GRIT WEED - THE SCIENCE SO FAR

Analysis

At present there seems to be very little official regulated research analysing the chemical composition of this new wave of contaminated cannabis. To compound matters further, there appears to be a variety of contaminant types.

The following scientific data and analysis is largely unofficial / unregulated and has been collated from a variety of online sources - where possible we have tried to acknowledge the original authors / contributors.  

The French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction carried out an analysis of the contaminated cannabis (we suspect it was the large glass contaminant type).  They found that the leaves contained glass particles between 0.02 and 0.3 millimetres across.  However, Dr Russell (Imperial College, London) claims that if the particles are 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, although using a filter could prevent them from entering the mouth.

An anonymous scientist has analysed and posted their findings of the contaminated cannabis (the industrial etchant contaminant) on the UKCIA website and stated 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.  

Here is a brief summary of these unregulated findings:

• Under a microscope at 50x magnification, contaminants appear
  as very small (50-120 um) beads, with regular circular shape
  and small pores/ single holes present.
  
  
• Beads do not dissolve in non polar solvents (pet ether) or polar
  solvents (ethanol, acetone).
  
  
• Beads are insoluble in conc NaOH solution, conc H2SO4.
  
  
• Melting point is above 400C, but cannot perform TG, DTG
  analysis at the moment so cannot specify any transition
  temperatures or accurate melting points.
  
  
• The beads have a significant sodium and silicon content,
  suggesting that the comments previously about silicates
  are correct.
  
  
• Reliable sources say that this contaminant is industrial etchant
  spray used for glass frosting, It is a high pressure aerosol of
  propellant, lubricant and silicate abrasives. This accounts for the
  high permeation levels displayed in all 3 samples, with
  particulates presents inside even 'tight' buds all the way into the
  stems. This also may account for the non plany oils present in
  the bud which have been previously described as a 'glue'.
  

More recent reports have surfaced concerning a new style of contamination relating to micro particles that are infinitely harder to detect.  Presently there seems to be no scientific analysis available for this variety of contamination however we did come across the following footage showing a microscopic analysis of this new form of contaminated 'skunk' weed.

PLEASE NOTE: WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN RECEIVING ANY SAMPLES OF CONTAMINATED CANNABIS.  WE DO NOT TEST / ANALYSE ANY SAMPLES AS WE ARE PURELY AN AWARENESS GROUP.  WE THEREFORE DO NOT CONDONE, PROMOTE OR INCITE THE USE OF ILLEGAL AND/OR CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES.  CANNABIS IS A CLASS C DRUG UNDER THE MISUSE OF DRUGS ACT 1971.