Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Finding cannabinoids in hair does not prove cannabis consumption

  • 09-10-2015 9:21pm
    #1
    Shield
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Help & Feedback Category Moderators Posts: 9,811 CMod ✭✭✭✭


    Great article on nature.com that tramples all over any 'positive' results for cannabis usage that the PSNI's 'substance misuse test' may yield. Also "positive substance misuse test results from a previous campaign may also be considered if the same person makes any application in future competitions" (link to policy). Slightly unfair IMO.

    This is an academic article, and I've just included the Abstract for those who just want to know the basics. Anyone wanting to read the full article can just click on the link underneath the Abstract.

    It's only a matter of time before the media catch on to this and start asking some very difficult-to-answer questions. It's also an FOI request dying to be submitted, with just one questions: "How many applicants failed the SMT because positive substance misuse test results indicated cannabis usage?".
    Abstract

    Hair analysis for cannabinoids is extensively applied in workplace drug testing and in child protection cases, although valid data on incorporation of the main analytical targets, ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC (THC-COOH), into human hair is widely missing.

    Furthermore, ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A (THCA-A), the biogenetic precursor of THC, is found in the hair of persons who solely handled cannabis material. In the light of the serious consequences of positive test results the mechanisms of drug incorporation into hair urgently need scientific evaluation. Here we show that neither THC nor THCA-A are incorporated into human hair in relevant amounts after systemic uptake.

    THC-COOH, which is considered an incontestable proof of THC uptake according to the current scientific doctrine, was found in hair, but was also present in older hair segments, which already grew before the oral THC intake and in sebum/sweat samples. Our studies show that all three cannabinoids can be present in hair of non-consuming individuals because of transfer through cannabis consumers, via their hands, their sebum/sweat, or cannabis smoke.

    This is of concern for e.g. child-custody cases as cannabinoid findings in a child’s hair may be caused by close contact to cannabis consumers rather than by inhalation of side-stream smoke.

    Source and Full Article


Advertisement