Method for chemical separation of cannabinoids

A method for chemical separation of cannabinoids, the method comprising:

• providing a starting cannabis material that contains cannabinoids, including, by weight, a concentration of more than 0.3% of total tetrahydrocannabinol;
• i) combining the starting cannabis material with an organic solvent to produce a starting organic solvent solution that contains cannabinoid acids;
• ii) using an aqueous basic solution to remove a portion of the cannabinoid acids from the starting organic solvent solution by converting the cannabinoid acids to cannabinoid carboxylate salts that solubilize in the an aqueous basic solution;
• iii) separating the aqueous basic solution in (ii) from the starting organic solvent solution, the separated aqueous basic solution including a lower concentration of total tetrahydrocannabinol than the starting cannabis material;
• iv) combing the aqueous basic solution of (iii) with fresh organic solvent to remove a portion of the cannabinoid acids from the aqueous basic solution, separating the aqueous basic solution in from the organic solvent, the separated aqueous basic solution including a lower concentration of total tetrahydrocannabinol than the aqueous basic solution of (iii), and combining the separated aqueous solution from with fresh organic solvent to form a combined solution;
• v) acidifying the combined solution to extract cannabinoid acids from the aqueous solution to the organic solvent;
• vi) separating the organic solvent of (v) from the aqueous solution;
• and
• vii) evaporating the organic solvent of (vi) to leave a purified form of the cannabinoid acids, the purified form having, by weight, a greater concentration of the total tetrahydrocannabinol than the starting cannabis material.