As marijuana becomes more legal in the U.S., two University at Buffalo public health researchers are stressing one of the oldest advices to purchasers: buyer beware.
Two researchers from UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions surveyed 521 customers about Delta-8 — a branch of marijuana's psychoactive substance THC — through locally-based Bison Botanics. That company makes CBD and sells the various products to people for medicinal purposes.
Daniel Krueger, a research investigator for the University of Michigan with an affiliation at UB, warned that there seems to be less government restrictions on these Delta-8 products than full-blown pot products, so you may not really know what you're buying.
"Some producers are converting other cannabinoids, like CBD, to Delta-8 and the DEA actually thinks that that's not covered by the Farm Bill. They think that that's actually illegal," Krueger said. "So you could have Delta-8 that's legally supplied and Delta-8 that's illegally supplied, according to them."
Research partner Jessica Kruger, a UB clinical associate professor of community health and health behavior, said, "any sort of thing could be" in those gummies or brownies — or whatever you buy — besides a cannabinoid.
"Anyone who is looking for cannabis products needs to educate themselves and look for labels that show testing and understand what the dose — the proper dosage — is because, especially with edible products, people can have a more intense experience than they might want to have if they take too much of that product," she said.
