Commonwealth Alternative Care

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Learn More About: The World’s Largest THCA Crystal!

We have received a number of questions from our patients and fans about our giant 221g THCA Crystal. We spoke with CAC’s Laboratory Director, Russ Draffen, to provide you with some answers! Russ led the lab in the growth of this Crystal, and the results speak for themselves.

Russ tells us that the Crystal has a purity of 99.99%. The benefit of isolating THC-A to such an extent is in the control that it gives the lab in creating subsequent formulations and products. The patients can know the exact percentage of THC-A in the products they get from our dispensary when the plant components are isolated with such specificity.

By the lab’s calculations, this crystal is equivalent to approximately 8,000 grams of flower, or 4,420 dabs - given that each dab is .05g of the crystal. However, in this state, it will not offer a high. THC-A must be heated in order to be converted to THC. Before that conversion, THC-A is non-psychoactive, so you can consume (or in one fan’s words, “lick”) this crystal, and you may experience the anti-inflammatory benefits of cannabinoids, but you will not experience a high. Many people who avoid psychoactive properties find this appealing, and they can consume THC-A by crushing crystals and dosing them into pills. Those who prefer a high may deliver it as a dab. Whichever way a patient chooses to deliver it, there is surely enough of this crystal to last a patient for a very long time.





The Crystal in its growing conditions. Source: Russ Draffen

It took two months for this Crystal to develop, and, according to Russ, our lab has the capability of putting it back under its growing conditions to allow it to continue growing if they so choose. (And perhaps they will...we will keep you posted.) At this size, the worth is difficult to put a ticket on. Each gram alone may be worth $90, so you would think that converts to about $20,000. However, a crystal grown to this size as one unified piece is worth a lot more than the sum of its parts. 

Russ Draffen with the THCA Crystal, and his photos from the process. Source: Russ Draffen

So why did CAC’s lab decide to grow the world’s largest THC-A crystal?  “When it started growing, I knew I was on to something, so I kept it going,” says Russ Draffen. The lab had the materials and the motivation to try something new, so why not give it a shot? “We knew that no one else was really doing it to this extent,” Russ adds. 

We currently plan to display the THC-A Crystal in our dispensary in the coming months so that our patients may see it to believe it. Keep an eye on our social media for our Reveal Date Announcement!