How to Tell If Oil Contains Cannabinoids and Avoid Scams

Updated on 09/17

Last Friday (13), the Sechat portal published a report on scams that patients are experiencing when buying fake cannabis oils online. Many victims reported paying a high price to receive at home a bottle containing only soybean oil, with no trace of cannabis or therapeutic value.

The advice from doctors who prescribe cannabis is to never buy oil of dubious origin. However, even for those who have a product of unknown origin, it is possible to discover the concentration of cannabinoids.

For this, it is necessary for a technician to analyze the oil on a device called High-Performance Liquid Chromatograph. This machine is capable of accurately determining the concentrations of cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol. However, it is an expensive technology, costing around $50,000, and few institutions have the equipment.

The Brazilian Association Cannabis Hope (Abrace), from Paraíba, acquired a chromatograph in July, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign. It was the first and is the only association to have this resource.

"Now the patient will be able to know what he is really taking. If the condition he has responds better with THC, he will be sure that the medication he is taking is rich in THC. Likewise with CBD and balanced oil," explained the association's spokesperson, Endy Lacet, on the occasion.

However, Abrace has not yet started using the device. Other universities and pharmaceutical companies have this equipment, but do not use it for this purpose.

The Laboratory of Toxicological Analysis at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro has the chromatograph and runs a project called Farmacannabis, which provides pharmaceutical support in preparing extracts for patients or caregivers. The project emphasizes that it does not produce anything for associations, and this pharmaceutical support is provided directly between the university and the patient.

According to UFRJ, to join Farmacannabis, it is necessary to prove a serious and/or debilitating illness. Inclusion of a patient in the project is only done after document analysis. To do so, it is necessary to fill out this protocol.

According to the coordinator of Farmacannabis, Virginia Carvalho, the project is giving priority to patients who have a safe-conduct for self-cultivation. This is because practically all oils that reach the laboratory have traces of 2mg per ml or less, which, according to the scientist, does not constitute a pharmaceutical product.

"To have a high-content product, compared to imported ones, you will have to grow it at home. It's not easy, but it's the only way a person can get something more guaranteed."

Reagents only confirm presence

Another option is to buy chemical reagents online to analyze the presence of drugs. These products are much cheaper than the chromatograph, for example. However, as explained by Dr. Wilson Lessa, a member of the Brazilian Society for Cannabis Studies, these reagents only inform if there is a presence of cannabidiol.

"It will not measure the oil concentration. It also does not indicate if there are contaminants. And in the US, there is a serious problem with heavy metals in plants," warns the healthcare professional.