Sometimes a syringe full of pot is what the doctor ordered.
Sometimes a syringe full of pot is what the doctor ordered. sb-borg/ Getty

I am constantly getting emails about CBD products. It seems like every entrepreneur in America with thousands of dollars to lose is trying to get in the cannabidiol game. Most of the products look like bullshit with claims like “End your anxiety with just one drop!” but the other day I received a CBD press release that I found particularly egregious.

“First ever CBD hangover remedy launches,” the email’s subject line read, promising a revolutionary product that will resolve “the physical, mental and emotional lows associated with drinking.”

This is obviously not true. The most revolutionary way to avoid a hangover is not drinking too much, dummy. And if there's any pot-based medicine that will cure the emotional pain of me trying to recreate the falsetto glory of Greta Van Fleet’s “When The Curtain Falls” at 1 a.m. in a karaoke bar it’s not going to be cannabidiol (CBD). It’s Delta 8 THC, a sister compound to the normal THC we all know and love. Delta 8 is usually sold as a dabbable concentrate or a vape cartridge and based on my own personal experience it is the world’s greatest hangover cure. And there’s even some clinical science to back up that claim.

Before we talk about how Delta 8 can cure the pain of your alcoholic indiscretions, let’s talk about what this compound actually is. When people say THC they are actually referring to a chemical called Delta (9)-tetrahydrocannabinol. This is the compound that your pre-rolled joint contains lots of and the reason you get stoned when you smoke pot. This other compound I’m referring to is Delta (8)-tetrahydrocannabinol, it’s related to Delta 9, the two chemicals are differentiated by only a slight shift in one chemical bond, but it is an entirely different drug.

Chemists have known about Delta 8 THC for decades and there are a few scientific studies that show it is medically promising. Scientists in 1975 found that Delta 8 shrank tumor size in cancerous rats. Then in 1995 Israeli researchers gave Delta 8 to a group of pediatric oncology patients who were experiencing chemotherapy-induced nausea. The results were astounding, with the doctors seeing a 100 percent cessation of nausea across 480 treatments.

That’s a limited amount of medical studies on this compound—the American government’s prohibition of pot stymies almost all research on the benefits of cannabis—but in my own clinical studies I have found that Delta 8 is both incredibly interesting and a complete hangover cure. I don’t often get hangovers (again, the best hangover cure is just not drinking too much) but when I do get hungover it usually wastes me. I get intense nausea that can last hours or even an entire day, my head rings with pain, and I can’t find the energy to do anything. That is until I get enough energy to do a dab of Delta 8.

Delta 8 dabs, in my experience, are incredibly energizing while also being completely clear-headed. There is absolutely nothing “stoning” about Delta 8 THC. There’s certainly a “high” of sorts but it’s neither euphoric nor heavy like the couchlock of a true stoned feeling. And it completely rids me of any feeling of nausea, even the especially debilitating form of nausea that a hangover gives me. It takes the ruined shell of a human that I am when I am hungover and completely transforms me back into a normal human again.

Now that I’ve convinced you to keep a supply of Delta 8 for your hangover, how do you get some? Unfortunately, you will need to live in a state with legal weed. Your black market pot dealer most likely won’t have any access to this cannabinoid. Pot flowers produce lots of Delta 9 THC, but only a very tiny amount of Delta 8 THC. Smart pot processers can, however, turn the familiar Delta 9 THC into Delta 8 THC with a few fairly simple lab techniques. Now that states like Washington have legalized pot it is fairly easy to find products with Delta 8.

Oleums syringe full of Delta 8.
Oleum's syringe full of Delta 8.

Oleum Extracts packages Delta 8 in these delightful syringes that make it easy to do dabs. Marley Naturals makes Delta 8 vape cartridges. C&D Farms makes a Delta 8 THC dab. Empire Experience makes a full spectrum cartridge that combines Delta 8 with Delta 9 THC, CBN, and CBG. And there’s plenty of other brands getting involved in Delta 8—your favorite pot shop should be able to easily point you in the direction of something that can cure your next hangover.