Afghan Mercedes Hash

In the Afghan tradition, as UNODC and Sensi Seeds describe it, sifted resin powder called garda becomes hash through heat or pressure, and Afghan Mercedes Hash is sold as Afghan hash. Locally, UNODC says, the finished product is known as hashish or charas.

Four routes from powder to hash

• A lit match, in the Balkh area. One farmer holds powder in the palm while another sprinkles more over a burning match. Repeated, this softens the powder until it turns sticky and solid; the mass is then pressed and shaped by hand into a greenish-brown lump, UNODC says. Sensi Seeds gives a shorter version: hash makers buy garda, warm a palmful with a match and roll a dark, sticky ball.
• Palms and a low flame, in the south. In southern Afghanistan, UNODC says, makers work small amounts between the palms. Rubbing alone is enough for resin-rich first garda, while weaker garda is helped along with a bit of water. The mass is then “cooked” over a low flame through several rounds of rubbing and heating.
• Machines, for traders. UNODC describes machine kneading of garda into hashish paste, with equipment that came from Pakistan, as a newer practice, one for traders more than farmers.
• Bricks. Sensi Seeds places the farmers in the Black Afghan account on its Hash 101 page in provinces like Balkh and Kandahar. They harvest late and dry the plants in the sun in the fields. In the shade of mudbrick homes they beat and trample whole plants into dry mulch. Sifting that mulch through cloth leaves a fine golden powder, and the powder is pressed into hard bricks made for transport. Sensi Seeds adds that the first batch counts as the purest.

Heat or no heat

Sensi Seeds sets the match method against Moroccan hash, which it says is usually dry-sieved and then pressed without any heat. UNODC even raises the possibility that the sifted powders of Afghanistan and Morocco are two different products, given differences in processing, plant varieties and climate.

Chars, hookahs and Baba Ku

Dry-sift hash is known as chars in Afghanistan and nearby areas, Sensi Seeds says. Out in rural districts, Sensi Seeds adds, older men mostly smoke through hookahs with a water filter, in public hash dens, and younger people favour private cigarettes. Wikipedia’s Cannabis in Afghanistan page tells of Baba Ku, a Sufi of legend from Balkh who is said to have brought hashish to the country. Afghan smoking circles chant the name, per Sensi Seeds, which notes that “Baba” means grandparent.

Smoking Afghan-style hash with care

Health Canada suggests a small start for smoking, no more than a couple of puffs of a product with a THC level of 10% or less, and a long wait, since the peak can take up to 30 minutes. Our guide to smoking hash compares the ways to do it.