# Hashish

> Hashish is the traditional pressed resin concentrate of cannabis, made for centuries by sieving or rubbing trichome heads from plants and compressing them into blocks or balls.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hashish.html
- Also written: haschisch, haschich, traditional hashish, traditional hash, hachís
- Glossary category: Processing · Evidence: Established
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

Hashish is the historic name, from Arabic, for compressed cannabis resin. Traditional production falls into two families. Sieved hashish, from regions spanning North Africa, the Levant and Central Asia, is made by beating or sieving dried plants over fabric screens and pressing the collected powder. Rubbed hashish ([charas](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/charas.md)), from the Himalayan regions, is made by hand-rubbing live flowers. Clarke's *Hashish!* (1998, updated 2010) documents these traditions in detail.

## In practice

"Hashish" today usually means the traditional styles and their modern descendants: pressed blocks, slabs and balls with a firm or pliable texture and dark exterior from oxidation. Seized hashish analysed in modern studies has ranged widely in potency, depending on the source and method. The existence of these traditions, often valued highly in their regions, is part of the evidence that potent cannabis isn't new.

## Don't confuse with

- **Hash**: the broader modern grower term, including [ice water hash](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/bubble-hash.md) and [dry sift](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/kief.md).
- **Charas**: the hand-rubbed subtype of hashish.
- **Brick weed**: compressed flower, not resin.

## Myth check

House position: the "weak old weed" story ignores centuries of hashish and charas. See [old cannabis was not weak](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/genetics-history/old-cannabis-was-not-weak.md) and [Mythbusters](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/mythbusters.md).

## Related terms

[Hash](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hash.md), [Charas](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/charas.md), [Temple ball](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/temple-ball.md), [Pressed hash](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pressed-hash.md), [Kief](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/kief.md)

## Read more

- [Old cannabis wasn't weak: the "so much stronger than 20 years ago" myth](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/genetics-history/old-cannabis-was-not-weak.md)
- [Landraces of the world: an overview](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/genetics-history/landraces-of-the-world.md)

## Sources

1. Clarke RC. 1998. Hashish! Red Eye Press, Los Angeles (updated edition 2010).
2. Chouvy P-A, Afsahi K. 2014. Hashish revival in Morocco. International Journal of Drug Policy 25(3):416-423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.01.001