RSO-vs-FSE What Is It
Full-Spectrum / Broad-Spectrum
RSO -vs- FSE (What is it?)
In the past the term “full-spectrum” was mostly used in reference of Rick Simpson Oil. A name that is now regaining popularity as many companies are branding these terms to drive sales for less work and overhead cost without a better explanation of how it got its name or when it was dated.
RSO (RICK SIMPSON OIL)
The name/term RSO stemmed from a Canadian cannabis advocate Rick Simpson.
The whole purpose of RSO was to be a DIY cancer treatment using an old extraction method with local hardware store supplies. Rick Simpson himself shared this process at a time when there was no lab supply & few distillation stores open to public. Most places would flag you to the feds for possibly attempting to make drugs when trying to purchase such equipment. Rick achieved his notoriety from a documentary he had later released in January of 2008 called "Run from the Cure" available on youtube. (Also on our “informational video links” page) Rick helped prove that these cannabinoid extract oils can help reverse cancer. However, He was apparently pressured to leave the United States and forced to return to Canada for the fact he was sharing this info, while making these claims and providing testimonials. He wasn't about any profit or selling of the RSO. At the time this RSO treatment was considered a "Last Ditch Effort" method, so you might as well try anything for a last hope no matter what the consequences may be. This is just another trade off attempt to hopefully avoid much harsher treatments such as chemo/ radiation. Sadly, people wait to try hemp and cannabis as a final last resort. They often tend to wait until it reaches well past the point of needing to fight for survival. The RSO name and it's blackish-green looking oil product got its initial popularity in dispensaries from the folks with cancer who would rather not deal with trying to make it on their own. At that time there was a lot of dedicated personal caregivers supplying it to their so-called patients. The solvent Rick originally suggested was Naphtha or Toluene which is completely different from the 200proof / 99% consumption grade alcohols that are now available in states like Oregon etc. Naphtha or Toluene has a different polarity which will extract certain ranges and compounds while leaving behind certain ranges of compounds. People now swear by using the 200proof alcohol which leaches and strips even more than Naphtha or Toluene but doesn't require what’s called a full purging because its a consumable grade alcohol also used to make tinctures. Purging is a process of removing the residual solvents which at that time was near impossible and there was no testing for such. Since then everyone uses vacuum oven purge system instead of a pot on a stove or a distillation process to remove trace solvents. Now testing of residual solvents is a very important safety requirement. In the end RSO these days is just a Full-Spectrum Crude Oil that can come from countless methods that are not even what Rick suggested. So really how can people still call these RSO anymore when it means Rick Simpson Oil and NOT any and all various crude oils outside of his SOP.
Now depending on the medical needs, will determine what final product and application is best to produce and use.
The RSO term has long strayed from its core meaning. Today the proper equipment is readily available and there is an entire industry of manufacture companies geared specifically towards cannabis and hemp. There’s even certifiable classes available for the public. So we have come along ways since good 'ol Rick Simpson days.
The initial evolutionary advancement of RSO was to use Alcohol instead of Naphtha or Toluene to be more consumer friendly when it comes to trace residual solvents. There are different pros and cons to any solvent selected. Choosing the right solvent will depend on how the final product will be used and what process it was produced. Either way there are many types of alcohols and selecting the right one is also very important.
Many people still use isopropyl which contains toxins to prevent consumption. Same goes for denatured alcohol. Now drinking alcohols like 151 or 150proof Everclear contains a large % of water which is not recommended for an extraction solvent. Its best to remove the water via fractionated distillation prior to use if you have no other options to obtain pure 200proof/ 99% alcohol. Otherwise after removal of the alcohol from extract you will be left with a non-water soluble extract sitting in water that will be much more difficult to remove than the alcohol. This can easily ruin your final product and will almost guarantee a moldy product in the end.
I personally preferred Diethyl Ether as the best solvent of choice back then esp since it was used for many years as an anesthesia in hospitals and is much easier to remove IMO than alcohol or other solvents.
RSO was made with cannabis (not hemp) having a much higher THC percentage then CBD. It wasn't until later on did the whole breed for a high CBD % start to happen.
NOTE:
After working in many labs over the years we have learned what is waste, dead mass, and useless impurities as well as recognize and preserve all the potentially useful and beneficial compounds. We don't lose anything along the way aside from what we intentionally remove and discard aside from what was left behind via the selected solvent. (Water/ H20 is actually considered a solvent when it comes to chemistry)
Cannabis Crude oil BHO:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXKgjb3B1CM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Winterized Hemp Crude oil Co2:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxcaL3EhRRt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Impurities being removed via winterization process:
Not Filtered Seperation:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXKekbcB7I5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Filtered Fats etc:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BX1GMeRBIB1/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Link to show just some Impurities being removed via distillation
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxqRd2LhyeN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The Dangers Of Making And Using Rick Simpson Oil (RSO)
https://www.rehabcenter.net/rick-simpson-oil-dangers/
Old RSO term “Rick Simpson Oil” -vs- New replacement term FSE “Full-Spectrum Extracts”
RSO: Outdated method that pertains solely to Rick Simpson’s DIY Method, that uses harsh chemicals to create a product full of useless impurities and residual solvent. Acceptable for its time period.
FSE: A full-spectrum extract is a type of cannabis concentrate that aims to capture all of the therapeutic compounds of the raw cannabis plant at the moment that it was processed, without the lipids and fats that hold those compounds together but do not have medicinal benefits. Full-spectrum extracts, often called whole plant extracts, maintain the full profile of the cannabis plant. They contain a variety of cannabinoids, including THC, THCa, CBD, CBDa, CBG, and CBN, etc as well as terpenes and other compounds such as flavonoids, proteins, phenols, sterols, and esters if and when available at the time of extraction without any further refinement. Further refinement is accepted when the process only removes the unnecessary impurities while making the Full-Spectrum into a higher concentration for greater bioavailability and potency.
Here are some various Full-Spectrum meanings not to be confused...
Full-Spectrum in Hemp:
1) Full-Spectrum Hemp Crude-
Exactly as it comes out of biomass extractor, prior to refinement with as much everything as possible includes terpenes and waste fraction. = Full-Spectrum Crude with less the 0.3% Delta9 THC to be considered federally compliant.
2) Full-Spectrum Hemp Distillate-
Exactly as it comes out of the distillation with impurities removed and increased % of other cannabinoids minus the Terpenes = Full-Spectrum Distillate with less the 0.3% Delta9 THC.
Full-Spectrum in Cannabis:
1) Full-Spectrum Cannabis Crude-
Exactly as it comes out of biomass extractor, prior to refinement with as much everything as possible includes terpenes and waste fraction.
2) Full-Spectrum Cannabis Distillate-
Exactly as it comes out of the distillation with impurities removed and increased % of other cannabinoids minus the Terpenes
Full-Spectrum Terpenes:
(We'll dive into this on our terpene article to be released at a later date)
The real question is how can the Crude truly be a Full-Spectrum, if the starting biomass is too dry and missing most if not all the terpenes it initially possessed?
Same with the distillate after removal of terpenes. How can it be called a Full-Spectrum Distillate at that point?
Without the actual naturally occurring terpenes derived from the exact harvest batch material can we even really call it Full-Spectrum?
Broad-Spectrum (Hemp only):
1) Broad-Spectrum Hemp Distillate-
This is a result of removing the trace amounts of Delta9 THC from the Full-Spectrum Distillate to have a fully “T-Free” product with 0% Delta9 THC