A leading addiction specialist and consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist has expressed concern that cannabinoid product Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) remains legal in this country.
HHC is available in vapes — also known as e-cigarettes — and edibles, which can include gummy bears or cake.
It is a chemically modified or semi-synthetic version of a natural cannabinoid found in cannabis, with effects similar to THC in cannabis plants. It first emerged in Europe in 2022.
Dr Bobby Smyth told The Hard Shoulder on Newstalk that HHC is being used “by a growing minority of young people who seem to buy it with impunity.
“There is zero regulations or rules around its content, who can sell it, who can buy it. It’s completely unregulated. It has been on sale for the last year and a half," he said.
Dr Smyth said he and his colleagues have been worried about the damage being caused by HHC for well over a year.
“My main job is in adolescent addiction services. HHC just began featuring as a component part of lots of presentations within our service back in 2023.
"At this stage, it’s probably on the list of problem substances for about 20, 25 per cent of the young people attending the service - and that’s the same nationally. It’s been that way pretty much, I guess, for the last year or so," he said.
"Young people attend our services (adolescent addiction services) because they have lost control of their relationship with whatever drug they are using. Normally, that is cannabis. It can be alcohol. But it is HHC now with increasing frequency. We deal with HHC addiction issues way more commonly than, say, cocaine issues in the adolescent age group.”
Dr Smyth said that the drug needs to be banned in this country.
“I don’t have a good answer to that (why it isn’t banned in Ireland). There is two mechanisms by which it could be banned in Ireland. It could simply be added to the Misuse of Drugs Act, which bans most other illegal drugs.
"Lots of European countries have certainly already taken that step. The other piece of legislation we have in Ireland is called the Psychoactive Substances Act; it’s actually a criminal offence to sell a psychoactive drug - whether or not it’s listed in that act.
“Given that this drug has been advertised by its sellers as having similar effects to THC - which is the active drug in cannabis – they are advertising it as having psychoactive effects, why that legislation wasn’t used, I’m not really sure. This is sold in high street stores."
Dr Smyth said that the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs is meeting this week in Vienna with HHC being one of the issues on the agenda.
“I saw a press release which said that HHC has now been added to Schedule 2 of the list of prohibited substances. What that means is Governments who sign up to the UN Convention on Drugs will now be required to ban it basically.
"What is frustrating and disappointing is that I thought we had a reactive and responsive system already in Ireland," Dr Smyth said.
“But it hasn’t worked on this occasion, and young people’s lives have been damaged. It’s now the second most common cause of drug-induced psychosis in Ireland and has been for the last year or so. So, second to cannabis. So again it is causing more episodes of psychosis that require hospital admission than say cocaine.”
Dr Smyth said that HHC can derail the normal development of the brain in young people.
“So for some young people that can tip them into a psychosis. There has been a disconnect from the concern that doctors have been expressing quite loudly for a year. It is not doctors have been quiet about the problems we are seeing.
"It is just that the powers that be seem to be waiting for someone else to make a decision. It has been frustrating to watch.”
Meanwhile, in February 2024, a Sinn Féin representative asked then-Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly for an update on legislation pertaining to the use and supply of products containing HHC.
Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Donnelly said that HHC was first identified in Europe in May 2022 and was put under intensive monitoring at the end of that year by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA ).
“Early warning in Ireland is co-ordinated by the EMCDDA National Focal Point and the Early Warning, Emerging Trends (EWET) working group chaired by the Department of Health. EWET continues to monitor the emergence and use of this substance in Ireland.
"HHC has been reported as a drug of concern by HSE and adolescent service providers. HHC can be contained in vaping products. There is growing concern on the potential impact of using this substance on young people’s mental health, including the possible link with psychosis. Young people report adverse effects such as loss of consciousness after use," Mr Donnelly said.
"The HSE will add content about HHC to its website, drugs.ie. Evidence in relation to harms associated with HHC will be carefully monitored, and appropriate responses will be considered.”
Mr Donnelly said that the HSE will continue to liaise with the EMCDDA and the Early Warning and Emerging Trends (EWET) group for further direction on this substance.
“This is an area currently being monitored by the HSE and the EU Drug Agency as there is limited information on the health impact of this substance.”
