New Group For Cannabis Chemistry

Department: Letters

November 16, 2015 Letters

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The ACS Division of Chemical Health & Safety (DCHAS) is proud to announce the creation of the Cannabis Chemistry Subdivision (CANN) within DCHAS. The chemists of CANN are uniquely qualified to provide an outlet for the dissemination of cannabis research, professional training, development and review of recommended best practices, and collaboration across multidisciplinary fields of chemistry.

As the medical and commercial cannabis industries grow, there will continue to be a need for qualified chemists. They will need training in quality control, industrial hygiene, chemical safety, Good Laboratory Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, regulatory inspection preparedness, and numerous other fields within the chemical enterprise.

This DCHAS subdivision will provide networking opportunities, encourage mentoring relationships, provide symposium content, and initiate a platform for cannabis chemistry professionals. There is great potential for the industry to attract chemists in the fields of agriculture, food, formulations, natural product extractions, textiles, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals. The founding members of CANN come from academia and industry with more than 100 total years of experience in cannabis chemistry, research, and working in regulatory aspects of the industry.

As the most multidisciplinary of all of ACS’s technical divisions, DCHAS has clearly been involved in a wide-ranging scope of chemical enterprise activities. By agreeing to host this subdivision, DCHAS is not endorsing recreational use of cannabis; we also are not endorsing the unauthorized medical use of cannabis. We are providing an outlet for what are now hundreds of chemists involved in research into production, medical use, and extraction procedures. If trends continue along the current path, that number will eventually be thousands of chemists. Clearly, health and safety of industry workers, patients, and recreational users is something DCHAS is concerned about.

If you are interested in cannabis chemistry, please contact ACS membership and add DCHAS and CANN to your ACS profile.

Debbie M. Decker
Davis, Calif.

Oct. 26, page 2: A letter from G. David Mendenhall included inaccurate statements about a fatal tert-butyllithium fire at the University of California, Los Angeles. Whether Sheharbano (Sheri) Sangji was ever given an appropriate written procedure for the experiment is unknown. Also, according to a fire department report, Sangji did not try to extinguish the fire with hexanes; rather, the hexanes spilled and also ignited.