What is laced weed?

It's okay to be a little paranoid. You're buying a consumable substance that you plan on ingesting, and your body is a temple- so why would you smoke something that's been messed with? You wouldn't buy food that's pumped full of artificial preservatives and colours, so why not extend those sensibilities to the drugs you consume?

WHY MESS WITH MARIJUANA?

The main reason a nefarious dealer might adulterate their product is to increase the weight- increasing their profits in tandem. Often, oregano leaf or some similar herb is added to the bag, which, at first glance can look like more bud to the untrained eye. Grit or crushed glass could be added to mimic the appearance of trichomes, leaving a sparkly bud that appears potent to the novice consumer. Buds can also be soaked in water to increase the weight.

Dealers have also been known to fool customer's senses by spraying the product with powdered sugar or food colouring, as a means of making it appear more potent and flavoursome. Powdered laundry detergent can give the appearance of lots of kief, as well as make the floral smell of the bud more pronounced. Perfume, skunk spray, and even diesel fuel have been found as adulterants, as a means of mimicking the odour of famous/signature strains.

The final reason somebody might want to lace their product is to increase it's potency, namely by using the marijuana as a base for an admixture of other drugs. Alkaloid compounds can be dissolved into alcohol and evaporated onto plant material. It's not uncommon for cannabis to be laced with PCP, cocaine or even DMT using this method. Enhanced leaves can often be hard to detect until smoked and the effects felt- so always be careful and know what you're buying. Thankfully, marijuana is comparatively cheap on the black market so no profitable dealer would lace their pot with a more expensive product.

WHAT IF MY WEED IS LACED?

Ingesting any foreign substance can be harmful to your body. You want to make sure that what you are buying is 100% organic and exactly what is advertised.

Consuming laced cannabis can have a number of adverse effects, so stop smoking, consult a hospital and check your batch if you experience any of the following symptoms:


-Insomnia
-Decreased appetite
-Irritability
-Difficulty breathing
-Light-headedness
-Vomiting
-Diarrhea
-Delirium
-Organ failure

If your weed is laced with a stronger drug admixture, you might experience uncomfortable effects- you might find yourself tripping out when you just expected to get a little high. Stay calm and call up an experienced close friend to guide you through the experience, and to be on hand with water and medical attention should you need it.

HOW TO TEST

The first thing we do to test if our weed has been laced is to look at it closely- with experience you can usually tell if something is up, and a good way to get a closer look is to use a magnifying glass or a jeweller's loop.

To test for glass, grit or sand, take a small piece and rub it on the shiny side of an old CD- unadulterated marijuana won't mark the CD, but any grit or glass that has been added will make a scratch.

To check for detergent, drop a small piece in a bowl of water and swish it around. If soap suds form, your weed has been tampered with.

To test for diesel, fuel additives or adulterant chemicals, hold a small piece over a flame. If it pops, sparks, or changes the colours of the flame, it's been messed with. Chemically altered cannabis also tends to smell harsh and chemically when burned.

To test for colourants, crack open a nug and see if the colour is homogeneous the whole way through. Spraying with a purple solution will only affect the outside of the buds.

As a final test, tap a bud gently on a black surface, and if white pieces shake off easily, don't trust it.

BUYER'S ADVICE

Never buy cannabis that has already been ground up. This could be done to mask the appearance of adulterants. Only buy whole nugs from a reputable source. Inspect every batch, trust your instincts, and remember it's better to throw away your stash than to end up in hospital.

As a personal note, I'd like to urge all of you to never share laced weed or to dose an unknowing person with an admixture. If you know your batch is tainted, throw it away- the potential risks outweigh the loss of money. You can always buy another bag. -Bardot

"Dosing someone without them knowing it is a mean-spirited form of violence. Our consciousness, limited as it may be, is ours. It is intensely personal. It is also our entry and connection with Divine consciousness. So to dose someone without their knowledge is to mess around with their connection with God. To do this for fun or revenge is nothing short of an abomination. It is disgusting and the height of unconsciousness. This is sin."

-Nick Sand