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Cannabis smokers in Spain may discover that their cannabis contains particularly unpleasant contaminants, especially human excreta.
According to a study recently published in the journal Foreign Science International, the vast majority of samples of hashish (88.3%) collected in Madrid and its environs were not suitable for consumption. Moreover, a large part of these contain traces of E. coli and the remains of human poo. Some are 500 times higher than those allowed by the US cannabis law or the European fruit law.
A total of 90 samples were collected over a 12-month period. Sixty of these samples were tested for foreign elements and adulterants, microbiological contamination, as well as odors. The other 30 were tested for E. coli, a bacterium that lives in the intestine, but that carries strains that can cause serious food poisoning.
Overall, 93% of the glans-shaped samples and 29.4% of the ingot-shaped samples contained E. coli. Charmingly, 40% of these samples had a fecal odor, while all faecally E. coli. The moral of the story is that if your cannabis smells of shit, that's probably the case.
Researchers say it probably depends on the distribution process. While growing cannabis plants for your own consumption is In Spain, the cultivation, trafficking and public consumption of hashish are do not. These samples, bought in the street, have probably arrived in Madrid from abroad, smuggled into the belly of people.
"Once arrived in Spain, they take laxatives to expel the acorns and this is what is on sale," said Manuel Pérez Moreno, pharmacist at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and co-author at El Pais. of the study.
In addition to the high numbers of feces, the researchers found that many hashish samples had been contaminated with foreign substances and adulterants, including hair, sand, plastic and textile fibers. Of the 25% adulterated samples, 66.7% were in the form of an ingot.
During this time, it was found that 10% contained spores of Aspergillus, Of which 66.7% were acorn-shaped.
The good news is that the fungus is normally harmless. The bad news is that it can cause serious infections in people with asthma, a weakened immune system or underlying lung disease. This could be particularly problematic for the growing number of people who use cannabis for medical purposes – for example, to relieve chronic pain or reduce the side effects of chemotherapy.
"These patients have a weakened immune system, so an infection caused by the consumption of contaminated or falsified cannabis resin could be fatal," warn the authors.
The 90 samples included in the study represent only a small fraction of the hashish distributed in the region. It is therefore difficult to say with certainty that the figures are really representative of cannabis sold in Spain (or even in Madrid). However, the study's authors cite other studies that show similar levels of high contaminants.
Of these, some come from the Netherlands, where cannabis is decriminalized, suggesting that about half of the samples contain dangerously high levels. E. coli and 70% have sufficient fungal growth to make them unfit for human consumption.
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