General

Lab Results Raise Questions About Alt Cannabinoid Safety

State-legal marijuana continues to be a hot potato for lawmakers and regulators alike. Between conflicts between federal and state laws and persistent issues with the black market, there is no peace for regulated marijuana. Now they have another problem to contend with: lab results that have raised legitimate questions about alt cannabinoid safety.

For the purposes of this post, alt cannabinoids are synthetic cannabinoids derived from federally legal CBD. They include cannabinoids like delta-8 and CBD-derived delta-9 THC. These alt cannabinoids occupy a sort of no man’s land of legality. They are extremely popular in states that still practice prohibition against cannabis.

More About the Lab Tests

The state-legal marijuana industry suddenly finds itself facing greater scrutiny due to lab tests showing some cannabis products contain pesticides. But that is just the start. More recent lab tests have identified a veritable “soup” of unknown compounds in alt cannabinoids.

News reports are clear to point out two things. First, researchers do not know what the compounds are or how they might impact human health. Second, they believe the compounds are the result of some sort of chemical reaction when CBD is converted into alt cannabinoids.

The compounds are likely only new in the sense that they have just been discovered. If they are the byproducts of CBD conversion, then they have likely been present since the introduction of synthetic alt cannabinoids. We just haven’t known about them because no one has looked for them.

Synthesizing Alt Cannabinoids

Cannabinoids like delta-8 are produced naturally by cannabis plants. But according to the experts at Salt Lake City, Utah’s Beehive Farmacy, plants do not produce enough of them to keep processors and manufacturers happy. So instead, the cannabinoids are derived from legal CBD in a lab.

Exactly how the transformation occurs is unclear. Processors and manufacturers are not required by law to reveal how they do what they do. But in all likelihood, we are talking about chemical synthesis. CBD is likely exposed to certain chemicals that complete the transformation from one cannabinoid into another.

A Legal Loophole

Even if cannabis plants produced enough natural delta-8 to make harvesting it worthwhile, there is still the legal issue. Natural delta-8 is an isomer of delta-9, the type of THC that is still illegal under federal law. Logic would dictate that natural delta-8 may be illegal as well.

However, naturally occurring CBD is completely legal. So are products derived from it. Synthesizing alt cannabinoids from CBD gives manufacturers and processors a legal way around federal marijuana laws. It allows them to produce untold numbers of CBD products containing a wide range of intoxicating alt cannabinoids.

It Could Come Back to Bite Us

While some very smart people have been applauded for figuring out how to synthesize alt cannabinoids from legal CBD, their triumph could come back to bite all of us. Finding unknown compounds in alt cannabinoids is a scary proposition. In my opinion, it’s a lot like what we faced when science started revealing exactly what’s in tobacco smoke.

Discovering smokers were inhaling thousands of toxic chemicals along with dozens of carcinogens was a rude awakening. It meant that millions of people were already willingly exposing themselves to dangerous chemicals without knowing just how dangerous they were.

We now know that some cannabis products are tainted with pesticides. We also know that alt cannabinoids now likely contain unknown compounds that may or may not be dangerous to human health. It is time to put the brakes on all things cannabis and start studying the plant in earnest. Otherwise, we risk repeating the tobacco debacle.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button