Cannabis contamination

Of all the illegal drugs, cannabis is by far the most popular, with almost 40 percent of the Australian population having tried it. Of those, almost 20 percent have used in the last 12 months. In recent times there has been a great deal of discussion around the health effects, both physical and psychological, of cannabis use.

Much of what is written about this drug is incorrect, much of it originating in the legalisation/ prohibition debate occurring over the last decade. The polarised views of the debate have caused cannabis effects to be regarded as black and white, whereas they really lie in a very grey area.

A story originating from the UK raises new concerns about cannabis around the issue of contamination, i.e. other products/ substances either used in the cultivation process or when distributing the drug to bulk up the weight. UK authorities have warned users that a batch of cannabis adulterated with tiny glass beads is presently flooding the UK market.

Anecdotal reports suggest it is being sold in almost every part of the country. The availability of grit weed is so widespread that it suggests that contamination is happening at an early stage in the production process on an industrial scale.

The dealers’ motivation seems to be to bump up the weight of their product. They appear to be doing this by spraying plants with the reflective element from the paint used on road lines. The tiny reflective glass beads become imbedded in the leaves.

There has been great debate on whether the glass will actually cause harm to the user with anecdotal reports of smokers experiencing a tight chest for days after smoking grit weed. However, a spokesperson for the British Thoracic Society said that the contamination was unlikely to be dangerous because the particles are too big to be inhaled into the lungs.

Over the years there have been ridiculous stories doing the rounds about some of the substances identified in various illicit drugs. The media have previously reported that ecstasy manufacturers were putting ground-up glass in pills so that when swallowed they would tear the lining of the stomach, enabling the drug to enter the bloodstream faster and thus provide a faster hit.

Of course, this was later found to be an urban myth and completely untrue (something the media never bothered to report). That said, this cannabis report appears to be based on some truth. When I was in the Netherlands late last year I interviewed one of the key growers in Amsterdam about contaminants and he reported then that small glass beads were being used to artificially bulk-up the weight of a crop.

Whatever the truth is, this story highlights an issue that all illicit drug users need to remember -“ no matter what anyone tells you, you never really know what you are taking. It can be a pill you swallow, a liquid you drink or a plant you smoke -“ you never know what has been added to an already potentially risky substance.

Remember: if you do not want any negative consequences, do not use the drug and, no matter how many times you have used a substance, never be blas?/p>