While speaking with an individual who works in the drug and alcohol treatment field ,this individual informed me that in one of her courses intravenous THC was discussed, it was claimed to have been causing some sort of issue in recreational users, she asked me what I thought about the matter, and of coarse I told her this was pure nonsense.
Intravenous THC use is common in research:
And there have been reports of individuals boiling cannabis in water (keep in mind THC is not water soluble) and injecting the resulting infusion resulting in illness, as described here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih...mc/articles/PMC1306836/
https://en.wikipedia.org...nous_marijuana_syndrome
However, if a recreational user wanted to inject THC, it would not be as simple as one would assume, THC is not water soluble, and thus injecting the compound would be a challenge, you would probably need crystalline THCA or THC-o-acetate easter, compounds not easily produced by the average individual, and, I seriously doubt cannabis users would be very keen on the idea, what's the point?
However, apparently this issue is being discussed, again, keep in mind someone who works in the field of drug and alcohol treatment brought this to my attention, however, there has been appropriate response when others were confronted with the claim, as seen in the excerpt below:
Quote:earlier this week he shared what he sees as evidence of weed users searching for bigger and bigger highs -- and added his fear that such people may soon turn to injecting THC, the active ingredient in pot.
Dr. Bob Melamede, among the country's most vocal advocates for the medicinal benefits of cannabis, pulls no punches when asked his opinion about such a prospect. "This is nonsense," he says. "It's idiotic."
http://www.westword.com/...cannabis-expert-5823296
The excerpt below is in relation to the safety of cannabis, apparently in the research the subjects were injected with cannabis' active component, which was shown to be a " "relatively low" risk to subjects' health"
Quote:Thursday, 25 August 2011
West Haven, CT: The intravenous administration of cannabis' primary psychoactive compound, delta-9-THC, poses a "relatively low" risk to subjects' health, according to a review of clinical trial data to be published in the journal Psychopharmacology.
A team of investigators at the West Haven, Connecticut branch of the US Department of Veteran Affairs conducted a review of all intravenous THC studies conducted at the center over a 13-year period. They assessed 11 studies involving 266 subjects (14 schizophrenia patients and 252 healthy subjects, of whom 76 were frequent cannabis users), 351 active THC infusions, and 226 placebo infusions. Study subjects were monitored for subjective and physical adverse events and followed up to 12months beyond study participation.
Authors reported: "There was one serious and 70 minor adverse events in 9.7 percent of subjects and 7.4 percent of infusions, with 8.5 percent occurring after the end of the test day. Nausea and dizziness were the most frequent side effects associated with intravenous THC administration. Adverse events were more likely to be associated with faster infusion rates (two to fiveminutes) and higher doses. Of [the] 149 subjects on whom long-term follow-up data were gathered, 94 percent reported either no change or a reduction in their desire to use cannabis in the post-study period, 18 percent stated that their cannabis use decreased, and three percent stated that it increased in the post-study period."
Researchers concluded: "With careful subject selection and screening, risk to subjects is relatively low. Safeguards are generally sufficient and effective, reducing both the duration and severity of adverse events."
Commenting on the study, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, "This review once again reaffirms the cannabis is relatively safe, if not safer, than comparable conventional medications or intoxicants. The plant's relatively low toxicity and risk to health in no way justifies the continued criminalization and arrest of hundreds of thousands of cannabis consumers annually."
http://norml.org/news/20...vents-in-human-subjects
I think the idea that cannabinoids will soon become popular as intravenous drugs of abuse is fairly absurd, I'm sure there would be a small percentage of individuals that would actually attempt such a venture, no matter what ridiculous notion exists there will always be some unbalanced individual who will seek to act it out, this is unavoidable, but as far as your standard cannabis users turning to the needle, this seems a bit far fetched to me...
Has anyone else heard anything related to this topic? I seriously hope that this doesn't become a new staple in anti-cannabis propaganda, I seriously hope the notion doesn't spread any further than it already has...
-eg