[Elevator Man]

This is definitely street weed - there isn't really a coffee-shop scene here. The guy who sold it me a while ago is notorious for not giving a shit about what he sells - that said, a lot of the time it's great - but he doesn't care what it is, or where it comes from.

When I complained about it he said (and I quote): "Oh shuttup. As if." So I showed him through the magnifier, and he said "That's just resin". The dolt refused to look any closer, but he didn't sell me any more. But that's the problem - he thinks he's doing everyone a favour getting green when there is none, and the last thing he wants to hear is it's contaminated, as he can't get his money back either!

The fuckers who do this have already spent it on more rocks, more than likely...

Still going on here. Given up buying till me crops are done. Completely straight for now, but I cannot bring myself to buy such crap. Like a lot of you's have said time to publish this issue and LEGALIZE. What about our kids smoking this shit ??

[gaiusmarius]

the ones who are actually adding that shit to the buds need to have their balls ripped off. how dare they damage peoples health in that way? let alone the potential damage to the cause of cannabis use as a right.

[Elevator Man]

Trouble is, for a product that by definition avoids customs controls when imported, and avoids consumer health regulations when supplied locally, who's to regulate it? It's hardly more illegal to adulterate an already illegal substance. If it were fake weed entirely, then maybe you could do them for misleading, but if the customer knowingly buys an illegal prodict, they forfeit most consumer protection rights anyway.

Stuff like Brix seems to have no botanical or recreational value, but it in itself isn't illegal - they're obviously just being brazen salespeople in desperate times. You can smear blancmange on your buds if you want, and no-one can stop blancmange manufacturers selling it, even if they advised you to do such a thing. Most people would just think you were daft...

I'm not sure if much of this stuff is Brix-coated though - I'm more inclined to tilt at the industrial side. The volume they'd need to produce would require some sort of commercial facility I would have thought.

[Verite]

In related news the Boggle company has reported the theft of 275 tons of high quality timer sand from their New Jersey stockyard.

[TaprootErection]

haha!

kif hourglass!

[Tokabowl]

Another article, January 2nd:

Warning to drug users

BEN KENDALL

02 January 2007 06:00

Drugs users across East Anglia were last night warned to exercise extreme caution after research showed cannabis supplies are being contaminated with harmful glass particles.

Campaign bodies lobbying for the legalisation of cannabis claim small glass beads - believed to be an industrial spray used for glass frosting - are being added to herbal cannabis in a bid to increase its weight and making “deals” more expensive.

Norwich-based group Cannaprag says police raids during the summer of 2006 which saw large scale cannabis farms - including several in Norwich, Yarmouth and King's Lynn - closed down have created a shortage of the drug meaning dealers are contaminating supplies in a bid to meet demand.

But this could have serious health consequences for thousands of users with some already reporting mouth ulcers, sore throats and chesty persistent coughs.

Cannaprag spokesman Derek Williams said the cannabis using community has had suspicions about contamination for about six months but has only now obtained evidence by analysing samples of the drug. At first the substance was thought to be a relatively harmless material such as sands but the results are far more worrying.

Mr Williams added: “What has become clear through this incident is that the government has no method of warning illegal drug users of dangers such as this and seemingly has no desire to do so.

“Government policy towards illegal drugs should not act in such a way as to increase the danger of using them by adding unknown risks.

“Cannaprag is calling for public information campaign to raise awareness of this contamination as a matter of urgency. It will be affecting a huge number of people. A public health warning is urgently needed to inform users that they should not smoke this contaminated cannabis and dealers should not sell it.”

Mr Williams said that such contamination is a result of prohibition and legalising cannabis would allow the government to ensure the safety of supplies.

“The reality is that people are going to use cannabis and, if that is the case, the government should have some way of ensuring their safety. The only way of doing this is through legalisation,” he said.

Magnification of three samples shows small beads 50 - 120 micrometers diameter, made of non-soluble high melting point glass like substance.

If smoked without a filter - as is common - these glass beads are drawn into the lungs.

The author of the research has remained anonymous but Cannaprag and other legalisation campaign groups are calling on the government to conduct its own research.

source: https://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/...A16%3A39%3A813

[Tokabowl]

More:

Press release 1st January 2007

Contact

Herbal cannabis on sale in the UK is now suffering widespread contamination. Analysis shows it to be small glass beads 50 - 120 micron in diameter. Sources suggest that this contaminant is industrial etchant spray used for glass frosting, a high pressure aerosol consisting of propellant, lubricant and silicate abrasives. This product has been identified as a likely candidate.

During the summer of 2006 police staged a series of raids against large scale cannabis grow-ops all over the UK known as "Operation Keymer", this had the effect of creating a sudden shortage of cannabis - no doubt it's desired effect.

However, within a very short period of time this shortage was at least partly filled by cannabis which was highly contaminated. Seemingly high quality "bud" - herbal cannabis - was found to contain some form of grit or sand. The website www.ukcia.org began hearing of this contaminated cannabis on sale from the far south west to the north of Scotland within weeks of the raids.

At first, the contamination was thought to be fairly benign with something inert being added simply to increase the weight of the deal, making the cannabis more expensive but otherwise not posing a danger. As time went past however, it became clear there was a potential danger which may be of great significance for the health of the user.

Photo's of the contaminated bud seemed to show some kind of glass fragments - click here

The contamination found by analysis is actually small beads 50 - 120 micrometers diameter, made of some non-soluble high melting point glass like substance. If smoked in a joint or chillum with no filter - as most cannabis smokers do - these glass beads will be drawn into the lungs with possibly devastating results, it's doubtful that using a pipe with a gauze will prevent this happening either.

Of course, given the illegal nature of cannabis and the workings of the law, this analysis cannot be verified and the author of it is unknown, but the methodology provided and the conclusions drawn seem reasonable.

This contamination is a direct result of the policy of prohibition and the danger it represents is in addition to any danger that may exist from using pure cannabis. It is a very graphic illustration of how the policy of prohibition not only increases the dangers associate with illegal drugs but also creates dangers of its own.

There is an urgent need to publicise this contamination in order to advise cannabis users not to smoke this "grit weed" and dealers not to sell it.

Derek Williams of Cannaprag said:

"What has become clear through this incident is that the government has no method of warning illegal drug users of dangers such as this and seemingly has no desire to do so. We do have a very expensive advertising campaign known as "Talk to Frank" which makes strange adverts but seems unwilling or unable to respond to such incidents.

"Government policy towards illegal drugs should not act in such a way as to increase the danger of using them by adding unknown risks, however contamination of supplies is used as a measure of "success" of the prohibitionist drugs policy.

"Cannaprag is calling for a public information campaign to raise awareness of this contamination as a matter of urgency. It will be affecting a huge number of people, literally millions. A public health warning is urgently needed to inform users that they should not smoke this contaminated cannabis and dealers should not sell it".

-------------- ends----------------

The analysis - author unknown.


The following analysis and comment has been obtained by www.ukcia.org and can be seen on the forum:

Under microscope at 50x magnification, contaminants appear as very small (50-120 um) beads, with regular circular shape and small pores/ single holes present.

Beads do not dissolve in non polar solvents (pet ether) or polar solvents (ethanol, acetone).

Beads are insoluble in conc NaOH solution, conc H2SO4.

Melting point is above 400C, but cannot perform TG, DTG analysis at the moment so cannot specify any transition temperatures or accurate melting points.

The beads have a significant sodium and silicon content, suggesting that the comments previously about silicates are correct.

Reliable sources say that this contaminant is industrial etchant spray used for glass frosting, It is a high pressure aerosol of propellant, lubricant and silicate abrasives. This accounts for the high permeation levels displayed in all 3 samples, with particulates presents inside even 'tight' buds all the way into the stems. This also may account for the non plany oils present in the bud which have been previously described as a 'glue'

Obviously a further qualitative analysis is needed and I may be able to perform MS, IR, NMR and thermal methods on the samples, in particular the oil 'glue' and the gritty particulates.

Methodology:

The tests were rudimentary to the extreme but allowed for a qualitative analysis of the contaminants.

As you will appreciate, cannabis bud is plant tissue and so is an extremely complex subject. The contaminants which cause the most worry (the crystals) are a very un complex subject.

So I burnt away all of the material in a methane-air flame (about 1500C) until there was no appreciable plant material left (a reasonably homogenous charred mixture).

The oils were extracted with a non-polar solvent- that is one which is immiscible in water, petrol and cooking oil being two examples, however I used petroleum ether which is a low boiling fraction of oil.
Acetone was used as a polar solvent to strip the material of more polar oils which would still be water insoluble. The sample was then further oxidised with concentrated sulfuric acid, sulfuric acid is a very strong dehydrating agent, stripping hydrogen and oxygen from a substance in the ratio 2:1.

The sample was then neutralised with household bicarb and washed with water.

It was then dried to a constant mass. Using a fine mesh I was able to remove the majority of the contaminant from the charred sample and study it under a microscope. Unfortunately I was unable to make a further qualitative analysis of its oxygen, silicon, aluminium or sodium content as I do not have access to expensive analytical instruments or reagents such as HF for at least a month.

I am almost certain that it is an aluminosilicate and I think that the information about etchant could well be correct.



The author who provided this analysis makes the following comments:

Smoking this has resulted in mouth ulcers and sore throats/ chesty coughs which never occur when smoking normally due to the good health and only occasional cannabis use of the subject.

DO NOT SMOKE THIS, IT MAY POSE A SIGNIFICANT HEALTH HAZARD AND WE MAY SEE A DRUG TAKING COMMUNITY CRISIS ON A LARGER SCALE THAN THE MPTP CRISIS OF THE EARLY 80'S.

BUYERS: PLEASE RECONSIDER BEFORE BUYING ANY MORE OF THIS, AND CONSIDER THE DAMAGE YOU MAY BE CAUSING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS.

OTHER CONTAMINANTS SUCH AS NATURAL SAND ARE PROBABLY THE RESULT OF SUPPLIERS COPYING THE ETCHANT METHOD WITH WHATEVER THEY HAVE TO HAND.

source: https://www.cannaprag.net/comment/070101.htm

[NOKUY]

Hi guys

I found this article while cruisin around the net: I posteted it in a sim. thread in the den, but saw this one too and thought you guys may wanna read/see it.



Beware "glass grass"
Submitted by Adam on December 19, 2006 - 07:33.
Regular readers of the Poorhouse, and anyone with a grasp of contemporary reality, will already be aware of the several obvious arguments (or more accurately "truth") for legalisation of illegal drugs, starting with cannabis. The UK Government has of course neglected to act on this matter, creating ever more death and destruction in its wake.

A few months ago the cannabis trade in the UK was running relatively dry. This was largely blamed on some major busts both of imported cannabis and several dedicated cannabis-growing houses and warehouses in the UK. Amazingly, it seemed to actually have some effect on reducing availability, for a while anyway. What it certainly did not do was fit surely the only sensible rationale behind drugs policy - reducing the harm caused by drugs usage. Here again we see the Government creating specific and serious dangers where they need not otherwise exist.

With cannabis scarce, supplies were hard to get and prices were high. Naturally black-market dealers began offering high-profit alternatives to their clients, including that now-pretty-much-cheaper-than-ever drug, heroin. Sure enough there was some takeup. The BBC reports that teenagers in Swansea are amongst those who have fallen into the politically-engineered trap. Says one such teenager:

You either know a dealer or you know someone who knows a dealer... some drugs are drying out and people are turning to harder things.

Now, with the exception of irresponsible - even if well-meaning - commentators such as Julie Lynn-Evans, a child psychotherapist whom the awful Daily Mail quoted as saying "Skunk is one of the most serious things on our streets today. I would rather my daughter took heroin.", most people are fully aware that heroin really can be a nasty drug for many (but not all) people, leading to extreme dependency, health problems (even death) and is strongly associated with starting a criminal career affecting both the user and society at large. Admittedly this last point - and death - is largely massively multiplied in seriousness as a result of Government policy, but hey, even working within the boundaries that now exist to end up forcing people away from cannabis to heroin is the exact opposite of sanity.

The other effect of the scarcity of cannabis was - as always happens - purity went down. There were already severe concerns about the purity of cannabis resin in the UK, and there have been for years. But now the general alternative to risking boot-polish animal-turd filled non-cannabis was also beginning to get tainted. Herbal, often-described as "skunk", cannabis started being diluted with something crystalline. This was doubly evil, because sparkly cannabis is often sought-after, under the premise that the crystals are made of THC - the active ingredient in cannabis. Unfortunately in this instance they weren’t. Various guesses, some more educated than others, have been made that sand, grit, glass, salt, a yield-enhanced called Brix or fibreglass shards had been added. Below is an photograph demonstrating what one such sample looks like.



Glass Grass:


The problem quickly became of national significance, and is still going on in many places. A responsible Government (don't laugh) would be out there alerting the millions of cannabis users to this new danger and advising them on the best course of action to minimise the added danger here. They would be getting the steps in order to ensure a repeat of this doesn't happen. They would show some sort of care and compassion for the well-being of the people they represent, however foolish they considered their life choices. However, it hasn't even made the mainstream news. Most users will almost certainly not even know the seriousness of the problem they are potentially being exposed to.

Much as cannabis is not at all harmless to use, it can only be being made more dangerous by introducing this largely unknown substance into it. Smoking anything is usually bad for you to some extent, so smoking more of it is worse. Smoking something you have no idea what is could be extremely dangerous. There have even been (anecdotal at this stage) reports of acute and potentially deadly lung problems requiring hospitalisation after smoking this "glass grass".

A committed user's only sensible solution? Well, don't buy it. Go elsewhere, try and find a decent source. You'll need some good luck to do this in some areas though to say the least. Ideally then, and also because this is far from the only contamination around, you need to grow your own plant. Only of course you're not allowed to. How could it be advisable as such when you stand the chance of going to prison for 14 years if you take that risk-reducing action?

A mere two years is what's available if you just accept it and smoke whatever the stuff sold as cannabis actually is - and don't get your lungs cut up so much breathing becomes a serious challenge.

[Verite]

Sammy and Sandy say,

" Hey cats, dont smoke glass weed or you could lose an eye. "