The Rise Of Synthetic Cannabinoids: A Threat To Natural Cannabis?

Synthetic cannabinoids (SC) are artificially created substances that closely resemble delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound found in marijuana.

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Health Risks Caused By Some SC

Often referred to as SC, Spice, or K2, synthetic cannabinoids are frequently present in herbal incense or designer drugs that are marketed as safe and legal alternatives to cannabis. Despite this claim, these products can be much stronger and pose more significant health risks than natural cannabis.

Synthetic cannabinoids are challenging to regulate and the toxicity of some products can cause severe reactions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such adverse effects can be so severe that some people require emergency medical services.

Some vendors of cannabis-based products may add synthetic cannabinoids to their merchandise to cut costs and speed up production but this practice can jeopardize consumer safety by increasing the likelihood of product contamination and reducing overall item quality.

But They Can Be Beneficial As Well

A biotech company with offices in Canada and Israel BioHarvest Sciences Inc. CNVCF, produced some 22 pounds of full-spectrum cannabis biomass at a commercial scale without growing the plant itself. The result of the breakthrough by the Canadian-Israeli biotech company was cannabis biomass that is uniquely consistent and clean, resolving two major pain points related to product quality in the medicinal cannabis industry - product variability and contamination.

The biomass consists of cannabis cells, including cannabis trichomes containing cannabinoids such as CBD, and THC, as well as other compounds that are naturally occurring in the cannabis plant.

BioHarvest's growing process offers several advantages over conventional cultivation, which the company refers to as the 5 Cs: Consistency, cleanliness, cost, composition, and climate. Third-party evaluations confirm that this method produces no greenhouse gas emissions, or hazardous waste, and only generates 100% biodegradable wastewater while using less than 10% of the land resources and significantly less energy.

Importance Of Analyzing Cannabinoids For Pharma And Regulation

In order to formulate effective regulatory policies and implement health interventions, it is crucial to rapidly and accurately identify and quantify both natural and synthetic cannabinoids. Developing advanced medicines will also be a significant aspect of this effort, per News Medical.

Innovative studies are needed to effectively address the challenges presented by cannabis in the pharmaceutical and policymaking sectors to enable people to use these drugs for their everyday health benefits.

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Image Credits: Gaikova And Dmytro Tyshchenko On Shutterstock Edited By Benzinga