Assessing the potential of a “color effect” for hair analysis of 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol: Analysis of a large sample of hair specimens

Abstract

It has been hypothesized that hair color may play a role in the concentration of various drugs of abuse in hair. Several studies have shown that melanin in hair appears to play a binding role for at least some commonly abused drugs. However, these studies have been limited by a number of factors when assessing the clinical significance of a hypothesized melanin or color effect. This study evaluates the possible effect of hair color on the concentration of 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (c-THC) in human hair. The analysis is based on 3,886 positive c-THC hair specimens drawn from a universe of approximately 80,000 specimens of scalp hair harvested from the posterior vertex of the head. Analysis of variance of color categorization by c-THC concentration shows that c-THC concentration does not have a significant association with hair color (Hair Color F = 1.148, p = .332) and therefore does not have a demonstrable “color effect”.