Researchers find high levels of excrement in Spanish cannabis

If you need another reason to advocate for the legalization of marijuana, a new study shows why weeds sold illegally on the street are more likely to contain unacceptable levels of feces.

Scientists from the Complutense University of Madrid collected 90 cannabis samples from street vendors in and around Madrid and then tested them to determine if they were "fit for human consumption".

The results, published in the latest issue of Forensic Science International, revealed that 83% of tested samples were unsuitable. Because they had too much shit in them.

Specifically, the samples contained traces of Aspergillus fungi and E. coli bacteria. Researchers have described shit-weed as a "public health problem".

After purchasing the weed, the research team divided it into two groups based on the shape of the package in which the drugs were sold: acorn-shaped packaging and block-shaped packaging. The study showed that 29.4% of the block-shaped samples had traces of faeces, while 93% of the acorn-shaped samples had traces of faeces.

S addressing the Spanish newspaper El País, one of the study's researchers, pharmacologist José Manuel Moreno Pérez, explained why he believes that acorns are far more likely to contain Shit: smugglers often swallow acorn-shaped bags, which they call "Bellotas", then travel from Morocco to Spain. "When they arrive in Spain, they take a laxative and expel the bellota," Perez told El País. "And then they go on sale."

The study mentions that cancer patients are taking more and more cannabis and that their immune systems are weakened, which can make them more vulnerable to contaminated drugs.

The document warns smokers who might think that weed burning sterilizes bacteria. "There are no filters on the joints," Pérez told El País. "You do not breathe only smoke, but also particles."

And when users manipulate shit, they can take bacteria.

Although researchers have only tested marijuana in Spain, the swallowing method is also used by smugglers who introduce drugs into the United States.

[Forensic Science International via BBC]