If you’ve been following news and information about CBD products, you’ve more than likely heard the revelations about Diamond CBD… but are they true?
To review, the claims came from author Shayla Love from Vice and toxicologist Michelle Peace from Virginia Commonwealth University, and they stated that Diamond CBD was selling vape liquid that contained synthetic marijuana and other dangerous compounds. Initially, they received a tip from a customer stating that they got “extremely high” after using their products, which as you know, is not supposed to happen when vaping or otherwise consuming CBD. According to the subsequent study published by Peace and her co-workers, “Out of nine CBD e-liquids from Diamond Gold, four contained a synthetic marijuana called 5-fluoro MDMB-PINACA (5F-ADB). One contained dextromethorphan, an ingredient in cough syrup.”
Diamond CBD Vape Products: Are The Getting You High?
So, what happened? Is it possible that a well-reputed company like Diamond could have let some products fall through the cracks? Was there some kind of error at Peace’s lab? Or was there a discrepancy in Love’s reporting? We reached out to Diamond CBD directly to get some answers, and this is what they had to say:
Diamond CBD Official Response:
“The company can unequivocally state that there is no 5-fluoro MDMB-PINACA (5F-ADB) in any products and not as reported in the items listed in the Vice article or Consumer Reports. There are no illegal synthetics and no dextromethorphan (dxm) in any vape or e-liquid products. Unfortunately, these articles were simply reiterations of other online reports without a full and proper review of all relevant information.
The authors of these articles never purchased any product directly from our company and independently delivered such products to any third party laboratory. Had they done so responsibly, then they would not have found any of these ingredients in any vape or e-liquid products as reported by Vice.
The initial report about this issue was like an “ambush” at a trade show without an opportunity to investigate and research the substance of the report. Such information necessary to properly frame a response was not readily available at the trade show and that information does not appear in the study which includes the reply discussed more fully below.
Without overtly attacking the credibility of the authors, there are questions that arise regarding the methodology and results. Based upon a review of the company website purchase history, the individual who purchased the products online and author of the article, Michelle Peace, ordered 11 total items on July 27, 2017 (3 items) and September 28, 2017 (8 items), through her school e-mail address under her name.
The article history indicates that it was received on September 3, 2018, and revised on October 24, 2018. From analysis methodology obtained from third party laboratories, the testing typically only requires minutes and not more than a year which is the time frame that passed from the purchase until the article was received.
In addition, our company can unequivocally report that the packaging is old and not representative of the current product line bearing the same names. Further, those photographs illustrate that the packages are evidently opened and not in their original condition.
In order to explain the manufacturing process, and as is typically industry standard, the raw material is purchased from third party vendors for production purposes. Our company does not physically extract the liquid from the plant so we rely upon those suppliers and their representations as to product quality and substance. Those suppliers provide reports as to the content of the raw material. Regardless of such reliance, our company conducts our own analysis through third party testing laboratories. None of these reports indicated the existence of any unnatural or improper derivative in the product.
If the issue was prevalent in the product line, then every product tested would have had the same exact results. Since the results were not consistent, the company contends that there may have been tampering with the products. As an industry leader and innovator prior to the recent skyrocketing popularity of cannabidiol products, there are many other individuals and companies who may intentionally seek to harm that position.
The company strives to provide the assurance that we supply the best, highest quality products on the market. As a result of these articles, the company is committed to re-test all of the products. If there are any products from our new testing that have any such indication as described in the articles, the company would immediately recall any products potentially affected from such test results. With so many smaller companies that have more recently appeared in this industry, I would presume that there are some businesses manufacturing their products in their bathtub or garage. As mentioned in Consumer Reports, our company would support the regulation of the industry to ensure the safety and quality of any product.
Select any item directly from our company website and send directly to any third party laboratory and you will not find any of these ingredients in any vape or e-liquid products as improperly reported by Vice. Our confidence is so absolute that we are developing a more thorough public challenge to these claims that will be disclosed after the holiday season.”
As you can see, Diamond is trying very hard to be transparent and is even willing to incorporate options for the public to be able to send their products out for testing. Without having tested the products ourselves, everything is purely speculation at this point. What’s important to keep in mind is that both companies and reporters can be unfairly targeted, and as you can see, this conflict seems to go beyond just the article that was written.
When buying CBD products, always make sure to do your own, extremely thorough research before making any kind of purchase or consuming anything you buy. These products are going into your body with the purpose of promoting health and wellness, you want to make sure all the ingredients are on the level.
If you have any more questions about Diamond CBD, or any other product, feel free to contact us and we’ll do our best to get you answers.
