HHC: The drug sold on Irish main streets that’s sending teens to hospital

Synthetic cannabis HHC is being sold in Irish shops despite expert warnings of addiction, psychosis, and teen hospitalisations

St John of God University Hospital consultant psychiatrist Colin O’Gara with products containing HHC that under-18s can readily buy in vape shops. Prof O’Gara says the psychoactive chemical should be scheduled under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Picture: Moya Nolan

In glass cabinets in shops on main streets of towns the length and breadth of the country sit a bewildering range of flavoured vapes and jellies, many laced with a substance suspected of causing teens to suffer serious health emergencies.

One shop in the East Cork town of Midleton has a flashing neon sign in the window advertising the sale of hexahydrocannabinol, known as HHC, within. Other shops in other towns and villages are less overt with their advertisements.

The product, a semi-synthetic version of a natural cannabinoid found in cannabis, can be used in vapes or in jelly edibles. It emulates the effects of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the narcotic component present in cannabis plants.

Readily available

In one shop, a query from this would-be customer for the product as to whether it is legal comes with a blunt “I don’t know” response from the one staff member on duty.

However, in a vape shop in Mallow, a sign says “21” over the HHC products leads us to query why, to be told that it is an effort to deter teenagers from trying to purchase the products.

Others assure me that the product is legal — despite An Garda Siochána saying that a number of investigations are currently ongoing into the sale of HHC products under legislation around psychoactive substances introduced to outlaw head shop products.

Whether it's via vape or gummies, products containing HHC are readily available to buy in Ireland. Stock picture: Eddie O'Hare

Within minutes of entering the shops, this reporter left with different versions of HHC — including one in a reggae-inspired box giving the flavour as ‘zkittles’. Sold with the promise of offering a relaxing experience, the product warns on the back to “use with caution”, adding that it is not to be used by pregnant women and is for over-18s.

It reads: “This HHC cartridge can be intoxicating to some people. Do not drive or operate any machinery while using this product. Consult a doctor before using this product.”

Another product called Blue Dream carries similar warnings, while also adding that it is “THC-free”.

The ingredients for both products are listed as 95% HHC distillate (hemp derived), 5% terpenes.

A different strawberry-flavoured product only has information in German, although it lists its ingredients as 95% 10HC-blend (a form of HHC) and 5% terps (terpenes).

Incidents in West Cork 

The test purchases carried out by the Irish Examiner come in the wake of two incidents in West Cork recently highlighted by the Social Democrats councillor Isobel Towse.

She told how a 12-year-old child in Clonakilty could not remember his mother’s name while another had to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital after vaping the cannabinoid.

HHC was also linked to an incident in another Cork town in November 2023 in which four young people were hospitalised.

It is understood that up to one fifth of teenagers being treated in addiction services are there because of chemically modified cannabis products found in vapes and edibles, including HHC.

Expert views

Bobby Smyth, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and clinical professor at Trinity College Dublin, said: “Lots of young people who use it regularly report a lot of mental health symptoms associated with it, both when using it heavily and when they stop using it.

Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist Bobby Smyth says HHC is Ireland’s second most common cause of drug-induced psychosis. File picture

“The most common is a real flat sort of depressed mood. That is the bigger issue we would see. We are not clinically dealing with lots of young people developing psychosis but we are dealing with the aftermath of that. Those young people would not attend our services in the first instance.

“They get admitted to hospital and get treated there, and are then referred out to us for a bit of support helping avoid a return to HHC use.”

Prof Smyth added: “HHC use now, as far as I understand it, is the second most common cause of drug-induced psychosis in new episodes in Ireland, after cannabis.

“It is causing way more psychotic episodes at this stage than cocaine or MDMA or other drugs.”

Despite concerns about the substance, it continues to be sold in shops across the country because it is not included in the list of prohibited drugs in Ireland under the Misuse of Drugs Act and there appears to be confusion on whether or not the product is legal among different retailers.

HHC not on schedule of controlled drugs

Both the Department of Justice and the Department of Health say HHC is currently covered by legislation on psychoactive substances.

Yet moves are also in place to include HHC on the list of controlled drugs, under the Misuse of Drugs Act, according to the Department of Health. In reply to a parliamentary question on April 30, health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said: “While I cannot give a precise timeline I am informed by officials it is expected to go Government in the coming weeks”.

Prof Smyth believed the products containing HHC would have been removed from the shelves under the legislation for psychoactive substances.

But he said: “There seems to be a wariness around using that particular piece of legislation.”

He says Ireland will be forced to tackle the issue now, following a decision taken in March by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs to list the substance as a controlled one, following a recommendation by the World Health Organization.

The WHO said of HHC: “There is sufficient evidence that HHC is used in ways to constitute a public health and social problem, warranting placement under international control.”

Although he welcomes the UN’s move, Prof Smyth warned: “That will be grand and will sort out HHC but the shops are already preparing for that. The next line of drugs will already be in the warehouses to put up on the shelves.”

Psychiatrists' report

This echoes  a paper published by the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland last September which warned that adding HHC to the Misuse of Drugs Act would not be a panacea. Instead, it said “that the shops [currently profiting from sale of HHC] could simply switch to importing and selling a similar but not yet banned drug”.

The College called on the Government to “urgently intervene to ban the distribution and sale of all semi-synthetic cannabis and tackle the issue of its harms” and said an “explosion” of addiction presentations across the country involved the man-made drug.

Drugs easily available online 

Currently, the substance is offered for sale without inhibition across the internet. A quick perusal opens a virtual shop door very quickly. While all websites visited by the Irish Examiner asked the user to confirm if they are over 18, a simple click of a button to say they are means they are in without much bother, no matter what age.

One site boasts of offering a discreet express delivery and it says: “With us, you can legally order cannabinoids online. Fast delivery from the EU in 1-4 days, right to your front door.” It lists a wide list of products.

Many of those on the site are noted to be “sold out”, with a “notify me” button available to click if the shopper wants to get a notification when the product becomes available again.

One product is advertised as “the highest potent HHC cartridges on the market”. It is referred to as an “innovative HHC vape” which “uses premium 95% HHC distillate, paired with amazing terpene strains to give a potent and powerful mental and physical buzz”.

The site boasts that it is the ultimate destination for “an unparalleled vaping experience infused with the power of HHC”.

Gift cards and popular flavours

It continues: “We’ve curated a top-tier collection of HHC vapes that is taking the cannabis community by storm.”

Another site offers a gift card facility in increments of €10, €20, €30, €50, €75 and €100 which can only be used in physical stores and not online.

It does contain a health proviso, noting: “The most common types of side effects reported by people who use vaping products are throat and mouth irritation, headache, cough, and nausea. More research is needed to establish the risks of long-term vaping product use on developing cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, and other diseases.”

Flavours range from lemon, blueberry, and pineapple to more unusual tastes such as ‘Gorilla Glue’ and ‘amnesia’.

One retailer offers a vegan product in a range of different flavours. They are currently sold out.

“Special offers” are promoted on another site.

Colin O'Gara's view

Colin O’Gara is a consultant psychiatrist who serves as the head of addiction services at St John of God University Hospital and is clinical professor of psychiatry at University College Dublin.

He deals with adults in his field and says that use of HHC is not restricted to young teens.

“From testimony from both patients and otherwise, it is not uncommon for dinner parties — I have been told that a non-drug- using cohort would have gummies in a middle-aged grouping because they see it as legal and see nothing wrong.

“The product is toxic and it is harmful, just like alcohol, just like substances, and just like gambling. Everybody is vulnerable to HHC.

“In the case of HHC, the first step is nailing down the fact that we are dealing here with a harmful substance that clearly should be classified as both psychoactive and included in the Misuse of Drugs Act.”

Prof O’Gara said the most serious cases he has seen involved “very devastating addiction and psychosis, real devastation from the point of view of occupation with sick leave from work, family out of their minds with worry, delusional ideas, and strong lowering of mood with suicidal thoughts, and a strong possibility of risk of acts of self-harm”.

He added: “I am almost 20 years here, I have seen patterns over the years. I am just surprised with HHC that it hasn’t been locked down quicker.”

'People don't have a clue what is in them'

David Lane is the general manager of social inclusion in Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, and HSE drug and alcohol services co-ordinator. 

HSE drug and alcohol services co-ordinator David Lane: People are 'getting into difficulty with small quantities of new psychoactive substances'. File picture: Gerard McCarthy 

He says that while there is not a big influx of people seeking treatment in relation to HHC use, “there certainly are issues both locally, regionally, and nationally”.

“What we have been seeing for well on 10 years is synthetic drug use among a wide range of people who use our services — not just under-18s,” says Mr Lane.

“The big challenge for us is that, from a potency point of view and an ingredients point of view, people who are buying them do not have a clue what is in them.

"What we have seen over a number of years is people who actually have significant enough addictions and using some of these substances and getting into difficulty with small quantities of new psychoactive substances.

“These substances are being produced in labs in various parts of the world and are not on the schedule for the Misuse of Drugs Act.”

Forensic Science Ireland report 

Last August, the annual report from Forensic Science Ireland for 2023 raised concerns about the emergence of HHC.

 It said: “Cannabis and related cannabinoid products accounted for 42% of all cases analysed by FSI in 2023. The traditional cannabis market is no longer a homogenous arena and is now a dynamically evolving space with ongoing rapid emergence of a dizzying array of synthetic cannabinoid products — it is truly the wild west of the drug marketplace.”

It said a review of 114 jelly, sweet, and chocolate products analysed in 2023 showed that 36% contained synthetic cannabinoid products, including HHC.

Describing it as “semi-synthetic”, the report said: “HHC can be synthesised from CBD [cannabidiol]. HHC is chemically similar to THC and appears to have relatively similar physiological effects.

“Unlike THC, HHC is not a controlled substance in most European countries and worryingly is being sold as a safe or legal replacement in conventional THC products.”

Prof Smyth said the focus of drug policy in Ireland “remains completely dominated by the concerns around heroin which really goes back a couple of decades, and there is some around crack cocaine as well which is largely confined to the same population who developed the heroin problem”.

He added: “When it comes to cannabis or cannabis-related products, it is generally just a shoulder shrug is the typical response.”

Use of the drug is leaving young men in particular with severe psychosis, requiring lengthy hospital admissions for recovery.

Prof Smyth believes an opportunity was lost in not tackling the emergence of the product immediately under the psychoactive substances legislation.

He said: “There is no evidence that it is being taken seriously. The only thing that indicates that something is being taken seriously is if they do something about it and a decision appears to have been taken to do nothing.”