Need for proactivity on THC-O Acetate safety
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36508081/
THC-O products are completely unregulated and have the chemical structure to cause another EVALI wave. Yet we still allow its sale without restriction in most US States, and it grossed ~$200 million in 2022 sales.
A recent journal article details how THC-O acetate can release ketene during thermal decomposition - ketene is a "potent lung toxicant," and is also released when vitamin E acetate is heated (this was one of the original causes of EVALI). By all current indications, if someone is asking if THC-O acetate is safe to use, I would say that it’s definitely putting yourself at a decent amount of risk: between the ketene, the lack of regulation, and the potential for contaminants, you’re basically using yourself and your lungs as metaphorical guinea pigs.
This problem was also recently pointed out in an article by mjbizdaily.com, documenting how the marijuana and hemp industries are increasingly at odds as the hemp industry is increasingly pushing into the semi-synthetic psychoactive cannabinoid space (with Delta-8, Delta-10, HHC, and many others).
I'm interested to see when we, as a country, are able to be more proactive than reactive when it comes to novel psychoactive drugs. Will it take another EVALI wave (or something else) to but some guardrails on THC-O acetate and other unregulated semi-synthetics?
Imagine if we were able to prevent the youth vaping epidemic by getting ahead of flavors. Or if we didn't have to endure decades of thousands of people being killed in alcohol-related car crashes before we've finally decided to require passive BAL sensors in cars.