BarcelonaAt first glance it’s just a bag of brightly colored and flashy goodies. The packaging presentation is harmless, almost childish, and the buyer’s perception of risk is very low. However, the composition of these sweets makes them a danger to public health. They contain THCP, a molecule from the cannabis plant that began to be detected in some products before the pandemic and that this 2024 has already caused at least seven hospitalizations for poisoning in Catalonia. “It is between 10 and 15 times more powerful than THC, the psychotropic active principle of marijuana”, warns in a conversation with ARA Emilio Salgado, head of the Clinical Toxicology Unit of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, who has given the majority of these patients.
It is a semi-synthetic substance, meaning that it is obtained from the plant but modified in a laboratory to increase its psychotropic potency. Products containing THCP do not go through any quality or safety checks, and because they have been on the market relatively recently, the impact they can have on the mental health of people who consume them, as well as the level of addition they can generate. Of course, experts are detecting products that contain very high doses of this substance, which is known as overdose. “A person with a tolerance to marijuana can have a very bad time” with these levels of the substance, according to Energy Control’s head of analysis and international, Mireia Ventura.
This year at least seven young people have ended up hospitalized because of THCP poisoning. Salgado warns that the number of people affected may be higher, since it is not always the case that someone who arrives at the emergency room due to poisoning of this type knows the substance contained in the sweets they have ingested and the laboratories do not have the capacity to detect THCP. Confirmed cases are thanks to the fact that the patients kept the wrapper or remembered the name of the substance. All those hospitalized were foreigners who came to Barcelona for tourism, but they bought the product here. In fact, according to ARA, the Public Health Agency of Barcelona has already taken at least one action in a store in the Catalan capital to confiscate products containing THCP.
At the Hospital Clínic they have observed that the effect of THCP poisoning can be different depending on each person. In all cases it starts with nausea and vomiting, but then it behaves differently and the symptoms can last up to 36 hours. There are people who have had a case of hyperarousal, which means that they suffer from severe psychomotor agitation to the point that they have to be contained between “eight people”, explains Salgado. In other cases, quite the opposite, the hospitalized have experienced a decrease in the level of consciousness, which is a state very similar to entering a coma, and they do not respond to stimuli.
Accessible and economical
One of the added problems of these products is that they are consumed orally and their effect takes time to appear. This can lead to thinking that the treat in question does not go up and that you need to eat more of it to achieve the desired effect, which further increases the risk of poisoning. “The doses are clearly above what they should be and if you take more than you should, you will surely end up in the emergency room,” warns Ventura, who points out that if you consume it you must wait at least two hours to see how the body responds to the drug.
Candy, however, is not the only product that contains THCP. There are vapers of this substance that are accessible and cost less than 40 euros. Again, the perception of risk is very low, since a priori it seems like a harmless product, but Salgado points out the harmful effects of these vapers. Ventura also adds that the concentrations of THCP carried by vapers are unknown, which may not smell and that its effect is much faster than with sweets, almost immediate, because it enters the body by inhaling the smoke.
“Play cat and rat”
New substances have been appearing on the market for years and Salgado acknowledges that it is like “playing cat and mouse”. As new harmful products are identified, reported and policed, new ones quickly appear in circulation. “You make this substance illegal for me? Well, I’ll take another one from you. If I have 200 of them synthesized…” laments the toxicologist. That is why it is difficult to control this situation and, despite many efforts by the health authorities and the police, new threats constantly appear.
Last week, for example, the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Agency (Aesan) issued an alert for sweets containing HHC, another plant molecule, which has been known for a longer time. This 2024 Catalonia has recorded at least three HHC poisonings and the Public Health Agency has intervened to withdraw the products from the market. However, Salgado’s main concern is that, if they disappear from the stores, they will start circulating on public roads, where it is even more difficult to control them.
