New types of legal intoxicating cannabis products are growing in popularity in Europe.
These products contain hexahydrocannabinol, or HHC, which is a derivative of THC, the intoxicating ingredient in regular cannabis.
In several EU countries, hemp stores started selling HHC at the end of last year. The selection includes, among other things, industrial hemp flowering extended with HHC, hashish, sweets and vapes, i.e. electronic cigarettes.
Sellers may claim that HHC is a “legal cloud” similar to cannabis.
The authorities were worried
In just over half a year, HHC products have already spread to at least 20 EU countries, including Finland, the Chief Inspector of the Pharmaceutical Safety and Development Center Fimea tells by phone Katja Pihlainen.
According to him, the EU Drug Agency EMCDDA and the national authorities of the member states are concerned about the arrival of a new substance on the market.
According to Pihlainen, very little is known about HHC, because it has only been studied sparingly. Apparently, it is similar in its intoxicating effect to THC in regular cannabis.
– Burning or vaping can make it more harmful. We don’t know how it leaves the body, says Pihlainen.
Also, the problem is that HHC products have no quality control. In connection with manufacturing, chemicals may remain in the products or may be added to them, which are in themselves harmful to humans.
According to Pihlainen, it is also unclear where the HHC products sold on the European market are manufactured.
A craze from the United States
HHC was first synthesized by an American chemist Roger Adams already in the 1940s.
So it is not a new invention. But the commercialization of HHC instead is a new thing.
HHC is chemically produced from, for example, non-intoxicating cannabidiol, i.e. CBD, extracted from industrial hemp. That’s why HHC is called a semi-synthetic cannabinoid.
According to some sources, HHC has also been found in very small amounts in cannabis plants.
According to Pihlainen, the HHC craze originated in the United States. In 2018, the country passed the Farm Bill, which legalized industrial hemp containing up to 0.3 percent THC.
The change in law revolutionized hemp policy in the United States and brought a lot of new innovations to the industry. Some of them can be considered questionable from the point of view of drug legislation.
– The United States is an active society to develop everything in this field, Pihlainen smiles.
Some of the hemp entrepreneurs became interested in HHC because it is not directly prohibited as a substance in the UN drug conventions.
HHC was introduced to the market because some companies are trying to find loopholes in the cannabis prohibition law and make money through it, says Fimean’s Katja Pihlainen.
– If you want to ban HHC as a narcotic, then all countries must do it separately. Or start regulating it in some other way, if you want to regulate it.
Sale prohibited in Finland, permitted in Sweden
In Finland, HHC was classified as a psychoactive substance banned from the consumer market in January.
The classification means that the manufacture, import, sale, transfer and storage of HHC is prohibited. The use and possession of such substances is not prohibited.
In practice, it was a step towards defining HHC as an illegal drug.
According to Pihlainen, increasing amounts of HHC products have been found in Finland under import control. There have been, for example, hemp flowers containing HHC, oils, vapes and cookies.
– These products are on the borders of legality. Even if they are made from fiber hemp, THC is often found there. After that, it’s a drug case, warns Pihlainen.
According to Pihlainen, some other EU countries have also taken measures to ban HHC. In Estonia, for example, it is already classified as an illegal drug.
In Sweden, on the other hand, Verkkokaupat still sells HHC products. According to Pihlainen, Sweden has also started the process to ban HHC.
According to the EU Drug Agency, the introduction of HHC and similar semi-synthetic cannabinoids may be the first major change in the market for “legal” cannabis substitutes in more than 15 years.
The previous significant turning point was when the so-called spice products containing synthetic cannabinoids came on the market in the first decade of the 21st century.
You can discuss the topic on 12.4. until 11 p.m.