Hashish is the dried sticky resin of the cannabis plant. It comes in solid pieces ranging in color from light brown to black and in texture from dry and hard to soft and crumbly. The THC concentration is generally 10 to 20 per cent, but can be more than 60 per cent. It is usually dropped onto a tobacco cigarette or rubbed into tobacco and smoked. Cannabis products can also be eaten, usually when cooked into food such as brownies or cookies.
Eating is less efficient because of incomplete absorption from the intestine.
The effect of any drug depends on the specific drug, the amount, how it was taken, what the person expects, previous exposure of the body to this and other drugs, the setting or location, the user's mental state and other drugs being used. However, a regular heavy user may smoke five or more joints a day. The effects of smoking are felt within a few minutes and last two to four hours. Performance of complex tasks may however be impaired for as long as 24 hours. When cannabis is eaten, the effects appear more gradually, last longer and are more difficult for the user to control than when it is smoked.