What is HHC and How Does it Compare to THC

Following the wild success of delta 8 THC as a legal alternative to the more controlled availability of delta 9 THC, the cannabis industry has sought other less-known cannabinoids to compete in the diverse cannabis marketplace. One of the newest and most promising is hexahydrocannabinol, usually shortened to HHC.

What is HHC?

HHC is a THC relative long known to science, but until recently not often discussed by cannabis users. HHC is a minor cannabinoid; it occurs naturally in cannabis, but in amounts too small to make extraction cost-effective. Since commercial production of HHC is just getting off the ground, it’s still not widely known.

Most cannabinoids can be converted to other cannabinoids by altering the chemistry of the molecules. Like delta 8 THC and delta 10 THC, commercial HHC is made from hemp-derived CBD in a lab through chemical processes. HHC has one major legal advantage over delta 8 and delta 10: it isn’t called THC.

How is HHC produced?

HHC was discovered in the 1940s by chemist Roger Adams. He created HHC by adding hydrogen to the THC molecule and altering its physical properties. The process, called hydrogenation, is first described in a 1947 patent document.

Hydrogenation modifies the structure of delta 9 THC by replacing a double bond with two hydrogen atoms, which changes its molecular weight and also makes it more stable. According to Mark Scialdone, a chemist and BR Brands Chief Science Officer, hydrogenation improves “stability and resistance to thermo-oxidative breakdown”—which means HHC has a longer shelf life and is less prone to damage caused by UV light and heat.

Does HHC get you high? Does it have side effects?

This is kind of tricky. Although HHC isn’t technically a THC, it does produce similar effects—if you use enough of it. When it’s produced in the lab, an HHC batch is a mix of active and inactive HHC molecules. The active HHC binds well with your body’s cannabinoid receptors; the others don’t.

Manufacturers haven’t yet figured out a cost-effective way to separate high-potency HHC from its low-potency twin, so commercial HHC—which is a mix of the two forms—may be something of a crapshoot for the buyer. But HHC does have noticeable effects. Reports from users generally describe the HHC high as being somewhere between delta 8 and delta 9 THC.

Pretty much everything we know about HHC’s effects and side effects is anecdotal. That said, users report the same set of side effects familiar to delta 9 THC users: anxiety and paranoia, dry mouth, dry and red eyes, hunger, and insomnia.

Is HHC legal and will it stay legal?

The 2018 Farm Bill federally legalized the hemp plant and all its derivatives, unless the plant or anything made from it contains delta 9 THC at a concentration higher than 0.3 percent. HHC technically isn’t THC at all, so it should skirt federal scrutiny—right? Maybe.

Even though HHC is found naturally in the cannabis plant, that’s not where commercial HHC comes from. It’s a lab-produced product made by hydrogenating hemp-derived cannabinoids under pressure with a catalyst like palladium. Scientists at the National Cannabis Industry Association call the result a “semi-synthetic” cannabis compound.

That could mean HHC will get the attention of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). A cannabinoid expert at biotech company Creo thinks HHC falls under the Federal Analogue Act, which automatically classifies analogs of Schedule 1 drugs as Schedule 1 drugs themselves. If the DEA agrees, HHC could have a very short commercial heyday.

HHC could be banned by states too. This is likely if HHC becomes popular, and especially if it threatens the legal cannabis market, as we’ve seen happen with delta 8 THC. But so far HHC is probably too niche to catch the eye of state lawmakers.