ABSTRACT
Essential oil should not be confused with vegetable oil. “Essential oils” (also known as volatile oils and ethereal oils) are said to be “nonfixed” (meaning that they can evaporate quickly), while vegetable oils are “fixed” (meaning that they are relatively stable). The edible vegetable oil of Cannabis sativa, i.e., “hempseed oil” from the seeds, was discussed in Chapter 8. The essential oil of C. sativa should also not be confused with “hashish oil,” i.e., solvent extracts rich in cannabinoids, employed as a highly concentrated form of marijuana, discussed in Chapter 12. The phrase “hemp oil” should be avoided because it could refer either to vegetable oil or essential oil. The phrase “cannabis oil” could refer to either of these or to hash oil and so is particularly ambiguous.
