Bhang being sold on the streets may be contaminated with faeces, scientists have discovered.
Samples sold in Madrid were tested and found E.coli bacteria in three quarters – the diarrhoea and vomiting bug can be transmitted through human faeces.
Most of the samples were too dangerous to be consumed and pose a ‘public health risk’, the researchers said.
“Overall, our results showed that most (88.3 percent) of the hashish samples were not suitable for consumption,” concluded the study reported in the journal Forensic Science International. “Hence, illegal street vending of hashish constitutes a public health issue.”
The problem comes not just with inhalation but preparing the drug in order to smoke it, he said.
“Hashish is being manipulated in the hands constantly, ” explained Perez. “The filters of the joints are hollow. Not only do you suck the smoke, you also suck particles.”
Though the study was only conducted in Spain, one expert told MailOnline the same ‘unusual’ thing could be happening in the UK and other places in Europe.
This is because of the way the drug is sometimes smuggled into countries – by swallowing it and later excreting it with the use of laxatives.
Experts said the findings are worrying considering some people who use cannabis do so to try and alleviate health problems.
The research team, led by José Manuel Moreno Pérez, a pharmacologist from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, collected 90 samples in Madrid over a year.
The samples were separated into either ‘acorns’ or ‘ingots’, which are the shapes they are bought in.
Each sample was then broken down into smaller pieces and looked at under a microscope, the authors write in the journal Forensic Science International.
They found that 93 per cent of the acorn-shaped samples were contaminated with E.coli, as well as 29.4 per cent of the ingot samples.