Well, ive been trying to not smoke at all, so i can get the best results from the tincture. Its just really hard. I smoked the last of the bud i had on hand, so i'm going to try and refrain from buying more until after i try the drink.

As far as the heating goes. It is not a necessity but, it makes the final product a lot better.
When you dont heat it up, you are extracting thca which is still psychoactive but not as much as thc. I will take your advice and conduct some mini experiments. then i could get a definitive answer on subject