It is a product that is gaining popularity, thanks in particular to social networks, and that worries doctors. HHC, short for hexahydrocannabinol, is a synthetic molecule derived from cannabis that can be smoked in flower or resin form, or ingested when incorporated into candy.
On sale
It is freely sold commercially, as it is not considered a drug, but users report significant effects, comparable to those of other psychoactive products.
HHC-based products are mainly sold in tobacconists or in stores specializing in products based on CBD (Cannabidiol), one of the natural molecules of cannabis known, among other things, for its relaxing effects. BFMTV went to one of these stores where regular consumers of CBD, and sometimes THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol, the illegal psychoactive molecule in cannabis), buy this new product.
“What do people who smoke THC say? That the next morning they have a head like a melon and have a hard time going to work. HHC is not the case at all. We wake up, we are fine and we are ready to go again,” he shares Michel, manager of the Parisian boutique CBD High.
“It’s called drugs”
But for specialists, the various effects of HHC are far from trivial and should not be trivialized.
“HHC has more similar effects with cannabis than with CBD, whether it’s neuropsychic effects, cardiovascular effects. We’re in the same type of products. (…) It has roughly the same effects as ‘a firecracker, four to six hours during which they are high, we have effects of disinhibition, lack of control, mismanagement of everything automatic, reflexes, many more anxiety attacks as well as ‘with THC’”, explains addicted psychiatrist Dan Véléa, a guest on BFMTV this Thursday.
“It is called a drug, a psychoactive substance, which is normally a generic illicit substance but which, at present, [fait l’objet d’un] total blur“, slice-t-il.
Especially since this product is not without danger to the health of consumers. It has many adverse effects on the neurological, cardiovascular and digestive systems, especially if its use is abused by smoking it.
“Combustion should normally be avoided, so smoking should be avoided, particularly these HHC-containing flowers and should ideally be vaporized to reduce the risks associated with combustion, the risk of cancer and the risk of cardiovascular disease,” he explains. The psychiatrist. specialist in the medical use of plants Nicolas Authier, who practices at the Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital.
Possibility of reclassification as a narcotic
Dan Véléa also points out the vagueness on the question of possible sanctions: can we promote it legally? What action can the police take upon the arrest of a person in possession of HHC? Can it be detected and/or confused with classic cannabis during a saliva or urine test?
Given the attraction that this new molecule arouses, the health authorities are working on a reclassification of its legal status.
“One of the conclusions could take the form of a classification as a narcotic,” writes the General Directorate of Health in a press release.
In the European Union, Finland, Estonia and Austria have banned the sale of HHC.
Source: BFM TV
