Man, this topic got sidetracked. This is just my two cents, OK.

I've been producing for quite a few years now and have cured it ever since. A good, SLOW dry (like about 7 days at 70 degrees F and about 40% RH) and then into jars or tins.

After several weeks the herb starts to off-gas leftover nutes in the herb. This usually happens about week three or four. During this time the weed smells funky, until a week or so later when it's all out.

There is also a time in curing where the potency jumps way up. This happens every time I make capsules. I make them with some fairly fresh weed and the steady process of carboxilation (sp?) keeps converting those resins to THC.

Now, currently I've got weed that's been curing over a year, and really it's better than it was 6 months ago. But to say it takes a definitive 8 weeks is silly. It's maybe strain dependent, but totally depends on the left-over nutes in the plant matter.

REMEMBER, marijuana stops ripening when it's cut -- IT'S NOT LIKE BANANAS! It won't ripen in a bag! Also, CURING IS NOT DRYING and DRYING IS NOT CURING. Just because it's dry doesn't mean it's cured.

It seems that the bong-rip crowd loves their weed sticky and fresh, but the real weed connoisseurs appreciate and understand the importance of the cure to the finished effects of the product.