new substances
6 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| October 2015
Why are ‘risky’ and ‘unpleasant’
new versions of cannabis
replacing the real thing?
AdamWinstock
shares findings
from the Global Drug Survey.
F
or the last decade much about harm reduction for
cannabis was pretty straightforward. Nothing much had
changed apart from the dominance of high potency
herbal cannabis and its association with higher rates of
paranoia, memory loss and dependence.
Then a few years ago things changed with the reappearance
and remarketing of hash oil and the emergence from underground
laboratories of myriad synthetic cannabinoid compounds. Both
have been driven by the potential for huge financial gain, with hash
oil riding on the back of the legitimisation – through medicine – of
cannabis and the convenient appearance of vaping technologies,
and synthetic cannabinoids exploiting a gap in the market for
an unregulated cheap ‘stone’ in the face of very expensive
herbal cannabis.
Butane hash oil (BHO, also known as shatter, honey and wax) is
a new potent form of cannabis with THC of 60-80 per cent (and
varying levels of CBD) that has seen a huge rise in popularity in the
USA in recent years, driven by a demand among those with medical
conditions for preparations that could minimise smoking-related
harms and facilitate easier consumption. So just like the synthesis
of opium to morphine, the movement to create a stronger and
more potent form of cannabis might have therapeutic value.
These concentrations might also carry harm reduction benefits
(eg smoking less combustible product, promotion of oral use, less
consumption of unwanted impurities), which could extend to the
non-medical use community. The development of a more potent
form of drug is often partnered with a more efficient route of
delivery. In the case of BHO the rapid evolution in ‘vape’ technology
has been the perfect accompaniment.
Global Drug Survey (GDS) has been researching the use of natural
cannabis preparations and the emerging issues associated with
synthetic cannabis products for the last five years. Since 2012 we
have collected data from over 150,000 cannabis users and have used
this huge pool of expert knowledge to produce a range of free, peer-
led harm reduction and self-assessment tools. These include the
cannabis drugs meter
, where you can
compare your use with 100,000 others; the highway code,
(the first guide
to talk about the impact of various harm reduction strategies on risk
and drug-related pleasure), and the world’s first safe-use guidelines
for cannabis at
All of these tools support
our aim of making drug use safer, regardless of its legal status.
More than 2,500 users of BHO took part in GDS2015 and we
found that BHO did indeed allow the use of non-tobacco routes of
administration. Overall, most effects of BHO were reported to be
stronger, last longer, and take effect more quickly than high
potency herbal preparations. In terms of risks of dependence and
withdrawal, most users reported little difference. As ever, it may be
that the risks of harm rest in the unique interplay of drug
preparation, individual user and their motivation for use.
B
HO is not the only potent cannabinoid product out there,
however. GDS has been fascinated by synthetic cannabis
and surprised at how such an ‘unpleasant’ drug has
flourished. We’ve been researching them since 2010 and
have found that synthetic cannabis (SCs) products are far less
desirable (93 per cent prefer the real thing) and more risky than
natural high potency weed, with the risk of seeking emergency
medical treatment at least 30 times higher.
But this doesn’t take account of the massive profits to be made
in flogging a cheap high. With emergency room presentations in
some US states exceeding that of traditional drugs, and many UK
prisons reporting high rates of inmate use and severe complications,
it is fair to say that SCs are going to be more than a little challenge
to regulators, law enforcement and health providers.
Unlike THC, SCs are full receptor agonists – meaning that there
is no ceiling on how stoned you get. Manufactured with varying
quality control, dosing is with varying amounts of active product
being found on each gram of inert herbal material. Many SCs are
much more potent (sometimes hundreds of times more) than THC,
and SC products contain no counter-balance such as CBD.
The laws of common sense and basic economic theory (there are
Pic: Nigel Brunsdon
Reinventing
Cannabis
