The online cannabis group Cannaprag.net who aim to “campaign for laws which both reduce the potential for harm from cannabis to a minimum and protect the vulnerable” issued a press release claiming that cannabis currently on sale in the United Kingdom (UK) is now “suffering widespread contamination.
The UK Cannabis Internet Activists (UKCIA) website received reports of herbal cannabis (skunk, weed) that contained ‘sand’ or ‘grit’ particles.
In general, ‘grit weed’ as it has become known, was filling the gap left by the cannabis shortage and reports of contaminated ‘grit’ weed was reported on UKCIA’s chat forum board from the south west of England to northern Scotland.
At first it was thought to be harmless and that sand/grit was being added to cannabis by growers or distributors in order to make the cannabis deal heavier. It soon become apparent that there was a potential danger to the health of users who were smoking this drug.
An anonymous scientist analysed the contaminated cannabis and posted their findings of the UKCIA website saying that the granules are actually small beads, (50-120 micrometers diameter) “made of some non-soluble high melting point glass like substance” and if smoked could pass into the lungs causing devastating results.
The French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction also did tests and they found that the leaves contained glass particles between 0.02 and 0.3 millimetres across. However, Dr Russell (Imperial College, London) said that if the particles were above 0.015 millimetres then they would be too big to pass into the lungs and it is more likely that they would drop into the users’ mouth and/or throat.
Cannabis users that had tried the contaminated weed reported on the UKCIA website, that they had mouth ulcers and sore throats as well as chesty coughs, and according to the Belfast Telegraph on-line newspaper, the organisation Crosscare has had around 20 calls from concerned cannabis users and is warning that the adulterated cannabis can cause severe chest infections and discomfort
