Research Finds Increased Heavy Metals Risk for Cannabis Users, Affirms Testing Need

A new study conducted by New York’s Columbia University researchers used a massive database from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in an effort to determine whether cannabis users had higher levels of any of 17 different metals in their blood or urine. 

The study ultimately revealed that cannabis-only users had higher lead levels in their blood and urine, compared to non-users of tobacco and cannabis, along with elevated levels of cadmium — ultimately affirming the need for testing of cannabis products for heavy metals in the legal market and the need for regulated cannabis as a whole.

Examining Cannabis Use and Heavy Metals in Body

Cannabis is a hyperaccumulator, a class of more than 700 plants that accumulate metals from soil, water and fertilizers at levels far greater than average, often hundreds or thousands of times more than other plants. 

To investigate the amount of metals in the blood and urine of cannabis users, researchers analyzed data from 2005 to 2018 representing 7,254 participants who reported on their diet, health, demographics and drug use, while providing single blood and urine samples. Researchers could not tell what kind of cannabis these individuals used, where it was sourced from or where participants lived, though they adjusted for other factors that can affect exposure to and excretion of metals (namely race/ethnicity, age, sex, education, and seafood consumption).

The study found that cannabis-only users had 27% high blood lead levels and 21% more lead in their urine when compared to non-users of tobacco and cannabis. They also had higher levels of cadmium — 22% more in their blood than non-users. Lead and cadmium can cause long-term health damage, like cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cognitive impairments and increase the risk of cancer. 

In regulated cannabis markets where products are tested, any cannabis that fails must be destroyed or remediated, with legal cannabis states often issuing recalls for any products that fail and mistakenly hit store shelves.

Tobacco Users Fare Much Worse

None of the other 15 elements researchers evaluated — like arsenic, cobalt, manganese and mercury — has a clear causal association with cannabis use, though tobacco users saw much higher levels. 

Urinary cadmium levels among tobacco users were three times higher than those of cannabis-only users and their blood lead levels were 26% higher. The study also found that tobacco use was associated with higher levels of antimony, barium, tungsten and uranium. 

In general, regulated cannabis undergoes more intense testing than tobacco, and previous studies have long documented the heavy metal content in cigarette smoke.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest known study on biomarkers of metal exposure in participants who exclusively use marijuana in a representative population of U.S. adults,” authors noted. The study findings reinforce that regulated, legal cannabis provides for more consumer safety, as illicit cannabis does not undergo this same testing.

Authors note that the study was limited by its small sample of exclusive cannabis users, along with its inability to hone in on the type of product used (i.e. vapes, combustibles and edibles) which kept researchers from determining the difference in metal concentrations by product.

Given that the data was taken from 2005 to 2018, it’s also uncertain how much cannabis was obtained through the legal or illicit markets — though it’s likely that most was illicit use, as the first states to legalize cannabis only began in 2014 and adult-use legalization was still limited in the years that followed.

“We found overall associations between internal metal levels and exclusive marijuana use, highlighting the relevance of marijuana for metal exposure and the importance of follow-up studies to identify the long-term implications of these exposures,” researchers stated. 

“Future investigations of cannabis contaminants must assess other contaminants of concern and potential health effects to inform regulatory, industry and other key stakeholders, to safeguard public health and address safety concerns related to the growing use of cannabis in the United States.”

The post Research Finds Increased Heavy Metals Risk for Cannabis Users, Affirms Testing Need appeared first on High Times.

Rhymesayers Entertainment Announces 10th Aesop Rock LP ‘Integrated Tech Solutions’!

Rhymesayers Entertainment just announced that the next Aesop Rock LP will be entitled ‘Integrated Tech Solutions’! Due to be released Friday, November 10th, 2023. And with this announcement arrives the first ‘Integrated Tech Solutions’ single “Mindful Solutionism”.  Fans can preorder ‘Integrated Tech Solutions’ through this authentic Rhymesayers  link here: https://rhymesayers.com/collections/all

From Rhymesayers Entertainment:

“For the better part of three decades, Aesop Rock has used the syntax of the moment to pinpoint the fault lines in that moment’s supposedly solid foundation. With his tenth album, Integrated Tech Solutions, Aes wields insidious corporate speak as a tool to pry that parasitic worldview away from the parts of life that truly matter. 

A concept album about an organization offering “lifestyle- and industry-specific applications designed to curate a desired multi-experience, “Integrated Tech Solutions picks apart the charlatan language that hears app inventors put themselves on continuums starting with cavemen and continuing through da Vinci. On “Mindful Solutionism,” the wheel evolves seamlessly into modern agriculture—and then into atomic bombs, Agent Orange, cigarettes, and surveillance cameras. In a rare moment of transparency, the engineers Aes give voice to sum up this spiral in just a few words: “We cannot be trusted with the stuff that we come up with.” 

Appropriately, the album sounds like the past and future at once. Largely self-produced, Integrated Tech Solutions catches Aes at his leanest and most innovative, leveraging “Solutionism” careening bounce against the wistful “By the River” or the slow creep of “Salt and Pepper Squid.” The effect is a record that sounds itself like an organism growing, mutating, hurtling toward profitability—and then destruction. As fans have come to expect, Aes is cuttingly funny and slyly profound at once, whether recounting a childhood restaurant run-in with Mr. T (“100 Feet Tall”) or quipping, on “Pigeonometry,” that “white dove is a pigeon—you motherfuckers is bigots.” At the same time, Integrated Tech Solutions is working on another parallel project: tracing the sprawl of modernity and cutting directly to its core. “I’ve been doing laps of the lost worlds,” he raps on “All City Nerve Map,” sounding at once wearied and reinvigorated. “I can draw a map to the raw nerve.”



from Faygoluvers

Strange Music Releases Joey Cool’s LP ‘Enjoy The View’!

Strange Music just recently released Joey Cool’s latest genre defying LP ‘Enjoy The View’! And ‘Enjoy The View’ is fully produced by Mario Casalini Fans can support ‘Enjoy The View’ through this official Strange Music link here: https://www.strangemusicinc.net/product_info.php?products_id=21734

From Strange Music:

“May we please direct your attention to the latest offering from Joey Cool: Enjoy The View! Joey just dropped his album and this time he’s not holding anything back! The “view” you get to enjoy is how masterfully he constructed this album with singles like “Great Time”, “Kingdom”, “Closer Now” and “Sink” as well as features including Tech N9ne, King Iso, X-Raided and more! Produced entirely by Mario Casalini, Joey Cool’s Enjoy The View promises to be his most emphatic yet!”



from Faygoluvers

Get Your Insides Ripped Out via Cannibal Corpse’s New LP ‘Chaos Horrific’!

Get ready to have your insides ripped out! Because the new Cannibal Corpse LP ‘Chaos Horrific’ has finally arrived during the gore induced bands’ hellish 35th anniversary! Metalhead Juggalos can support ‘Chaos Horrific’ via Metalblade Records!



from Faygoluvers

SFFTG – Quirky Pop Punk Song (Existential Dread) ft. Stray x NOVLS (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

From Long Live Evil:

Video filmed/directed/edited by: James Joyce the Squatch Written/performed by Whipstick, Stray, NOVLS, and 8 Legz Produced by: Billy Martin Mixed and Mastered by Str8Jaket Taken from “I’ll Tell You When I Want to Laugh by Laughing” coming fall 2023



from Faygoluvers