Sharks, Cannabis, and COVID-19

Anyone that reads Cannabis Explorations knows that I’m a fan of terpenes. The other day, an unlikely article mentioning a terpene found in cannabis caught my eye. While I’m well aware of the many medicinal benefits of cannabis, I was surprised to see a terpene in an article about the development of a COVID-19 vaccine.

I looked back and found that many articles have discussed squalene as a key concern for the development of a COVID-19 vaccine over the last several months. It’s such a vital part of the supply chain that MarketWatch did two focus articles on squalene sourcing.

Squalene is a hydrocarbon that is commonly used as an ‘adjuvant’ in vaccines in addition to having some additional uses within the cosmetics industry. Adjuvants help to create a stronger immune response and make vaccines more effective (but they are also partially responsible for more side effects, as those are also indicative of an immune response). Vaccines seek to reduce the amount of exposure while maximizing coverage, and adjuvants help achieve this goal.

Historically, squalene was sourced from shark liver oil. The name ‘squalene’ is derived from ‘squalus’ which is a genus of sharks.

Squalene, however, is also a tri-terpene found in sugar cane and cannabis.

It ends up that squalene is no stranger to controversy.

People who love sharks aren’t huge fans of squalene.

Squalene was previously in the public’s eye due to its supposed presence in anthrax vaccinations that caused the onset of Persian War syndrome in many veterans. Anti-squalene antibodies to squalene had been found in those veterans. However, squalene had never been included in those vaccination rounds. Anti-squalene antibodies are naturally occurring, regardless of immunization history.

Another recent article mentioned squalene as a possible contributor to VAPI. OLCC here in Oregon, in association with ChemHistory, found squalene present in vaporizer cartridges that had lead to VAPI (vaping-associated pulmonary injury, which is associated with cartridge vaping and not dry herb vaping!). As previously mentioned squalene can be found within many plants, but in this case, it’s theorized that squalene was being artificially added to vaporizers as a thickening agent. One of many rules that OLCC enforced after VAPI was discovered was a ban on non-cannabis sourced terpenes and flavorings in vaporizer cartridges.

The news reflects nature — terpenes are everywhere!