The Wall Street Journal recently reported that drinks laced with THC are becoming popular.
THC is the main psychoactive substance in marijuana, and health experts warn the drug poses serious risks.
In 2018, Congress passed the federal Agriculture Improvement Act to let farmers grow cannabis plants low in THC for use in textiles like hemp rope or cloth. But manufacturers have found ways to extract and refine the little bit of THC in the plants. Doing this on a commercial scale means they can produce a lot of THC to infuse into drinks, candies, e-cigarettes, and other products.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that federal law prohibits this type of THC in food products, but many companies are marketing these THC-infused products anyway.
Now The Wall Street Journal reports THC drinks are becoming popular, but come with serious health concerns:
There’s no limit on the amount of THC allowed in a beverage, but many states consider a standard dose to be 5 milligrams, though Colorado defines one edible dose as 10 milligrams. There are 12-ounce seltzer drinks with 30 milligrams of THC and two ounce fast-acting shots containing a whopping 100 milligrams.
Consumers seem to prefer the stronger stuff. The global THC seltzer market was valued at $344.7 million in 2023 and is projected to grow to about $2 billion by 2030. . . .
What about drinking a THC seltzer followed by, say, a beer? When you combine weed with alcohol, the effects are exponentially worse, says Matthew Hill, a neuroscientist at Hotchkiss Brain Institute at University of Calgary in Canada.
What about the health risks overall? Drinking or eating THC has slightly less risk than smoking or vaping because you aren’t exposing your lungs to smoke, he says.
That doesn’t make it healthy. “The health risks of THC are going to be the same no matter how you consume, because THC is THC,” Hill says.
Such risks include impaired judgment, attention span and coordination, and raising the risk of car accidents, falls, and injuries. Long-term use can also lead to significant mental-health issues and addiction. And THC can lead some people to experience short-term psychosis, anxiety and an elevated heart rate.
And if you think drinking your THC with a meal makes it less potent, you’re wrong.
As we have pointed out, drinks with as much THC as recreational marijuana products have raised serious public health and safety concerns.
In Oregon — where marijuana is legal — the state’s Liquor and Cannabis Commission recently tested 51 samples of industrial hemp flowers as part of its “Operation Clean Leaf” initiative. All 51 hemp samples contained more THC than federal law allows.
Authorities also said the vast majority of hemp products were sold without proper age verification, and that some were tainted with pesticides. That’s part of the reason even liberal states like Oregon are taking steps to address these products.
This year, multiple bills legalizing THC-infused drinks were filed at the Arkansas Legislature.
H.B. 1578 by Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R — Knoxville), which was filed in February, specifically would have legalized drinks containing THC made from hemp in Arkansas. Under this measure, THC seltzers as strong as recreational marijuana products in other states could have been legal in Arkansas.
H.B. 1722 by Rep. Jeremiah Moore (R — Clarendon) would have legalized e-cigarettes, food, drinks, and other products containing THC. A similar bill — S.B. 455 by Sen. Josh Bryant (R — Rogers) and Rep. Justin Gonzales (R — Okolona) would have legalized THC products as well.
Fortunately, none of these bills passed this year.
All of this reminds us once again: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
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