Grit weed, a warning!

[ambertrichomez]

What is Gritweed ?

'Grit Weed' has become the colloquial name for a general form of contaminated herbal cannabis that has been treated with a variety of unknown sand / grit like substances which appear to have been added to the plant prior to harvest in order to increase the weight of the plant’s yield.

The first reports of this so called gritweed in the UK dates back to Spring / Summer 2006 when a handful of localized cases were identified. Since then the supply of this contaminated "skunk" appears to have increased dramatically, infiltrating all levels of the supply chain throughout the British Isles. Regular cannabis users now report that this gritweed is predominantly the only type of herbal cannabis available to them - a situation that many feel is a direct result of the police's recent wave of crackdowns on UK based cannabis growers which has had a marked effect on both the levels and quality of supply.

Currently it seems there are four main types of contaminant grit-weeds flooding the UK market, these are:

- Large Glass Particle Contamination

- Industrial Etchant Spray Contamination

- Sugar or Sand Contamination

- Micro Contaminants (stealth grit)

Unconfirmed reports suggest that smoking cannabis that is contaminated with any of the above has been linked with complaints by users of sore mouth, mouth ulcers, chesty persistent coughs, and a tight chest lasting a few days after use.

Fortunately, identifying most of the contaminated gritweed varieties is fairly straightforward. In most cases the weed will, at a glance, look of a good standard but it will not smell very strong at all. On further inspection the gritweed may seem like it is covered in what looks like THC crystals however these could be the contaminant glass / silica particles so a more detailed examination is required.

The surest method seems to involve testing the weed by placing a very small amount in your mouth and running it over your teeth / tongue. If you feel a gritty sand like residue when you clench your teeth together then chances are you are dealing with gritweed (probably the silica or road paint contaminant variety). If you don't feel any grit-like substance between your teeth but the weed tastes very sweet (sugary) then chances are it has been dusted with sugar to bulk out the weight.

Please note that the above 'grit test' will not work with the new wave of so called micro comtanimants as these are undetectable without the use of a standard microscope. To date we are unaware of any other method to test for these new forms of micro contaminant gritweeds apart from a detailed microscopic analysis.

If you suspect that you have acquired some grit-weed then we strongly advise that you cease smoking it immediately as it is a potential serious health risk. For further information please read our summary of health implications or the UK Department of Health news release.

GRIT WEED - THE SCIENCE SO FAR

Analysis

At present there seems to be very little official regulated research analysing the chemical composition of this new wave of contaminated cannabis. To compound matters further, there appears to be a variety of contaminant types.

The following scientific data and analysis is largely unofficial / unregulated and has been collated from a variety of online sources - where possible we have tried to acknowledge the original authors / contributors.

The French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction carried out an analysis of the contaminated cannabis (we suspect it was the large glass contaminant type). They found that the leaves contained glass particles between 0.02 and 0.3 millimetres across. However, Dr Russell (Imperial College, London) claims that if the particles are above 0.015 millimetres then they would be too big to pass into the lungs and it is more likely that they would drop into the users’ mouth and/or throat, although using a filter could prevent them from entering the mouth.

An anonymous scientist has analysed and posted their findings of the contaminated cannabis (the industrial etchant contaminant) on the UKCIA website and stated that the granules are actually small beads (50-120 micrometers diameter) “made of some non-soluble high melting point glass like substance” and if smoked could pass into the lungs causing devastating results.

Here is a brief summary of these unregulated findings:

• Under a microscope at 50x magnification, contaminants appear
  as very small (50-120 um) beads, with regular circular shape
  and small pores/ single holes present.
  
• Beads do not dissolve in non polar solvents (pet ether) or polar
  solvents (ethanol, acetone).
  
• Beads are insoluble in conc NaOH solution, conc H2SO4.
  
• Melting point is above 400C, but cannot perform TG, DTG
  analysis at the moment so cannot specify any transition
  temperatures or accurate melting points.
  
• The beads have a significant sodium and silicon content,
  suggesting that the comments previously about silicates
  are correct.
  
• Reliable sources say that this contaminant is industrial etchant
  spray used for glass frosting, It is a high pressure aerosol of
  propellant, lubricant and silicate abrasives. This accounts for the
  high permeation levels displayed in all 3 samples, with
  particulates presents inside even 'tight' buds all the way into the
  stems. This also may account for the non plany oils present in
  the bud which have been previously described as a 'glue'.
  

More recent reports have surfaced concerning a new style of contamination relating to micro particles that are infinitely harder to detect. Presently there seems to be no scientific analysis available for this variety of contamination .

thanks to gritweed.co.uk for the article.

[Dust]

I know that weed, i've had some around 2004 it was not rare to see some where i was living.

Sad to hear that it has become so common to find it in uk

thanks for sharing the infos man

Good luck guys

[Psypoab]

Yeh i came across some of that in 2009 2010 only a few a scores but looked ruff needless to say I chucked it after the first doub, it left you with a gritty mouth after a toke. Not nice at all, just another reason it grow your own.

[phayze]

i didnt realise that stuff was still about i heard of it about 6 yrs ago but was growing my own back then so i never came across it i remember something about it being spun in a centrifuge and the contaminant added the force embeded it into the bud not a nice thing to hear especially for the poor souls who buy instead of grow