By Luke Sumpter

Is there any rabbit hole deeper than cannabis? The more you discover about the herb, the less you realise you know. The world of cannabinoids can get especially complex. You’ve heard of delta-9-THC, but what about its close relatives?

Find out everything you need to know about delta-8-THC and delta-10-THC, including their effects and legality.


Understanding How Cannabinoids Are Synthesised

Cannabinoids are produced by natural chemical reactions such as decarboxylation, isomerisation, and oxidation. A few key enzymes are responsible for the biosynthesis of cannabinoids; namely, CBDA synthase, CBCA synthase, and THCA synthase.

These substances convert CBGA, the root or “mother” cannabinoid, into the acidic forms of the cannabinoids we know and love: CBD and Δ⁹-THC, as well as lesser-known compounds like CBC and Δ⁸-THC.

What Is Delta-8-THC?

Starting from CBGA, the resulting Δ⁹-THC is oxidised into an isomer with a very similar chemical structure: Δ⁸-THC. Since this molecule is formed by oxidation, it’s not further altered when exposed to air.

That’s a useful feature for pharmaceutical purposes, which compensates for the rarity of this cannabinoid. Δ⁸-THC is actually produced in such small quantities by the cannabis plant that the only way to experience its effects is to consume very specific concentrates.

Discover Delta-8-THC and Delta-10-THC

How Is Delta-8-THC Different From Delta-9-THC?

Δ⁸-THC binds to CB1 receptors in the central nervous system as Δ⁹-THC does, as well as to the CB2 receptor.

Based on early research and anecdotal evidence, Δ⁸-THC is kind of like a “light” version of traditional Δ⁹-THC, producing a mild sedative effect without the typical mental stimulation induced by Δ⁹-THC.

As an analogue of Δ⁹-THC, the Δ⁸ version has demonstrated antiemetic, anxiolytic, appetite-stimulating, analgesic, and neuroprotective properties in research settings, despite exerting milder psychotropic effects than Δ⁹-THC.

Furthermore, when taken in high doses, Δ⁸-THC seems to cause less anxiety than Δ⁹-THC. 

Delta-8-THC

Delta-9-THC

Delta-10-THC

Psychoactivity Low-medium Medium-high Low-medium
Effects Relaxing and sedant Euphoric and mental stimulant Euphoric and nootropic
Concentration in cannabis Less than 1% Until 30% Less than 1%
Receptors CB1 and CB2 CB1 and CB2 CB1 and CB2
Legality Legal grey area Illegal (except few countries) Legal grey area
Secondary effects (anxiety) Very low Low to moderate Very low

Does Delta-8-THC Have Therapeutic Properties?

Anecdotal accounts describe the effects of delta-8-THC as much more subtle than delta-9. Users report little to no intoxicating effects alongside a relaxed state of mind.

Cannabis researchers have probed the effects of delta-8-THC for decades. They've found it to increase food consumption[1] in animal models, and they've even tested it in human trials against the side effects of chemotherapy[2] in children.

However, many more clinical trials looking into a wider range of conditions are required. If delta-8 shows efficacy for the conditions delta-9 helps to manage, we could see the molecule appear in approved cannabis-based medicines in the future.

What Is Delta-10-THC?

While researchers have known about delta-8-THC for quite some time, delta-10-THC has only recently emerged as a cutting-edge cannabinoid. Just like delta-8, delta-10 occurs as an isomer of the delta-9-THC that we all know and love. Although it shares the same chemical formula, the atoms are arranged slightly differently in the molecule.

Delta-9-THC received its name because it features a double bond on the ninth carbon chain of its molecule. In the case of delta-10-THC, this double bond occurs on the tenth carbon chain instead. This subtle change in the molecular structure means delta-10 offers slightly different effects, without completely altering its binding capabilities in the body.

This novel cannabinoid has sparked a wave of curiosity in the cannabis industry. Consumers are looking to try out this mysterious molecule, and manufacturers are rushing to meet this demand with delta-10-THC baskets and the like.

Discover Delta-8-THC and Delta-10-THC

How Does Delta-10-THC Work in the Body?

We’re not entirely sure. Delta-10 has emerged so recently that no studies have elucidated its mechanism of action in the body. However, the behaviour of delta-8 and delta-9 offer some encouraging clues. Both of these cannabinoids bind to both the CB1 and CB2 receptors[3] of the endocannabinoid system.

CB1 receptors occur primarily in the central nervous system, and their activation gives rise to the varying psychoactive effects of different cannabinoids. CB2 receptors show up largely in the immune system. Delta-8 manages to bind to both of these receptors, regardless of its altered double bond position. This makes it reasonable to assume that delta-10-THC has the ability to bind to both of the major cannabinoid receptors.

Does Delta-10-THC Get You High?

Further evidence that delta-10-THC can at least bind to the CB1 receptor comes from anecdotal reports of its effects. Several cannabis companies in the United States have already developed delta-10 products, and a range of pre-filled delta-10-THC vape baskets are available to those curious enough to try.

Users describe the effects as psychoactive, but much less intense and intoxicating than delta-9-THC. Some describe the change in consciousness as a “head high” that “frees the mind”. If these effects are consistent among many consumers, delta-10-THC could carve out its own space in the market as a daytime cannabinoid used to improve focus and motivation.

How Was Delta-10-THC Discovered?

A Californian cannabis extraction company accidentally discovered delta-10-THC after purchasing a contaminated batch of cannabis buds. While the crop that produced these flowers was still in the ground, wildfires ravaged areas of the state. In an attempt to battle the blaze, firefighters dumped fire retardants from aircraft, and these chemicals worked their way into the cannabis supply.

The company in question extracted the cannabis biomass and distilled the end product to remove any of the contaminating substances. But they noticed odd crystals begin to form. They ruled out THCA, as this cannabinoid acid doesn’t form after high-temperature distillation.

They sent samples off to a speciality lab for analysis, and the technicians identified the molecule as delta-10-THC[4]. It turns out that small quantities of delta-10 may show up often following standard high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis, but this form of analysis may lead technicians to misidentify the cannabinoid as CBC (cannabichromene) or CBL (cannabicyclol).

How Is Delta-10-THC Made?

It turns out that the addition of fire retardants managed to cause the double bond to migrate from the ninth position to the tenth in the THC molecule. A consultant for the extraction company managed to recreate this reaction using food-grade additives and stabilisers. Other manufacturers are now creating the synthetic cannabinoid using CBD[5]. When using crude CBD extract, they harness carbon and vitamin C derivatives to transform the molecule. When using isolates, solvents and acids get the job done.

Discover Delta-8-THC and Delta-10-THC
Font: Extractionmagazine.com

It depends on the source. When derived from cannabis, delta-10-THC is viewed as federally illegal because of the Schedule I classification of marijuana. However, delta-10 derived from hemp exists in a legal grey area.

The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 changed the definition of hemp[6] in America. It states, “The term ‘hemp’ means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis”.

The passage of this legislation makes it quite clear the delta-10-THC derived from low-THC hemp remains federally legal in the United States. Many companies have perceived the law in this way, and are moving forward with manufacturing, product development, and sales.

California New Jersey
Illinois Oregon
Maine South Dakota
Massachusetts Vermont
Michigan Washington
Nevada



Delta-8 and Delta-10 vs Delta-9

All three of these cannabinoids offer something different. Delta-9 offers the classic cannabis high, while users report that delta-8 provides more of a relaxing effect, without the panic sometimes associated with delta-9. Delta-10 appears to provide more of a cerebral effect, without too much intoxication, although it’s still unclear. The latter could perhaps land somewhere between delta-9 and CBD in the market. While it doesn’t offer a traditional high, it might provide something more noticeable than CBD on its own.

Can You Extract Delta-8 and Delta-10 at Home?

Before you get too excited, nobody has made their own batch of delta-10-THC at home. Not yet, anyway. For now, we need to leave it to the big industry players to refine and perfect the extraction and conversation process. As they make progress in this area and create more of an efficient process, it might become possible to mimic their methods on a small scale in the future.

External Resources:
  1. Very low doses of delta 8-THC increase food consumption and alter neurotransmitter levels following weight loss - PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  2. An efficient new cannabinoid antiemetic in pediatric oncology http://www.druglibrary.net
  3. Cannabis Business Times - May 2021 - Delta-8 THC: Threat or Opportunity? http://magazine.cannabisbusinesstimes.com
  4. The Bizarre Crystallization of Δ10-THC - Extraction Magazine https://extractionmagazine.com
  5. What is Delta-10-THC and Why do I Need to Know About it? - ACS Lab Cannabis https://acslabcannabis.com
  6. Implementation of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 https://s3.amazonaws.com
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes only. The information provided is derived from research gathered from external sources.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: