School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, USA.
School of Medicine, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA.
Addiction. 2023 Jun;118(6):1011-1028. doi: 10.1111/add.16142. Epub 2023 Feb 13.
Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a psychoactive substance from the Cannabis plant that has been rising in popularity in the United States since the 2018 US Farm Bill implicitly legalized it. This study reviewed research from peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed (e.g. anecdotal and news) reports related to delta-8 THC to summarize current knowledge and implications for public health and safety.
A scoping review was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and Google as search engines, leading to the identification of 103 documents that were summarized. The themes that emerged were (1) legality, (2) use (popularity, motives, psychoactivity/potency, benefits/consequences), (3) synthesis (byproducts, laboratory testing) and (4) retail (availability, price, packaging, youth-oriented marketing). A second author independently coded 20% of the documents, which verified the categorization of articles by these emergent themes.
Most research used animal/cell models or focused upon ways to identify the chemical structure of delta-8 THC in various products. Findings suggest that people often use delta-8 THC as a substitute for other substances. Anecdotally, delta-8 THC is a less potent psychoactive than delta-9 THC; however, several negative consequences have been reported. There is no federal age restriction for purchase/possession of delta-8 THC products. Delta-8 THC is readily accessible on-line, is typically less expensive than delta-9 THC and is often marketed in ways that would seemingly appeal to children. There are no regulations on synthesis, resulting in products being contaminated and/or yielding inconsistent effects. There have been thousands of calls to US poison control centers due to accidental delta-8 THC exposure among minors.
Most research on delta-8 THC is largely anecdotal, not peer-reviewed and does not involve human subjects. Future research should examine delta-8 THC use using nationally representative samples to more clearly understand the prevalence and consequences of use. Laws are needed to mitigate the risks of using delta-8 THC, particularly quality control of synthesis and minimum purchase age.
Delta-8 四氢大麻酚（THC）是一种源自大麻植物的精神活性物质，自 2018 年美国农场法案默示将其合法化以来，在美国越来越受欢迎。本研究综述了同行评议和非同行评议（例如，轶事和新闻）报告中与 Delta-8 THC 相关的研究，以总结当前关于公共卫生和安全的知识和影响。
使用 PubMed、Scopus、Google Scholar 和 Google 作为搜索引擎进行范围综述，共确定了 103 篇文献进行总结。出现的主题是（1）合法性，（2）使用（流行度、动机、精神活性/效力、益处/后果），（3）合成（副产品、实验室测试）和（4）零售（可获得性、价格、包装、面向年轻人的营销）。第二位作者独立对 20%的文献进行编码，验证了这些主题对文章的分类。
大多数研究使用动物/细胞模型，或专注于在各种产品中识别 Delta-8 THC 化学结构的方法。研究结果表明，人们经常将 Delta-8 THC 用作其他物质的替代品。据传闻称，Delta-8 THC 的精神活性比 Delta-9 THC 弱；然而，也有报道称存在一些负面后果。购买/持有 Delta-8 THC 产品没有联邦年龄限制。Delta-8 THC 在线上很容易获得，通常比 Delta-9 THC 便宜，而且通常以吸引儿童的方式进行营销。由于缺乏对合成的监管，导致产品受到污染和/或产生不一致的效果。由于未成年人意外接触 Delta-8 THC，美国毒物控制中心已接到数千个电话。
大多数关于 Delta-8 THC 的研究主要是传闻证据，没有经过同行评议，也不涉及人类受试者。未来的研究应该使用具有全国代表性的样本来检查 Delta-8 THC 的使用情况，以更清楚地了解使用的普遍性和后果。需要制定法律来降低使用 Delta-8 THC 的风险，特别是需要对合成进行质量控制和设定最低购买年龄。
