A regulation that encourages crime?
Light cannabis, which everyone knows today, is a molecule with a thousand virtues present in the hemp plant. Indeed, in several European countries, light cannabis with a low THC content and a high CBD dose can now be purchased freely. The law requires that cannabis products do not exceed 0.3% THC in the final product.
However, obtaining products with perfect ratios is difficult and it often happens that the harvested hemp contains more THC than is legal in the country of sale. To remedy this, manufacturers and traders have started to "wash" the herb with either hexane or pentane to remove excess THC...
Deadly explosion in a cannabis lab in Italy
First pointed out in a LinkedIn post, an explosion followed by a fire in a cannabis laboratory in Italy resulted in the death of two people and injuries to two other employees, including a minor. The incident was reported in La Repubblicca, a national Italian daily newspaper and the country's second biggest seller. The investigation is ongoing, but for the time being, the court believes that there has been a violation of the law on drugs through the use of unauthorised practices in the laboratory.
The complainant speculates that the fire may have been started by a new technique that was supposed to reduce the THC content of light cannabis. This technique was allegedly invented by one of the partners of the company in question, without any technical or scientific knowledge and above all without authorisation. They had set up a 'washing' laboratory on the first floor with ultrasonic washing machines in which the light cannabis was 'cleaned' with pentane, so as to obtain products with THC levels that complied with regulations.
According to Boris Banas, Novel Food expert in APIs and specific validated ingredients, this practice unfortunately does not seem to be new. As most EU hemp looks more like hay than quality grass, most of the purchases are made in Switzerland. Only, as the product received contains 1% THC, the flowers are washed, dried and then sprayed with a CBD solution and finally flavoured with terpenes. If all consumers knew this, no one would want to use it.
As evidence of this, CannabisIndustrie.nl in the Netherlands found that CBD cannabis containing harmful synthetic cannabinoids was being sold as high-THC cannabis. Wouldn't the solution be to force dealers to provide analysis?
