The new world of legal cannabinoids in Germany

Strange "coffee shops" have recently been opening in big cities, selling seemingly everything from creams, tinctures and extracts to gummy bears and chocolate, even classic flowers and hashish.
And you don't have to search for long on the Internet until you find what you're looking for.

Some of you may have noticed the sudden variety of cannabis products that have recently become available on the German and European markets and are now wondering... where do these, mostly high quality looking products, suddenly come from?
And is it true that some of them are actually psychoactive ie. have an intoxicating effect?
Many people even claim that the effects of some of these new cannabinoids are virtually indistinguishable from the effects of regular THC.

On the one hand they claim that they are natural cannabinoids, the others complain that they are semi-synthetic.
You can decide for yourself later who is right. We are definitely talking about hexahydrocannabinol, HHC for short, or hexahydrocannabidiol, H4CBD for short.

When I heard about HHC for the first time a few months ago, I was immediately fascinated by the topic. So I decided to do some initial research and find out about these cannabinoids that were previously unknown to me.

As it turns out, this is the hydrogenated form of THC or CBD

Both are essentially natural cannabinoids, as they occur naturally in the hemp plant as they are.
They should not be confused with fully synthetic cannabinoids, which are completely the brainchild of a mad professor and synthesized from start to finish in the laboratory.
One of them, JWH 018,  had made negative headlines a few years ago under the name Spice.

HHC or H4CBD is not one of those things.

However..

The two cannabinoids occur naturally in the hemp plant, but in quantities that are far too small to extract them economically.

Therefore, they are produced in a simple process, hydration, from CBD or THC, which is available in large quantities. This means that the statement HHC and H4CBD are semi-synthetic cannabinoids is certainly justified and valid.

But honestly, I'm far too curious to be able to move away from semi-realistic ones  Worries could dissuade you from ordering and trying HHC.

So I argue with myself that even though HHC itself seems to be a relatively new cannabinoid that has just appeared on the market, and that there don't seem to be too many long-term reports and studies on it, people do, albeit in small amounts (or even in... larger :D) via the route of classic cannabis consumption, have consumed HHC for thousands of years.

The danger posed by the consumption of this substance itself should be relatively low.
In my opinion, a much more realistic danger is contamination during production and residues from the extraction process.

But since these products can be sold in legal markets and this is the 21st century, this should only be a matter for the retailer. Finding one that sells products that have been adequately tested by a laboratory for these same contaminants should not be impossible.

After searching for a while, I came across one that met my quality requirements corresponded. At first I wasn't entirely sure whether the dealer would actually keep what he promised because unfortunately I couldn't find any reviews about him. After a short exchange with the owner via Instagram, I found out that the shop was just in the launch phase and therefore of course couldn't have any reviews online, neither positive nor negative. But the exchange with the founder and the information available to me in his shop were enough to convince me.
So I decided to jump into the deep end and trust in the good in people and order.

Also, I thought...
Even scams have to keep their promises for a while and, according to the owner, this one is still at the very beginning :D
No :D... to be honest, I wasn't afraid of being ripped off by the shop.

Actually selling me a product, as promised on the website, is certainly a much better deal than embezzling small orders and hoping the scam would work long enough to be somewhat profitable.
No, building websites is still too labor-intensive for that.
at least one website like that...

No sooner said than done, put four disposable vapes in the shopping cart, submit the order and then it was time to wait.

But thank God not for too long.

Just 2 days later, an inconspicuous package was waiting in the depths of my mailbox for me to come home a few hours later and find it there full of excitement and high expectations.

What was in the package and my first impressions of HHC as well as initial reports...

..you will get it in the next article..