Is Delta-8 THC Safe?
Delta-8 THC is a recently popular way to get high as it is legal in many places where regular cannabis is illegal . But just because it went through a legal loophole doesn’t mean it’s perfectly safe, and recently the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned consumers and healthcare providers of some potential downsides.
What is delta 8?
Cannabis contains many naturally occurring chemicals that affect our brains and bodies. The most famous of these is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. It is considered the main source of the high of marijuana. Technically, most of the THC we care about is chemically known as delta-9 THC, and federal regulations apply to cannabis plants that have a certain percentage of delta-9.
Another of these natural chemicals is cannabidiol (CBD), which you’ve probably noticed all over the place since the 2018 Farm Act allowed the legal sale of cannabis plants with less than 0.3% THC. This means that if you start with low delta-9-THC cannabis plants rather than high delta-9-THC marijuana plants, you can do pretty much whatever you want and sell it legally. This has led to a boom in CBD products that are made from plants that are low in THC.
Somewhere along the way, some genius figured out that hemp plants could be processed to produce delta-8 THC. It’s not prohibited by federal law, but it can still get you buzzing. More information about this is contained in our manual for the responsible use of delta-8 , but generally in most states, you can easily buy products delta-8 without a prescription or order them through the Internet. You will often find them in CBD stores as they owe their availability to the same legal loophole.
What then is wrong with this?
The recent FDA and CDC warnings are not overly dire about delta-8 itself, but we’ll cover the details in a minute. First of all, it’s important to know that delta-8 is still THC and it appears to have the same risks and benefits as normal (delta-9) THC.
In other words, it can make you feel high, and if you take too much, you may experience greening symptoms, including nausea, lethargy, and inconsistency. THC can also affect heart rate and blood pressure, making it a health concern, even if overdoses are unlikely to ever be fatal .
Once you understand this, there are two main issues that concern the FDA and CDC.
People don’t always know they are taking THC.
Since delta-8 is often sold alongside CBD products, it can be easy to overlook the fact that you are buying something that might cheer you up. Not everyone knows what delta-8 is, and those new to delta-8 may hear some funny nicknames like “diet weed” or they may hear a publicity stunt downplaying the similarities between delta-8 and normal. weed.
A recent CDC report mentions two cases from the West Virginia Poison Control Center in which adults took what they thought were “CBD-like foods” and ended up climbing high enough to call a poison control center.
A couple more cases, this time from Michigan, were in children who ate their parents’ delta-8 gummies. The children have slowed down breathing, slowed heart rate and decreased blood pressure. They were admitted to intensive care for observation and supplemental oxygen.
The CDC also notes that labels may not always reflect how high a product can make you feel, as there are times when a weed product can contain both delta-9 and delta-8 and only one or the other is listed on the label. While states with legal weed often have some oversight of quality control or laboratory testing requirements, there is no such framework for delta-8 products.
The bottom line here is that it’s important to treat delta-8 foods just like you would any other herb product: keep them out of the reach of children and pets, read labels carefully, and when you try any new product, take a small dose. start. with.
Delta-8 products may be contaminated with other chemicals
If delta-8 products only contained delta-8, that would be the end. But cannabis plants usually do not contain much delta-8; that’s why we’re talking about delta-8 products (like gummies and vapes) and not just cannabis flowers. Serious industrial processing is required to convert traces of cannabinoids in cannabis into enough delta-8 for psychoactive chewing gum.
As explained in an article in Chemical and Engineering News , laboratory analysis has found other cannabinoids, such as delta-9 and delta-10 THC, in many delta-8 products, as well as a range of mysterious compounds that do not occur naturally in cannabis and whose the effects and potential risks are still unknown. One of them is olivtol, which can blunt your highs and may be the reason people often experience milder effects from delta-8 than from regular cannabis, but this is just a hypothesis. We also don’t know what a safe dose of olivtol might be.
Then the question arises as to what will be added to the products as delta-8 is produced. Usually there is a solvent such as toluene or heptane and a strong acid. It would be fine if you knew for sure that these chemicals were removed before the product was ready. But “most people don’t really spend time distilling it or chromatography,” the chemist told Chemical and Engineering News.
The FDA and CDC are also concerned that people making delta-8 products can do so without the proper equipment, and that they may add ingredients for color or other reasons that might not be safe to inhale or swallow. If you remember vaping-related lung disease (EVALI) a few years ago, it was most likely caused by additives in the vapes that were unsafe to inhale . Regulation doesn’t automatically make things safe, but it’s worth noting that none of the EVALI-related vape products came from legal dispensaries.
If you think you have had health problems related to the delta-8 product (or any drug for that matter), the FDA has several ways to report them and even talk to the person at the agency directly, as listed in the bottom of their Delta 8 newsletters .