The UKCSC has been alerted to reports of contaminated cannabis in the west of the West Midlands of England and North Wales, specifically between Oswestry in Shropshire and Wrexham in North Wales. We advise consumers and patients still sourcing from the illicit market to be careful and remain alert!
Cannabis is covered in trichomes, which hold the cannabinoids and terpenes that give weed its effect. As you can see in this image, the trichomes are not globes as the heads of trichomes should be, they are sharp and angular. There are no stalks for the apparent crystals, either. This has been done to try and emulate the look of cannabis whilst adding weight to increase profits. An unconscionable act of self-greed.
Here is what trichomes should look like.
The UK cannabis consumer has suffered multiple waves of contaminated cannabis. During the early 2000’s “grit weed” was flooding the market. Glass beads and sand are sprayed onto the plants as they grow, which is then covered by new growth. It adds weight to the product, allowing the unscrupulous degenerate to earn more money for less product because it weighs more than it normally would.
The risk to the consumer is great. Glass beads being set on fire and inhaled through a cannabis joint without a filter will cause the hot glass beads to go into the consumer’s mouth and air passage. Lung x-rays of cannabis smokers who have been exposed to the dangers of grit weed show considerable damage that cannot be repaired. The glass beads cause scarring and lasting damage in the lungs as they burn the lining.
Purposefully contaminated cannabis has been found to include sand, iron filings, glue, sugar, and sediments of unknown origins. These are just weight contaminants though, they do not even begin to cover the potential hidden risk of chemical sprays such as pesticides, which can harm your nervous system and cause lasting health effects leading to medical emergencies and long-term diagnosis.
This public health warning highlights the need for sensible regulation of the adult cannabis market. There is no way this product would be allowed to be sold to consumers, as labs that test the potency and safety of products before they are packaged would identify this as a consumer safety risk.
More than that, it garners calls from cannabis consumers from all walks of life who would like the personal freedom and autonomy to grow a small number of plants at home for personal use. No one would contaminate their own cannabis that they are putting into their own body just to add weight to the product. The right to grow is fundamental to a practical cannabis policy that removes the harms of prohibition.
“You don’t know what’s in it” is a huge propaganda tool for cannabis prohibitionists but there is a very simple solution to this problem they present – testing labs. Allow people who grow cannabis to take their product to a lab for testing. If it meets the consumer safety standards test then it can be sold to a cannabis social club for example. Cannabis social clubs will request ID to prove members are over 18 before joining and purchasing products, keeping adult pleasures out of the current purchasing reach of children.
Contaminated cannabis on the streets of the UK in 2023 is a sign of a failing government, one that does not care about the safety of its people and one that fails to address the concerns of its citizens. Where are the MP’s standing up for us? Maybe you could write to your MP about this issue keeping it short and to the point.
You may have come across contaminated cannabis yourself and would like us to raise an alert in your area to help keep other consumers and patients safe from potential harm. If you find your cannabis to be contaminated, you should tell your dealer if you feel it is safe for you to do so. If you do not feel safe to tell them, it is a sign you should not be buying products from them in the first place – two red flags for the price of one!
Patients who have a genuine need for a prescription can register for an appointment here.
For everyone else who is being told they are too healthy to access legal cannabis, this is why we need to stand up. This is why cannabis activism needs to be reawakened in the UK. This kind of assault against our safety as consumers is what made cannabis activists in the UK come together and start the UK Cannabis Social Club movement – to free ourselves from the harms of the illicit, unregulated market and to create our own self-regulated grey market. The grey market is now often referred to by the legal cannabis industry as the “legacy market” which is their way of saying they are standing on the shoulders of the work we have done, not just us grassroots communities in the UK that kept the cannabis industry alive and safe for people over the last 20 years, but those like us across the world.
It’s time we started to take the cannabis market back to stop nefarious activities like this from causing harm to our friends and family members.
Send your pictures of contaminated cannabis to info@ukcsc.co.uk