Since this question came up, I asked an older lady I know (she is 70, even for me that's older lol) who has been making and selling traditional meds and essential oils all her life, that's her whole business. She said the easiest and most effective are, some poppies, and hash. She actually has a journal where she weighed out amounts and "experimented" with pain management, I am hoping to see them this year.
Poppies, you need to know the correct ones to grow (she didn't say, I will ask) and then you process as normal, cut slits in the mature bulb, then scrape the resin off so you don't kill the plant. You can do this a few times, according to her. Then, just roll the resin into a small ball and eat, or mix into a tea. She says, and here is where I would like to see the journal, that the danger of overdose this way is extremely low. The largest ball of resin she tried was the size of a pencil eraser. That's pretty non-specific, but if I can get notes from her journal I will. She said this was by far the most effective Non Rx pain relief available, and as long as it is not abused the chances of addiction are low. Guess that's true of a lot of things, though.
She hadn't actually ever processed hash, so even though she told me how it was done, and I have heard and read about the process before, I won't go into it. My understanding is you have to have aa lot of plants to get a small amount, and it is a long and labor intensive process.
