Marijuana embedded with bits of silica bad for the lungs

A1

By James Foster
Times & Transcript Staff

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

29 Comment(s)

Pot smokers in Metro Moncton are expressing concern and dismay that the nemesis of the cannabis community, so-called "grit weed," has made its way to this region.

Enlarge Photo

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

'Grit weed' has appeared on the Metro Moncton drug scene.

Grit weed is marijuana that has been embedded with tiny bits of glass or silica to add weight. Since pot is most often sold by weight, unscrupulous dope dealers add the glass to bulk up the value of the pot without regard to what inhaling bits of glass can do to smokers' lungs.

One regular weed user first found out about grit weed in June when he noticed that when he broke up the pieces of pot to roll it into joints, it created an unusual dust and appeared to have tiny beads in it.

"I heard about grit weed before but thought it was an urban myth," the man, who won't allow his name to be used, told the Times & Transcript yesterday.

"I did extensive research and even looked at the pot under a friend's microscope. Sure enough, grit weed. It makes you wonder just how greedy a person can be to add broken glass to someone's pot."

Many cannabis culture magazines and websites have been warning of grit weed for years. However, it is only now showing up on the east coast of Canada. The phenomenon was first reported in Europe three or four years ago, then last year in the northeastern United States and now in Atlantic Canada, from New Brunswick to Newfoundland and all points in between.

Barbara MacKinnon, president and CEO of the New Brunswick Lung Association, said there are medically documented cases of people with lung problems due to grit weed. The perils of inhaling bits of silica into your lungs should be obvious, MacKinnon noted.

"One of the health effects of this is that people get an inflammation in the lungs," MacKinnon said, noting other symptoms include mouth ulcers, sore throat and cough.

In one documented case, the user's lung problems cleared up "very quickly, or as soon as, they stopped smoking this stuff."

The particles are often so tiny, like dust, that smokers might not even notice. The particles are most often silica, which is used to make glass. Inhaling silica can cause silicosis, a chronic lung disease that can make it hard to breathe and can cause non-cancerous lung tumours.

Silicosis is seen among those who work or live among raw silica, which has jagged edges, for instance miners and those who toil in quarries. The form of silica seen most often in pot is not jagged but has rounded edges, almost like microscopic beads, but which isn't a whole lot better than the raw product.

"Obviously, it's still very irritating to the lungs," MacKinnon says. "Smoking marijuana without this stuff in it is already bad."

Const. Chantal Farrah of the Codiac Regional RCMP said it's no surprise grit weed has arrived here.

"Drug dealers will do whatever they have to do to make money," she said.

"A dealer's focus is money, it's not your health. They'll do what it takes to make money."

Mounties are constantly reinforcing the message that smoking pot is simply filling the pockets of mobsters and gangs who control pot distribution at the uppermost levels.

"We believe marijuana use, and the criminality that surrounds it, harms our communities."

So if anyone wants to complain to the Mounties about buying bad weed, the police will be happy to chat with them, Farrah says, just like they're always pleased to meet with anyone breaking the law by possessing pot while not medically exempted under the law.

On the other hand, groups like NORML Canada, which advocates the repeal of marijuana laws, points to grit weed as a strong factor that favours removing the criminal element from pot by making it legal for smokers to grow their own.