This kind of product seems to be available for sale today in some shops in France and Europe. Whether in the form of hash, vaporized flowers, candies or vaping products, HHC is now available. In stores that already sell CBD or hemp, HHC is offered for sale without knowing what it is. This makes this article very useful!
What is HHC?
Like THC or CBD, HHC (hexahydrocannabinol) is a molecule naturally present in cannabis in general, but not specifically in flowers.
HHC is found in trace amounts and almost exclusively in cannabis seeds and male plants.
However, the amount that can be obtained at the end is extremely small compared to the biomass required at the start. In other words, it takes a lot of seeds and plants to obtain a small HHC olive, with the help of a large laboratory and special know-how for this type of extraction.
What are the dangers of HHC?
Research is still emerging on the possible dangers of HHC. But scientists are now aware of the potential problems that could arise from using cannabinoids in an unmedically supervised setting.
Intoxication from cannabinoids such as cannabis can lead to problems such as:
- Reduce your baby's birth weight if you use them during pregnancy
- Increased risk of traffic accident
- Habitual use can make it difficult to quit (cannabis use disorder), especially in adolescents
- Adverse effects on relationships and productivity at home, work, or school
- Risk of injury in the elderly
- Dizziness when standing up, which increases the risk of fainting and falling
- Increased risk of mental illness in some people
Experts warn against using vaporizers to inhale cannabis and related substances. This is partly due to evidence of lung damage in people who use these substances using vaping technology , but also because scientists are conducting further research.
Even with the drug Epidiolex approved by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM), some people experience side effects, such as:
- Diarrhea
- Drowsiness
- Signs of liver failure
- Problematic drug interactions
But, of course, these problems are easier to treat with a prescribed and carefully regulated drug like Epidiolex.
This is not the case for most cannabis and cannabinoid products, the vast majority of which are not regulated by the ANSM. This gives manufacturers a lot of leeway as to what they can claim for their products.
You may not even know exactly what the product contains. For example, in 2017, scientists carefully reviewed over 80 CBD products sold online. They found that more than 40% of them contained more than the listed active ingredient and about a quarter of the products contained less than stated.
Concerning the origin of the HHC found on the market, it is not excluded:
- At best, it can be obtained from CBD cannabis grown by US farmers (THC removed from widely distributed CBD distillates will be recycled to HHC through hydrogenation).
- At worst, it comes from some underground chemical companies that already supply other toxic synthetic cannabinoids like Spice or K2."
Uncertainty about the origin and composition of HHC is a risk that can become serious in vulnerable patients. Moreover, a clear and precise dosage of the two almost identical HHC molecules seems to be complicated.
As it cannot be excluded that hydrogenation conditions affect the proportion of unnatural HHCs obtained, it is likely that the potential efficacy/toxicity of HHCs varies between individual product batches.
Is HHC Legal?
According to information found on the WEB, hexahydrocannabinol is legal "until proven otherwise".
And we just discovered possible proof. The trick is the long list of products and by-products that are classified by law as illegal drugs.
HHC is not listed as a narcotic. Instead, there is a long, long list of synthetic cannabinoids classified since 2015.
And without the help of pharmacologists, it is impossible to understand it. In fact, this list is by no means precise, either in its wording or in terms of the products covered.
