Analysis of “Marijuana Edibles” – Food Products Containing Marijuana Or Marijuana Extracts – an Overview, Review, and Literature Survey
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Analysis of “Marijuana Edibles” – Food Products Containing Marijuana or Marijuana Extracts – An Overview, Review, and Literature Survey Robert F.X. Klein U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration Special Testing and Research Laboratory 22624 Dulles Summit Court Dulles, VA 20166 [[email protected]] ABSTRACT: An overview and review of the analysis of food products containing marijuana or marijuana extracts, as reported in the scientific literature through 2016, is presented. KEYWORDS: Marijuana Edibles, Marijuana Concentrates, Cannabis, Hemp, Tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, Analysis, Chromatography, Forensic Chemistry. Introduction arations.2 Due to the range of THC-containing adulterants, and the variability and complexity of Although still illegal under Federal and many their edible “support matrices,” the qualitative and state statutes, food products containing marijuana quantitative analyses of such products range from (Cannabis sativa L.) or marijuana extracts are facile to significantly chal-lenging (1,2,3). An currently common in states that either permit or overview and review of this topic, with an decline to prosecute “medical” or “recreational” emphasis on methods published from 2005 marijuana, and are increasingly being submitted to through 2016, is presented herein. To the author’s forensic laboratories for analysis – especially in knowledge, the analyses of marijuana edibles has neighboring states where marijuana statutes are not been previously reviewed or surveyed (4). still being enforced. Such products, generally referred to as “marijuana edibles,” range from Search Details beverages to candies to baked goods, and can contain herbal cannabis ranging from entire leaves Searches were conducted using the Chemical Ab- down to very finely ground material; semi-refined stracts Service’s Scientific & Technical Informa- cannabis preparations such as hashish, sinsemilla, tion Network (STN)®®, Google , PubMed, by read- or cannabis resin; or moderately to highly refined ing select forensic journals (notably the entire run cannabis extracts and concentrates such as hash of Microgram, Microgram Bulletin, and Micro- oil, “butane honey oil” (BHO),1 or similar prep- gram Bulletin LE 1967 to 2016), and/or by reviewing the reference citation lists of pertinent 1 Utilized herein as a generic term for 2 Including “budder”, “errl”, “marijuana marijuana concentrates obtained via extraction using rosin tech", “shatter”, “wax”, and other highly viscous butane, supercritical CO2, or an equivalent low or semi-solid, high THC concentrates. [Note that polarity solvent or supercritical fluid. such slang / street names change constantly.] Microgram Journal 2017, Volume 14; Numbers 1-4 9 articles or pertinent chapters of select reference The Development of Marijuana Edibles texts. In general, on-line searches were conducted using four linked terms, one each from: A) Marijuana edibles can be arbitrarily divided into Chromatography, electrochromatography, electro- three generations. “First Generation Marijuana phoresis, spectrometry, or spectroscopy; B) mari- Edibles” are products that were illicitly produced juana or an equivalent term (cannabinoids, for personal consumption or for small-scale sale cannabis, hash oil, hashish, hemp, hempseed, on the black market, long before the advent of marihuana, phytocannabinoids, tetrahydrocanna- state-permitted/non-prosecuted medical or recrea- binol, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, THC or tional marijuana (or even the term marijuana THCA3 – but no slang terms); C) food, foodstuffs, edibles).4 These products enabled marijuana use or a specific term (baked goods, beer, beverage(s), without smoking, thereby reducing its detect- candy/ies, edible(s), liquor, milk, seed oil, tea, or ability and/or providing an alternate consumption wine); and D) analysis, analytical, or forensic. mechanism for users who were either adverse to Followup searches were conducted as the results smoking or who preferred the effects of orally suggested. The STN and PubMed searches were consumed marijuana (5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15, limited from 1990 to 2016, while only the top 100 16,17; see also: 18). While already widespread – “hits” on Google were checked. No mass media albeit low level – among marijuana users in the sources (i.e., newspapers, magazines, radio, tele- 1960s, the first such exhibit (cannabis resin vision, or their Internet equivalents) are cited. smeared on bread) was not reported to Microgram until 1970 (19), suggesting only minimal interest An issue of note while conducting searches using among law enforcement personnel or forensic Google was the significant number of pertinent, chemists. Until around 2000, most products of on-line “application notes,” “infomercials,” and this type consisted of herbal cannabis, hashish, or similar reports. Nearly all of these have appeared cannabis resin in home-made baked goods such as in the past five years. With the exception of a few brownies, cookies, fudge, and similar dessert-type application notes that were re-published in LC-GC items (e.g., 20,21,22,23,24). or American Laboratory, and two “cannabis industry” reports summarizing the salient issues “Second Generation Marijuana Edibles” started to with preparing marijuana edibles with accurate appear soon after California legalized use of and consistent potency levels (vide infra), these medical marijuana in 1996 (25); these products are not included. While there are no reasons to included various types of candies and other doubt the validity of the presented information, packaged foods. Many of these were provided in virtually all of these reports are either from zip-lock plastic bags with homemade labels, while scientific instrumentation companies touting the others were professionally packaged and labelled capabilities of one of their instruments or from with names that mimicked well-known consumer commercial analytical laboratories offering for-fee products, e.g., “Stoners” (mimicking Snickers® testing services, and (in the author’s judgment) candy bars) (26,27), “Buddafingas” (Butterfinger® therefore are not appropriate for this review. candy bars) (28), “Splif” (Jif® peanut butter) (29), and “Budtella” (Nutella® hazelnut-chocolate spread) (30). Additional items included THC 3 THCA = Tetrahydrocannabinolic Acid (not 11-nor-9-Carboxy-THC). In this review, THCA is utilized to represent both THCA isomers (THCA-A 4 The first citations for marijuana edibles in and THCA-B). PubMed appeared in 2013. 10 Microgram Journal 2017, Volume 14; Numbers 1-4 lollipops (31,32,33), THC candies (34,35,36,37), and hemp food edibles that contain any detectable “pot butter” (or “ganja butter”) (38,39,40,41), amounts of THC are still considered to be chewing gum (42,43), “pot shots” (hard liquor Schedule I materials under the U.S. Controlled containing suspended herbal cannabis) (44; see Substances Act; i.e., they are in fact marijuana also: 45), and others (46,47). The majority of and marijuana edibles, albeit low potency (50). these latter products contained a marijuana extract (i.e., hash oil or BHO) or concentrate, with the Currently, hemp is a “niche” crop grown primarily remainder containing plant material (i.e., herbal in China, North Korea, Canada, a moderate num- cannabis, sinsemilla, or hashish); many also ber of European Union (EU) nations, and in lesser included a small marijuana leaf logo on their amounts elsewhere, including (with quite stringent labelling or packaging. restrictions, 51) in the U.S. (52,53,54,55,56). “Third Generation Marijuana Edibles” refer to the The seeds, oil, and flour from hemp are touted current crop of state-permitted/non-prosecuted (sometimes to excess) for their health benefits – products. The passage of Amendment 64 in especially the oil, a rich source of highly valued Colorado (48) and Initiative 502 in Washington omega-3 fatty acids (57,58,59,60,61; see also: (49), both in 2012, may be regarded as the break 62). Hemp food edibles (and numerous other non- point between the second and third generations, as edible, hemp-derived consumer products 5) began it marked the transition of marijuana edibles from to appear in greater numbers in the early to mid- a widespread cottage industry to large-scale, 1990s, as hemp cultivation was allowed, encour- commercial production. While many of the aged, and/or increased especially in Canada and products are highly similar to Second Generation the EU; they were initially popular, not for their Marijuana Edibles, their variety, quantities, THC potential health benefits or nutritional value, but potency levels, and marketing are unprecedented. rather for their novelty or shock impact (which In addition, based on an informal survey (by the has since faded, for obvious reasons). author) of recipes and cannabis industry informa- tion, as of December, 2016 nearly all of the large- Not surprisingly, the initial wave of hemp food scale manufacturers of these items are utilizing edibles were often contaminated with phytocan- liquid marijuana concentrates – not herbal canna- nabinoids. Although many of these products did bis – as the THC source in their products. in fact contain only trace to minor amounts of THC, some contained enough to result in positive “Hemp Food Edibles” drug tests (primarily urinalyses) for marijuana.6 A peripheral but pertinent subset of marijuana edibles are “hemp food edibles,” i.e., foodstuffs 5 Including soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, and containing the seeds, oil (from pressing the seeds), biofuels made with hempseed