HHC: The unregulated cannabis product popping up in retail outlets and vending machines

Pop the money into the vending machine and down comes your electronic smoke containing HHC, a synthetic chemical that mimics the effects of cannabis. 

But HHC products in every form, from cookies to gummy bears and brownies, can be bought also be bought from food delivery platforms with no restrictions. 

Sources with knowledge of the drugs sector have witnessed a growing popularity of HHC products driven primarily by the ease with which these can be bought. 

The Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis (ARUC) has no legal remit to regulate these products. Indeed, HHC whose scientific term is hexahydrocannabinol is not regulated by law despite its psychoactive qualities because it contains less than 0.2% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). 

THC is the chemical compound in cannabis that gives its users their high. The scientific community has long recognised that HHC is a cousin of THC, but until recently, HHC was not popular among cannabis users.  

But today, HHC products in Malta have become increasingly accessible to local and foreign users, with numerous outlets even selling them on the main food courier platforms, Bolt and Wolt. These products are also increasingly present in several retail shops, with a 24-hour vending machine in Żejtun also selling a wide variety of HHC goods. The lack of regulation means children can potentially buy the products, which come in attractive packaging that can be easily mistaken for normal edible products. 

HHC products are also available on delivery platforms such as Wolt and Bolt Food

Customers are spoiled for choice when it comes to HHC products in this 24-hour vending machine in Żejtun

The substance is currently present in 20 EU member states and is not controlled in most of them, however, its sale was banned in France last June. 

HHC’s local popularity is also evident in the fact that some outlets are finding it difficult to keep up with their demand, according to one retail worker who spoke to this newspaper. 

MaltaToday also spoke to Dr Godwin Sammut, scientific officer with the Faculty of Science at the University of Malta, and he explained that HHC research is still in its adolescence. 

While acknowledging the broadly similar effects between HHC and THC products, Sammut explained that “the pharmacology and toxicology of HHC in humans has not yet been studied and is still relatively new, therefore data is very limited.” 

When one takes HHC’s accessibility into consideration, this can be worrisome, Sammut added. “Since the production of HHC does not necessarily comply with Good Manufacturing Practices, contaminants either with extraction residues or synthetic by-products could pose unforeseen risks.”  

However, when asked whether he believes it makes sense to have an unregulated market for HHC alongside a regulated THC market, Sammut said “it does make sense at this stage”. 

“We are still learning on the long-term effects of THC let alone a new product such as HHC where not even the short-term effects have yet been studied in detail,” Sammut said. 

He said the presence of regulation in the THC market does not imply that the substances are safe. Even a regulated market cannot be considered completely safe, Sammut added. 

MaltaToday reached out to ARUC on the issue but no replies were received. This newspaper asked if HHC products are regulated in any way, or if the authority intends to expand its remit in the future.