Is it safe to eat hash from third world countries?

[Questions03]

I have looked at a few threads after reading about eating cannabis and a couple of people mentioned you shouldn't eat hash that has come from developing nations.

I plan to eat charas, which has Indian origin. I will just cook it up in a little milk and make a hot chocolate. Is there any chance I could get something bad like hepatitis etc, or is this a myth. What temperate will kill any virus and is boiling the milk likely to damage the cannabinoids?

 

[spacejunk]

no, absolutely don't eat charas, it's extremely unsanitary.
you could get dysentery ore something. you have no way of knowing what is in there, and it's not unheard of for hashish to contain traces of faeces. even if it doesn't, it's virtually guaranteed to be full of dodgy bacteria.

heat won't damage cannabinoids - but really, if you're going to make edibles, do it with marijuana (buds of leaves), not hash from god-knows-where.

you literally don't know where it's been.

 

[Questions03]

no, absolutely don't eat charas, it's extremely unsanitary.
you could get dysentery ore something. you have no way of knowing what is in there, and it's not unheard of for hashish to contain traces of faeces. even if it doesn't, it's virtually guaranteed to be full of dodgy bacteria.

heat won't damage cannabinoids - but really, if you're going to make edibles, do it with marijuana (buds of leaves), not hash from god-knows-where.

you literally don't know where it's been.

Surely handling it while smoking would be exactly the same as you are touching it and the rolling it putting it into your mouth?

 

[spacejunk]

not really - i mean, you can burn or vaporise the actives in hash without any of it passing into your digestive tract.
do it if you must, but don't say nobody warned you if you get sick. it's not unheard of for hash to be bulked out with goat shit (or worse).
and even if it isn't, you have no idea how it's been produced or where it's been stored - or smuggled....

 

[Questions03]

not really - i mean, you can burn or vaporise the actives in hash without any of it passing into your digestive tract.
do it if you must, but don't say nobody warned you if you get sick. it's not unheard of for hash to be bulked out with goat shit (or worse).
and even if it isn't, you have no idea how it's been produced or where it's been stored - or smuggled....

I don't see how handling it and putting that near or around your lips is any different than eating it, in fact it's identical really. Viruses are caught by ANY of it entering your system, so if you break up the hash with your hand, roll the paper with the resin and inhale smoke through unburnt hash on one side of the spliff, there is 99% chance whatever is in it will get you sick.

I was more looking for cases or scientific evidence for viruses being able to exist in hash. Its seems strange to me that of the millions of people eating and smoking charas, I cannot find one case of someone getting Ill on the entire internet.

 

[spacejunk]

I did a quick search online for a couple of terms relating to 'hashish' and 'contaminants' and the most authoritative source i could find, is from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

The Supply of Hashish to Europe

Indeed, Moroccan hashish is very often adulterated with a range of inert or active substances. Yet there is very little data on adulterants in cannabis resin and the existing data is actually very controversial. Users and cannabis watchers often mention the presence, sometimes in large quantities, of soil, henna, paraffin wax, bee wax, rosin, glue, flour, liquorice, milk powder, coffee, used motor oil, animal excrement, or even medical drugs, in cannabis resin. However, the presence of such adulterants in cannabis resin could not be confirmed by various studies conducted in France, whether by Médecins du monde, the French NGO, or by the Observatoire français des drogues et des toxicomanies, the French Reitox focal point (OFDT, 2007: 85). Still, the Cannabis Resin Impurities Survey Project (CRISP), a British research project combining social anthropology and chemical analysis, has found that samples of Moroccan cannabis resin8 seized in the United Kingdom between 1999 and 2001 often showed very high levels of impurities, sometimes up to 80 % of the final product (unpublished CRISP data and personal communication by Neil Armstrong, July 2015).

as for some other opinions, here's a bluelight poster saying it's a bad idea and the conversation that follows.

i'm not sure what's unscientific about saying it is conceivably dangerous to eat black market hash, as opposed to smoking it - as they are both completely different methods of consumption - but here are a couple more links i dug up with just a quick search.

this link discusses potential contaminants in hashish - so does this one.

i don't have any idea how authoritative those sources are, but they only took a few moments to find online.

this article discusses a method of making hashish in pakistan -

The residue is crushed into a fine, malleable powder -- the main ingredient for making what, for Afridi, is black gold.

The next step involves goats and sheep that locals slaughter in celebration of a good cannabis harvest.

The longer the hashish is kept inside the skin of a freshly slaughtered animal, the better -- three months at least, says Afridi. The process works best during the hot summer months, but direct sunlight must be avoided.

doesn't sound very safe to eat.

you really have no idea what these sorts of drugs could be contaminated with, so it seems logical to me that you would want to take care with how you consume them. hash tends to have all kinds of dirt and bacteria in it, and i'd be pretty reluctant to put it in my mouth (unless i'd made it myself or seen that it was produced in a fairly clean manner).

it's your choice, but when dealing with substances of unknown origin and unknown purity, i'd suggest that taking it orally and being complacent about the risk of contamination - especially of faeces and associated bacteria - is pretty unwise.

 

[Questions03]

I did a quick search online for a couple of terms relating to 'hashish' and 'contaminants' and the most authoritative source i could find, is from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

The Supply of Hashish to Europe




as for some other opinions, here's a bluelight poster saying it's a bad idea and the conversation that follows.

i'm not sure what's unscientific about saying it is conceivably dangerous to eat black market hash, as opposed to smoking it - as they are both completely different methods of consumption - but here are a couple more links i dug up with just a quick search.

this link discusses potential contaminants in hashish - so does this one.

i don't have any idea how authoritative those sources are, but they only took a few moments to find online.

this article discusses a method of making hashish in pakistan -


doesn't sound very safe to eat.

you really have no idea what these sorts of drugs could be contaminated with, so it seems logical to me that you would want to take care with how you consume them. hash tends to have all kinds of dirt and bacteria in it, and i'd be pretty reluctant to put it in my mouth (unless i'd made it myself or seen that it was produced in a fairly clean manner).

it's your choice, but when dealing with substances of unknown origin and unknown purity, i'd suggest that taking it orally and being complacent about the risk of contamination - especially of faeces and associated bacteria - is pretty unwise.

I appreciate the sources and understand your point and will smoke it, as much as I wouldn't like to as I have given up tobacco smoking.

I do however believe that hash contamination is grossly overexaggerated, over the last 10 years I have had maybe 1 bag of clearly contaminated hash. If you have decent, potent hash, there is a smaller chance of it being mixed with anything, because it's contradictory to its expensive premium nature. Testing hash is also relatively easy, see if it dissolves in water, colour of smoke etc. It's often just mixed with leaf materiel. I cannot speak for bacterial contamination, and you are right it is probably best not to eat it, even if 99.9% you will not get sick from ingesting it.

The charas is just hand rolled, and is top of the line stuff, so I very much doubt it's mixed with anything else and as much as its a possibility, I highly doubt anyone would get ill from eating it, considering how little time serious pathogens can survive in the open.

Thanks for the info, I will definitely be smoking it.

 

[spacejunk]

Cool man, i appreciate you reading all of that.

truth is, i knew i'd read some scary stories about people eating charas and i was pretty confident i could find some info about it, because i've heard or read warnings about not eating that kinds of hash because it can have really filthy contaminants in it.

in australia we don't tend to get any imported hash, so it's not something i have a lot of experience with - i've not smoked it overseas either.
eating extracts generally is fucking awesome, but i just wouldn't want to risk it with stuff from random black market sources - especially, as you say - from 3rd world countries.

enjoy the hash - i admit i'm a bit jealous

 

[growit&smokeit]

Proper charas is made by some dude spending ages rubbing colas and then scrapping the bits off their hands and making little balls of hash.

Some people may think just eating it is not very hygienic. Putting it in some melted butter /milk and boiling it a bit should kill most of the nasties.

Charas is absolutely lovely hash.

 

[assclass]

decarb it first. break it up, oven at 250c for about 25minutes, then mix it into the milk.

 

[poledriver]

The charas I had in Sydney back in the early 90's with a few friends was reportedly smuggled inside a person or persons then shat out, I know it would have been covered in a condom or something like glad wrap but still. My friend spewed after consuming it but at the time we thought it was just because it was potent stuff.

I remember I had a friend who used to eat hash back in those days too because he didn't smoke anything. I never really gave it much thought about if it could be un unhealthy way of consuming it.