Experimental cultivation of cannabis plants in the Mediterranean area.

In research carried out in 1982, which included the cultivation of cannabis plants with low, medium and high levels of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the authors have determined the parameters for individualization and classification of cannabis plants according to their intoxicant potential. This can help to provide courts of law with valid supportive expertise on cannabis trafficking cases. The parameters are the percentages of THC in cannabinoids and in the dried substance of a plant, as well as the percentage of cannabinoids in the dried substance. On the basis of these parameters, the authors have found that a cannabis plant in which the percentage of THC exceeds 50 per cent of the total amount of cannabinoids of the extractable resin and 0.3 per cent of the total amount of dried substance, and in which the amounts of resin and cannabinoids are substantial, has a considerable intoxicant potential and is liable to be used for illicit production of cannabis for abuse. On the contrary, a plant with a THC level below 50 per cent of the cannabinoids and 0.3 per cent of the dried substance, in addition to a low level of total cannabinoids, has low intoxicant potential and can be used in industry for the production of oil and rope. On the basis of these parameters it is also possible to predict the intoxicant potential of a young cannabis plant harvested at a relatively early stage of its development.

Forensic considerations on the comparison of "serum gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase" ("gamma-GT) activity in experimental acute alcoholic intoxication and in alcoholic car drivers who caused road accidents.

The authors studied blood alcohol levels and serum gamma-GT activity in 18 drivers who caused car accidents while intoxicated, and in 20 young volunteer subjects without any hepatic damage, in which an acute alcoholic intoxication was present. In most of the drivers the serum gamma-GT activity was significantly higher than in the volunteers, which strongly suggests a chronic alcoholic intoxication. In the 20 volunteers, who were occasional drinkers, the serum gamma-GT activity did not show pathological values even in a state of heavy intoxication. According to the authors, the serum gamma-GT determination could be made obligatory by law, in order to differentiate between acute or chronic alcoholic intoxication. Should an intoxicated driver be found guilty of an offense, this fact could aggravate the circumstances. Furthermore serum gamma-GT activity determination could be used as an evaluating parameter in granting driving licences.