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Grit weed - Serious contamination warning
12.26.06|UKCIA


Following police raids against large scale grow ops during the summer of 2006 (Operation Kaymer) there was a nationwide shortage of cannabis in the UK for the first time in a great number of years.

This had a predictable effect, within weeks UKCIA began hearing of contaminated herbal cannabis being sold which contained grit.

At first we thought it was benign, the bud seemed to have been dipped in sand which, although adding weight and thus making the cannabis effectively more expensive didn't pose much of a risk. Now we're not so sure.

We've received reports about this "grit weed" from all over the country on our forum and we have photographs of it. It seems to be some kind of small glass particles held on the bud in some kind of glue.

We have no idea of the nature of the glue, but if this is glass, it could be a very serious health risk. Breathing in small bits of glass could well cause damage to your lungs, possibly even something as dangerous as silicosis.

The advice is simple - don't buy this grit weed. It's only by refusing to hand over money for this stuff we will stop it happening.

If you really feel you must smoke it - either use a pipe with a gauze or put a cigarette filter in the roach end of you joint. Please do not smoke it in a normal joint with a cardboard roach or a chillum because you can suck the grit into your lungs.

We would like to ask the government why there is no warning about this contamination, their attitude seems to be "well, it's illegal"

Prohibition causes unquantifiable dangers in addition to any dangers cannabis might have, this is an example of that happening. What makes it worse is contaminated supplies are a measure of success for the prohibition policy the government uses.

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Hashishi

Hey - missed this one. This is true and it is deffinately unpleasant. What a shitty state of affairs.

I ran through the home office's web site and found nothing alerting the country to this nation-wide health risk, either.

imported_squirrel_master

damn, you brits are really getting f@#ked more than us in the states are on the whole weed aspect.

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and weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Andros Stravos

Hi, I'm new.

I live in Canada, and so far I hadn't heard of this happening here, but the other day I read that some of the tainted weed has metal pieces in it. My friend said he was microwaving his weed to dry it faster and it started sparking a lot...does that mean the weed had metal in it? If so, Canada may not be as clean as I thought

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Andros Stravos

Hashishi

I doubt it - it is more likely some metal somehow found its way into your friend's green.

The problem over here has been narrowed down to a "spray" sold over the internet and in headshops used to bulk out the weight and make the cannabis appear more crystallised. It's been used in Amsterdam for a while now, but it appears that the big-time, pan-European growers have finally cottoned on.

It is sillicon-based, ostensibly, and you spray an entire container on the plant two or three weeks before harvesting.

Health risks are unkown, and I can only guess that the reason this continues is because less notice is taken in regards to public health relating to the use of an illicit substance.

For more information, visit the UKCIA forums, where there is a large thread dedicated to this subject.