial and often resin/oily-textured components (
along with the
chlorophyll or contaminants, you were originally attempting to move), because when they are
left on the plant matter, they aid
in trapping moisture, and preventing overly-crisped nugs.
Removing them, causes the herb to dry out MUCH more rapidly which is why, along with all the above reasons, the standard
water-cure produces an inferior product when compared to properly grown, properly dried, and properly cured flowers.
Hope this helps clear up the confusion!
