The chemical process that turns CBD into THC was made legal in the U.S. state of Michigan in February of this year (tetrahydrocannabinol). The goal of the new law was to stop the procedure that was done in secret.
THC is the main chemical in marijuana that makes people feel high.
Because it costs more to plant THC, this method is used to save money.
Under new rules from the agency in charge of regulating marijuana in the state, hemp growers will be able to sell their crops to businesses that are licenced to process marijuana and THC.
What exactly is this process?
Fabiano Soares, a chemist and the founder of Reaja, says that turning CBD into THC derivatives is common in the US and is a way to use up too much hemp.
“The CBD market in the U.S. grew very quickly, and several farms started growing it. This made the product easy to find and cheap. “They did make more than they could sell, though,” he says.
Soares says that it is a chemical process that can be done in a lab and that it can be changed into other forms of THC, like delta-9 or even delta-10.
Chemical transformation
The chemist says that the process takes place in the lab and that the change can take up to a week to happen.
Even though cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol work in different ways in the body, their molecules are very similar, so they can be changed into each other.
In the process, alcohol and an acid are mixed with CBD and heated to high temperatures, which causes a chemical reaction that turns CBD into synthetic THC.
Differences and safety measures
Soares says that the body doesn’t know the difference between natural and synthetic THC, so it metabolises both the same way.
He also says that, as far as anyone knows, there are no bad effects. On the other hand, it’s important to pay attention to how the cannabinoids are changed, such as how the process is done.
Depending on how the change is made, care must be taken not to leave behind anything that could hurt the body.
So, the state of Michigan made it legal. Before that, it was done in secret.