Marijuana potency surpasses 10 percent, U.S. says

[Galaxy]

By Jeanne Meserve and Mike M. Ahlers
CNN

OXFORD, Mississippi (CNN) -- The average potency of marijuana, which has risen steadily for three decades, has exceeded 10 percent for the first time, the U.S. government will report on Thursday.

Mahmoud ElSohly says marijuana's potency will continue to rise before tailing off in the next five years.

Scientists working for the government predict that potency, as measured by the drug's concentration of the psychoactive ingredient THC, will continue to rise.

At the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project, where thousands of samples of seized marijuana are tested every year, project director Mahmoud ElSohly said some samples have THC levels exceeding 30 percent.

Average THC concentrations will continue to climb before leveling off at 15 percent or 16 percent in five to 10 years, ElSohly predicted.

The stronger marijuana is of particular concern because high concentrations of THC have the opposite effect of low concentrations, officials say.

In addition, while experienced marijuana users may limit their intake of potent marijuana, young and inexperienced users may not moderate their intake and possibly suffer from dysphoria, paranoia, irritability and other negative effects.

Potent marijuana also poses significant risk to the developing adolescent brain, said Edward Jurith, acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Increasing potency is leading to higher admissions to emergency rooms and drug treatment programs, officials say.

The average THC for tested marijuana during 2008 was 10.1 percent, according to the government, compared to 1983 when it was reportedly under 4 percent.

Even drugs seized at the United States' southwest border are showing increasing potency, the Office of National Drug Control Policy says. The median potency increased from 4.8 percent in 2003 to 7.3 percent in 2007. Marijuana from Mexico and other southern sources traditionally had lower THC content then other sources'.

"The children I'm most worried about are children who are heavy users ... people who use it on a daily basis," said Dr. Lawrence Brain, a child psychiatrist in Maryland.

Lloyd D. Johnston, a University of Michigan professor who has spent 35 years studying youth drug use, said youth marijuana use has fluctuated dramatically over that period.

"One of the driving forces of that ... is the degree to which young people think that marijuana is dangerous," he said. "Perceived risk has usually been a leading indicator of changes."

News about potency is not likely to change adolescents' behavior, Brain said.

"I'm not advocating the use of marijuana at all," he said. "But in some ways, it is out there. ... Telling them it's 10 percent -- three times more potent than what their parents smoked -- is not an argument they are likely to buy into or to even utilize in any constructive sort of way.

"I think they do what they do today. I don't think they consider or reflect on what it might have been like 30 years ago."

Galaxy Reviewed by Galaxy on 05-14-2009. Marijuana potency surpasses 10 percent, U.S. says By Jeanne Meserve and Mike M. Ahlers CNN OXFORD, Mississippi (CNN) -- The average potency of marijuana, which has risen steadily for three decades, has exceeded 10 percent for the first time, the U.S. government will report on Thursday. Mahmoud ElSohly says marijuana's potency will continue to rise before tailing off in the next five years. Scientists working for the government predict that potency, as measured by the drug's concentration of the psychoactive ingredient THC, will Rating: 5

[Galaxy]

Donâ??t Believe The Hype! Potent Pot, So What?
Thu, 14 May 2009 18:24:04 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

â??This ainâ??t your grandfatherâ??s or your fatherâ??s marijuana. This will hurt you. This will addict you. This will kill you.â?�â?? Mark R. Trouville, DEA Miami, speaking to the Associated Press (June 22, 2007)

Government claims that todayâ??s pot is more potent, and thus more dangerous to health, than ever before must be taken with a grain of salt.

Federal officials have made similarly dire assertions before. In a 2004 Reuters News Wire story, government officials alleged, â??Pot is no longer the gentle weed of the 1960s and may pose a greater threat than cocaine or even heroin.â?� (Anti-drug officials failed to explain why, if previous decadesâ?? pot was so â??gentleâ?� and innocuous, police still arrested you for it.)

In 2007, Reuters again highlighted the alleged record rise in cannabis potency, proclaiming, â??U.S. marijuana grows stronger than before: report.â?� Quoted in the news story was ex-Drug Czar John Walters, who warned, â??This report underscores that we are no longer talking about the drug of the 1960s and 1970s â?? this is Pot 2.0.â?�

Predictably, in 2008 the mainstream news media ran with yet another set of â??newsâ?? stories alleging that the pot plantâ??s strength had reached all-time highs. According to a June 12, 2008 Associated Press story:

â??The latest analysis from the University of Mississippiâ??s Potency Monitoring Project tracked the average amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in samples seized by law enforcement agencies from 1975 through 2007. It found that the average amount of THC reached 9.6 percent in 2007, compared with 8.75 percent the previous year.â?�

Or not. An actual review of the 2008 U-Miss data revealed this nugget of information: The average THC in domestically grown marijuana â?? which comprises the bulk of the US market â?? is less than five percent, a figure thatâ??s remained unchanged for nearly a decade. (See: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/...ncyReports.pdf, page 12)

Which brings us to this year. Naturally, the Feds are once again sounding the alarm, as reported today by CNN: â??Marijuana potency surpasses 10 percent, U.S. says.â?�

I suppose, if nothing else, the governmentâ??s annual â??new and improved potâ?� claims are good advertising for marijuana dealers. As for the rest of the public, itâ??s time for a reality check.

First, itâ??s worth noting that police and lawmakers made these same alarmist claims about the suddenly not-as-dangerous-or-strong-as-we-once-said-it-was pot of the 1960s, â??70s, and 80s. These allegations were false then and they are still false now.

Second, THC â?? regardless of potency â?? is virtually non-toxic to healthy cells or organs, and is incapable of causing a fatal overdose. Currently, doctors may legally prescribe a FDA-approved pill that contains 100 percent THC, and curiously, nobody at the University of Mississippi or at the Drug Czarâ??s office seems to be overly concerned about its potential health effects.

Third, survey data gleaned from cannabis consumers in the Netherlandsâ??where users may legally purchase pot of known qualityâ??indicates that most cannabis consumers prefer less potent pot, just as the majority of those who drink alcohol prefer beer or wine rather than 190 proof Everclear or Bacardi 151. When consumers encounter unusually strong varieties of marijuana, they adjust their use accordingly and smoke less.

Finally, if US lawmakers and government researchers were truly concerned about potential risks posed by supposedly stronger marijuana, they would support regulating the drug, so that its potency would be consistent and this information would publicly displayed to the consumer. (Anyone ever been to a liquor store that sold a brand of booze that didnâ??t post its alcohol content on the label? Didnâ??t think so.)

So letâ??s review, shall we? Our federal government ostensibly wants fewer Americans to consume pot. So they spend billions of dollars outlawing the plant and driving its producers underground where breeders, over time, clandestinely develop stronger and more sophisticated herbal strains than ever existed prior to prohibition. The Feds then inadvertently give Americaâ??s marijuana growers billions of dollars in free advertising by telling the world that todayâ??s weed is more potent than anything Allen Ginsberg, Tommy Chong or Jerry Garcia ever smoked in their heyday. In response, tens of millions of Americans head immediately to their nearest street-corner in search of a dealer (or college student) willing to sell them a dimebag of the new, super-potent cannabis theyâ??ve been hearing about on TV. The Feds then demand more of your hard-earned tax dollars so they can get more Americans â??off the pot.â?�

Then next year we do it all over again: same time, same station.

Any questions?

[Breukelen advocaat]

Only 10 percent? They're making a big stink over such a small amount? Long ago, we used to frequently smoke Nepalese Temple Ball black hash, which was 70 percent THC, and I'm still alive - and wish I had some of it right now. That, or some Tibet Finger Hash. Hell, I'd be more than happy with some black Afghani, or blonde or red Leb.

[Galaxy]

Jacob Sullum | June 1, 2009, 5:23pm

A few weeks ago, I noted the latest government report about ever-stronger marijuana. "According to the latest data on marijuana samples analyzed to date," the Office of National Drug Control Policy announced, "the average amount of THC in seized samples has reached a new high of 10.1 percent." But as Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project notes, these samples included hashish (resin) and hash oil (extract), both concentrated forms of cannabis. The average for just marijuana (leaf and buds) was a substantially lower 8.5 percent, up from 8.1 percent in 2007. A New York Daily News article I quoted made the increase in average THC content look much bigger than that by comparing the 2008 number for marijuana plus hash (10.1 percent) to the 2007 number for what the ONDCP calls "marijuana seizures at Southwest border ports of entry" (7.3 percent).

As I mentioned in my earlier post, it's not clear how representative the samples seized and tested by the government are. Mirken notes that last year "the domestically produced marijuana tested tended to be significantly weaker than the imported stuff, but domestic cannabis only represented 29.7% of the samples tested." By contrast, a 2005 State Department report cited by Mirken suggests that domestic marijuana represents something like two-thirds of the U.S. market.

Regardless of exactly how much average marijuana potency has increased during the last two decades, of course, the government has yet to give a plausible reason for viewing the trend with alarm.

This year's marijuana potency report is here:
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/...report_104.pdf

[the image reaper]

only 10% ? ... hell, I can do better than that, I bet ... at least, I'm working on it :thumbsup: ... the way I look at it (and any halfway intelligent person would analyze it) ... THE STRONGER IT IS, THE LESS YOU HAVE TO SMOKE ! .... duuhhh, that sounds 'healthier' to me ... shouldn't these Government sponsored, ass-wipes be able to comprehend that ? ... :wtf: ... sometimes, ignorance is just plain dumb

[TC42o]

haha ^^ this is the what i keep saying too, less carcinogens smoked and more thc... and they try and spin it bad, their logic is incomprehensible...

[JD1stTimer]

All I want to know is where can I get some?!?! They tease me with their reports!!!

[Xyz505]

:stoned:more thc means more and better high for me which is what i need

[denialisback]

Only 10 percent? They're making a big stink over such a small amount? Long ago, we used to frequently smoke Nepalese Temple Ball black hash, which was 70 percent THC, and I'm still alive - and wish I had some of it right now. That, or some Tibet Finger Hash. Hell, I'd be more than happy with some black Afghani, or blonde or red Leb.

damn straight lmao, 70% indeed. "Proper hash" is approaching 100% THC. I would like to know _what in gods name_ are they talking about.

10%??? 10%? That's considered mids skunk IMO. Things get interesting at 15%+

Seriously thought I barrel laughed out loud hard when I saw the quote 'we're dealing with Cannabis 2.0' - that is FAN TASTIC. The perfect demonstration of ignorance, stupidity and buzz all at once.

wow media, I thought you were invented to ruin and control our lives, but have begun to find out you are full of comical surprises.


hahaaahahah 2.0, the guy must be joking lmao, making a mockery of the labs and scientific research that _actually does has and will continue_ to be carried out. Much more about whether the media wants to 'run with it', you know guys, the saying "run with the story" isn't just a convenient way of saying 'lets do this' - its an inconvenient way of saying - is it on our agenda / can we get away with it / is the government gonna kick our ass over it way of talking and publishing.

Honestly though, bawahahhaha. I can't reply to this thread seriously lol

nice find. sad and hillarious all at once.

Peace,
Denial