American researchers have taken an interest in cannabis products sold online. Most of them are mislabeled, and can pose health risks.
Medicinal cannabis is authorized in more and more countries. In the United States, it is available online as an oil, concentrate or spray liquid. Researchers have found that most of these products are mislabeled, which can cause health problems. They published their analysis in one of the leading scientific journals.
Widespread mislabelling
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine analyzed 84 products that contain cannabidiol, the main building block in cannabis. Unlike pure cannabis, it does not get consumers “high”.
They ordered all the products from online shopping sites: 70% of these products were mislabeled, either because they contained more cannabidiol than indicated, or because they contained less.
These products are used without marketing authorization in several cases: anxiety, inflammation, pain or even epilepsy. If the product is over- or under-dosed, people can either consume too little for it to be possibly effective or on the contrary take too much. The medical benefits of these already minimal products can lead to poisoning.
Some products contain THC
Among the 84 products ordered, 18 contained THC, the molecule that makes you “high”. It is known to be dangerous because it can cause cognitive impairments, in the brain during certain activities such as driving a car, and other negative health effects. However, these cannabidiol-based products are, according to the researchers, also used to treat children with epilepsy. Thus, consumers ingest THC without even knowing it. Despite the low level of scientific evidence on its alleged actions, all of these cannabidiol-based products could represent a market of more than 1.71 billion euros in three years, according to market research experts. , and the growth is not about to stop.
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