Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound in Southwest Harbor, Maine took the idea of "lobster pot" to its not logical conclusion:
As the Mount Desert Islander reports:
A lobster named Roscoe was the first to experience a technique lobster pound owner Charlotte Gill is hoping will be more humane way of executing lobsters.
In an experiment to test the affect of cannabis on lobsters, Roscoe the lobster was placed for a few minutes in a covered box with about two inches of water at the bottom. Marijuana smoke was then blown into the water at the bottom of the box.
[…]
Throughout the 2018 season, Gill has been doing business as usual by boiling or steaming lobsters while still alive. She has recently set up separate station at the restaurant where lobsters can be sedated with cannabis before being steamed to eat, at the customer's request.
Next season, Gill hopes all lobsters will be sedated before being steamed. Customers will still be able to have their lobster cooked more traditionally, but Gill is said she is confident that the method does not infuse the lobster meat with THC.
Before you personally get high and consider the lobster, know that scientists have actually studied Gill's lobster pot method, and have backed up her conclusions. From a new paper in the biology journal bioRxiv:
The primary goal was to determine tissue THC levels in the lobster after exposure to THC vapor. Secondary goals were to determine if THC vapor altered locomotor behavior or nociception.
Tissue samples were collected from muscle, brain and hemolymph of Homarus americanus (N=3 per group) following 30 or 60 minutes of exposure to vapor generated by an e-cigarette device using THC (100 mg/mL in a propylene glycol vehicle). Separate experiments assessed locomotor behavior and hot water nociceptive responses following THC vapor exposure.
THC vapor produced duration-related THC levels in all tissues examined. Locomotor activity was decreased (distance, speed, time-mobile) by 30 min inhalation of THC. Lobsters exhibit a temperature-dependent withdrawal response to immersion of tail, antennae or claws in warm water; this is novel evidence of thermal nociception for this species. THC exposure for 60 minutes had only marginal effect on nociception under the conditions assessed.
In other words: if you feel bad about boiling your lobsters alive, just hot box 'em, man, and it's all good.
Effects of vapor exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the Maine Lobster (Homarus americanus) [Arnold Gutierrez, Kevin M. Creehan, Mitchell Turner, Rachel Tran, Tony M. Kerr, Jacques D. Nguyen, Michael A. Taffe / bioRxiv]
Science supports smoking a blunt with your lobster before eating it [Allison Robicelli / The Takeout]
Image: Public Domain via Pixabay
