Marijuana metabolites measured by a radioimmune technique

THE recent surge of interest in the pharmacology of cannabinoids has created a need for a rapid assay for Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ 9 -THC) and its metabolites in body fluids. A sensitive immune technique has proved elusive, and quantitation requires a multistep chromatographic and mass spectroscopic analysis 1 . Gas liquid chromatography with electron capture detection has also been used 2,3 . We describe here a simple rapid radio-immune assay for Δ 9 -THC utilising goat antiserum obtained as previously described 4 .