Marijuana is Getting Higher in Potency…Or is It?

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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Marijuana is Getting Higher in Potency…Or is It?

Federal anti-drug officials announced last week that the latest scientific data shows marijuana has become an increasingly potent and dangerous drug—a claim that has been proven false or exaggerated after other government warnings, according to critics. The Office of National Drug Control Policy on Thursday released the latest analysis from the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project that revealed levels of THC (the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) had reached their highest concentration since the government first began testing marijuana in the late 1970s. Whereas THC levels were recorded at 4% in the early 1980s, marijuana samples analyzed in 2009 showed an average level of 10.1%, with some samples reaching as high as 27.3%.

But the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) argues that the alarmist numbers may prove not to be true. NORML points out that last year federal officials claimed THC levels had reached an all-time high of 9.6%, while ignoring their own facts that marijuana grown in the United States (which is what most people smoke) had a THC level of less than 5%. The group also pointed out that according to a study from the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal, cannabis users prefer a pot that’s less potent, just as most drinkers prefer beer or wine to hard alcohols like Everclear or Bacardi 151.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

New Report Finds Highest Levels of THC in U.S. Marijuana to Date (Office of National Drug Control Policy)

Don’t Believe The Hype! Potent Pot, So What? (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws)

Comments

tokey 14 years ago

we should protest like our ancestors did, but not for vietnam, for legal marijuana, there are plenty of legal ways to get out of judicial prosecution for possesion, but still, why hassle with it when all it does is waste tax payers hard earned money and can ruin perfectly succesful family lives? there are more important things to spend tax money on, like getting out of our national debt mabey?

Chevis Young 15 years ago

They are also forgetting the #1 reason why even if this was true, it would be GOOD: More THC=Less Smoke=Less lung damage. 1+1+1=3, right?

Nate 15 years ago

Not to mention that you can't EVER overdose on it. These people are running out of excuses why we should continue to prosecute american citizens.

Mark1965 15 years ago

The governments' claims are simply not credible. These are not random samples they are testing. They never have been. The officers decide which samples they'll send to the Potency Monitoring Project, if any. These days they know what is good and what isn't and they send in the good stuff.

Sam 15 years ago

There is no possible way that in the last 72 years, during prohibition, that we have raised THC levels beyond what has been seen in the last 5,000 years of recorded history. The Chinese were the first to use it as medicine, around 4000 B.C.

paullly 15 years ago

Higher THC only means you smoke less of it, your body tells you when to stop smoking. If you smoke all the time,tolerances are very high and the pot high is mild even if its high TCH. An overdose of THC amounts to getting dizzy and nausea from the dizzyness, which subsides in an hour. Legalize it

Mark montgomery 15 years ago

Pot should be legal. Mexico just legalized possession of small amounts of all drugs. Switzerland just legalized heroin. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and their experience has been positive. Mark Montgomery boboberg@nyc.rr.com

EndtheProhibition 15 years ago

err.. so what, government-approved Marinol is 100% THC. Nobody's ever died from Marinol and nobody's ever died from marijuana either. The federal marijuana prohibition doesn't benefit anybody. It is an expensive, deadly policy that you can end. Legalize marijuana for adults!

AB390 15 years ago

If marijuana has higher THC levels, that means you have to smoke less of it to get high. This makes it easier on your lungs and therefore SAFER than the weaker product. Californians: Visit http://yes390.org to legalize marijuana for adults.

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Marijuana is Getting Higher in Potency…Or is It?

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