Cannabis smoke condensate III: the cannabinoid content of vaporised Cannabis sativa.

Cannabis sativa is a well-known recreational drug and, as such, a controlled substance of which possession and use are illegal in most countries of the world. Due to the legal constraints on the possession and use of C. sativa, relatively little research on the medicinal qualities of this plant has been conducted. Interest in the medicinal uses of this plant has, however, increased in the last decades. The methods of administration for medicinal purposes are mainly through oral ingestion, smoking, and nowadays also inhalation through vaporization. During this study the commercially available Volcano vaporizing device was compared with cannabis cigarette smoke. The cannabis smoke and vapor (obtained at different temperatures) were quantitatively analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In addition, different quantities of cannabis material were also tested with the vaporizer. The cannabinoids:by-products ratio in the vapor obtained at 200 degrees C and 230 degrees C was significantly higher than in the cigarette smoke. The worst ratio of cannabinoids:by-products was obtained from the vaporized cannabis sample at 170 degrees C.

Cannabis smoke condensate II: influence of tobacco on tetrahydrocannabinol levels.

Medicinal cannabis has attracted a lot of attention in recent times. Various forms of administration are used, of which smoking is very common but the least desirable. Smoking cannabis generates a large amount of unwanted side products, of which carcinogenic compounds are the most dangerous. A common practice among recreational drug users, and to a lesser degree patients who uses cannabis as medicine, is to mix the cannabis material with commercially available tobacco in order to increase the burning efficiency of the cigarette and to reduce the overall costs of the cigarette. In this study cannabis material has been mixed with tobacco in order to determine whether tobacco has an influence on the amount of and ratio between tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabigerol (CBG), and cannabinol (CBN) administered while smoking. A small-scale smoking machine has been used and cannabis mixed with various ratios of tobacco was smoked. The trapped smoke was quantitatively analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the amount of THC, CBG, and CBN was determined for each cigarette. We have found that tobacco increases the amount of THC inhaled per gram of cannabis from 32.70 +/- 2.29 mg/g for a 100% cannabis cigarette to 58.90 +/- 2.30 mg/g for a 25% cannabis cigarette. This indicates that tobacco increases the vaporization efficiency of THC by as much as 45% under the conditions tested.

Cannabis smoke condensate I: the effect of different preparation methods on tetrahydrocannabinol levels.

Cannabis sativa contains more than 400 known compounds, of which the terpene chemicals, called cannabinoids, are unique to this species. The cannabinoids, which occur as the corresponding acids in the plant material, are the major psychoactive components in this species. The compounds are decarboxylated from the inactive acidic form into the active form by means of smoking. Previous research has made use of the tobacco industry's standard method and adaptations thereof to produce a cannabis smoke condensate. In this study the method of smoke production, which includes the puff frequency, puff length, and puff volume, was tested and the concentration of the major cannabinoid, Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and the amount of by-products produced under the different conditions were quantified. This study aimed at combining the existing methodology and at providing quantitative results on the influence of the preparation method on the concentration of THC in the smoke. The results indicate that the method of smoke production influences the amount of THC produced (e.g., longer puff length yielding a higher amount of THC). The THC concentration in the smoke condensate varied between 22.17 mg/g of cannabis and 54.00 mg/g, while the amount of by-products produced varied between 25.57 mg/g and 107.40 mg/g.