The cannabis business has looked for additional lesser-known cannabinoids to compete in the diverse cannabis market after the tremendous success of delta 8 THC as a legal alternative to the more restricted availability of delta 9 THC.
Hexahydrocannabinol, also known as HHC, is one of the newest and most promising.
Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC)
A cannabinoid, often known as “HHC,” is a naturally occurring chemical in cannabis plants. Scientists have uncovered more than 100 cannabinoids.
Cannabidiol (CBD) and Delta-9 THC are the cannabinoids that are most widely recognized. The component of marijuana known as THC is what gives you a high. Many CBD products that promise to treat everything from pain and soreness to anxiety, depression, and sleep issues contain cannabidiol as one of their main ingredients.
More recently, cannabinoids like Delta-8 THC and HHC have entered the market. They are created in a laboratory.
How does HHC get made?
Chemist Roger Adams made the discovery of HHC in the 1940s. By adding hydrogen to the THC molecule and changing its physical characteristics, he produced HHC. A 1947 patent filing contains the earliest description of the procedure, known as hydrogenation.
By substituting a double bond with two hydrogen atoms, hydrogenation changes the molecular weight and increases the stability of delta 9 THC. According to scientist and BR Brands Chief Science Officer Mark Scialdone, hydrogenation increases HHC’s “stability and resistance to thermo-oxidative breakdown,” meaning it has a longer shelf life and is less vulnerable to heat and UV damage.
Can you get high from HHC?
It’s a little tricky here. Although HHC isn’t a THC, it has effects that are comparable to THC if you take enough of it. An HHC batch is a mixture of active and inactive HHC molecules when it is created in the lab. The cannabinoid receptors in your body prefer the active HHC to the inactive HHC.
Commercial HHC, which is a mixture of the two types, may be somewhat of a gamble for the customer because manufacturers haven’t yet discovered a practical way to distinguish high-potency HHC from its low-potency twin. HHC, however, does have observable impacts. The HHC high is typically described by user reports as falling between delta 8 and delta 9 THC.
Almost all of the information we have about the effects and adverse effects of HHC is anecdotal.
Can HHC be detected in a drug test?
HHC does not seem to degrade in the body the same way as THC does. There is some evidence that suggests HHC does not metabolize into 11-hydroxy-THC, the breakdown product that many drug panels test for, unlike the delta 8, delta 9, and delta 10 forms of THC.
However, that hasn’t been investigated and isn’t proven. Nobody is certain, as of yet, that HHC won’t leave usage traces in your blood, urine, or hair.
Has HHC any medical advantages?
Contrary to more prevalent cannabinoids like delta 9 THC or CBD, HHC hasn’t been extensively examined, however there has been some encouraging studies. Angiogenesis and tumor growth caused by breast cancer cells were “strongly inhibited” by some synthetic analogs of hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), according to a 2011 study. The excellent pain-blocking abilities of HHC in mice were described in a publication written by Japanese researchers in 2007. However, it is probably too soon to judge whether HHC has a lot of potential as a medication.
Thus, little is known about the advantages of HHC. Although early preclinical studies on animal test subjects indicate HHC has pain-relieving and anti-cancer qualities, there is little study determining how it can help people.
Effects and Advantages
Due to their molecular similarities and affinity for your cannabinoid receptors, we may say that the advantages of HHC are largely the same as those of THC. These advantages could consist of:
- Boosting appetite
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Pain
- Inflammation
Can you vape HHC?
Yes. Many retailers sell HHC vape cartridges in addition to HHC gummies and other products.