Today we want to talk about THC Lean, the drink everybody is talking about.

THC Lean is a cannabis-infused syrup that’s perfect for mixing with drinks. As the cannabinoids are delivered in liquid form, the effects occur a bit more quickly than your average edibles.

How is THC Lean Cannabis Syrup made?

Decarboxylated cannabis / cannabis extract is mixed with syrup which is then infused with the THC. Shatter, budder or wax is great for this because it dissolves smoothly without leaving plant material/residue.

Reminding us a little of ‘Purple Drank’ that rappers talk about in the US, the notable difference with THC lean is that instead of Codeine the effect comes from THC. Some people do add Codeine to their Lean mixture, or use Codeine syrup, but we find the effects are perfect just using THC.

Effects

The effects of Lean are similar to edibles and can last longer than smoking/vaping.

Dosage & Safety Advice

Due to the fact that 99% of Lean being sold in the UK will have been manufactured under the radar and likely without strict quality control, the dosage varies. Some users report bottles which don’t have much effect. Some claim to have 1 gram of shatter or other extract inside and can be felt after a few sips worth mixed with a drink.

Again due to the fact that THC lean isn’t sold as a legal product, it is important to do your best to make sure there isn’t codeine mixed into your bottle, especially if you plan on consuming large amounts. If in doubt, start small.

We drank our lean in 10ml doses (the whole bottle was 60ml and cost us £30)

Mixing Your THC Lean Cannabis Syrup

The THC Lean can be mixed with any drink, but we were advised that it works best when mixed with drinks and ice.

We mixed our lean with Sprite, Lilt, and even iced coffee, which tasted great:Overall we enjoyed THC lean cannabis syrup and found it to be an interesting alternative consumption method. If like us you’ve been smoking/vaping or even eating edibles for a while and fancy a bit of a change, THC Lean syrup is worth a try.

The wider availability of diverse weed strains, concentrates and vaping liquids means there’s never been more choice when it comes to getting stoned in Britain.

One of the latest is THC syrup. Essentially weed in liquid form, it has the same thickness and consistency as cough syrup and is designed to be added in spoonfuls to your lemonade, so you can get high without having to worry about omitting any suspicious smells or sharing a joint (eww… corona).

British rapper Slowthai recently showed-off a fresh order of THC Syrup on his Instagram Live, while a quick Google search shows you can order bottles to your door from legal websites in seconds. But what exactly is it? And is it safe?

I first heard about THC syrup through a friend. Before long, it became something that my weed dealer was offering me. For £40, I bought a 1000mg bottle of apple-flavoured THC syrup with no real instructions other than “shake well before use”. I started adding small teaspoons of it into my cans of 7-Up Zero, and felt an immediate buzz. Not only from the enormous high, but also the idea of getting stoned in a different fashion.

Co-signs from popular emcees like Slowthai and Smokepurpp, who is launching his own THC syrup line with the political motivation to fight against America’s opioid crisis, have undoubtedly helped to raise its profile and cool.

In the US, THC syrup, despite its very different effects, has been marketed as a safer alternative to “lean” – also known as Sizzurp, Dirty Sprite and Purple Drank – which is a popular drink among the rap community, consisting of prescription-grade codeine cough syrup mixed with soda.

However, Professor Adam Winstock, founder of the Global Drug Survey, says the lean connections are marketing hype. “THC syrup is just another form of edibles,” he tells me. “Saying it is a healthy alternative to lean is like saying weed is a healthy alternative to heroin. Lean is a dangerous concoction of an antihistamine in promethazine, an opioid in codeine, and often alcohol too. You can’t draw a parallel between a cannabis drink and an opioid drink, other than them being drinks that get you high. It’s all just marketing bollocks.”

David, a regular THC syrup user (he buys it from a dealer who makes it at home) and UK-based music producer, says he started taking it for health-related reasons. “It’s not bad for you like smoking is, so if you’re gonna get high then it’s a healthier, safer way to do it than using weed and tobacco,” he says.

“Me and my friends use it often and we love it. I think psychedelics and alternative weed products are having a moment in the UK, perhaps because people are experimenting indoors as parties have stopped.”

What if we could treat dyslipidaemia with food which could help reduce lipids?

CannaLean has developed CLC, a new formulation of cannabidiol (CBD) in a proprietary combination with a chitosan particle, both patent-protected, which has shown promising results in preclinical trials for the treatment of dyslipidaemia.

CBD, a non-psychotropic component of cannabis, is a known immunomodulator shown to improve metabolic functions, which could mitigate metabolic syndrome and consequently, have an effect on serum lipid levels. Chitosan is a biocompatible, non-toxic, non-immunogenic compound which specifically binds to the nonpolar part of the bile acids in the intestine. It clears the bile acids in a safe, tolerable manner, preventing their intestinal absorption and resulting in a favourable decrease of cholesterol blood levels. Chitosan is formulated with lecithin to produce a particle based on hydrophobic compounds out of the combination of two well-known, tolerable substances.

In combination with the chitosan particle, the potential of CBD to significantly reduce blood lipid levels is enhanced: the chitosan acts as a solvent for the CBD, leading to better interaction with the intestinal cell membranes and higher rates of absorption.

Both CBD and our proprietary chitosan particle are individually considered safe for human use in the US and Europe. There was already some anecdotal evidence and several publications describing their ability to reduce lipids when used separately, but we have now demonstrated in several in vivo models that combining them into a new complex formulation allows them to work synergistically. This means that they are significantly more effective in reducing blood cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as reversing weight gain. At time of writing we are preparing to conduct larger efficacy tests in a controlled clinical environment, in order to further study the synergies and effects of these two combined modes of action.