High potency marijuana concerns authorities

[Unknown Beatle]

Published May 21, 2012 but still relevant today.


Phylisha DellaPia, Evidence and Property Technician with the Wilmington Police Department, holds a bag of high potency marijuana compared to a lower grade and lower potency marijuana referred to as brick marijuana beneath it at the Wilmington Police Department Monday, May 21, 2012 in Wilmington, N.C.



Technological advancements have given today's teenagers access to a lot of things their parents could hardly envision at that age: The Internet. iPads. And marijuana many times more powerful than what people smoked in the 1970s.

The rise in marijuana use among teens, as documented by recent national surveys, comes as particularly alarming to health advocates because marijuana is more potent than ever before, experts say. That means the pot youth are smoking today carries a greater risk of harm than what their parents might have experienced a generation ago.

"The people who are growing marijuana have improved their techniques," Stephen Pasierb, president and CEO of the Partnership at Drugfree.org, said in phone interview. "Nobody's cleaning seeds out of marijuana on a record album like they used to do in the old days."

</Snip>

In 1976, an analysis of DEA seizures found an average THC content of between a half and 1 percent. In 2011, that figure was nearing 12 percent, with some samples containing THC levels above 20 and 30 percent, said Mahmoud ElSohly, director of the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project, which conducted the analyses.

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[jberryhill]

1. That must explain all those marijuana overdose deaths

[NightWatcher]

2. ^^^^^for the win

The only way that marijuana can kill you is if a heavy enough bale of it falls on your head.

[zappaman]

19. +1000

Actually, it is good news.
Less smoke with more high is better for your lungs.
Although I tend to vaporize more these days...

[warrant46]

27. I have one comment for the quality of the article

C’est des conneries!

[Fumesucker]

3. I can imagine with it being illegal easier access to teenagers is a real problem

Perhaps they should consider legalizing cannabis in order to curb teens easy access to it?

[Eleanors38]

9. You can't regulate without legalization ^^^

[MNBrewer]

4. I'm sure it does, they've "got our backs"

I mean they're looking over our shoulders.

[BenzoDia]

5. I can smell that image throught the internet.

[lob1]

6. I've seen this story for the last 20 years, at least.

What it means is, instead of having to smoke 1200 pounds of grass to overdose, you'll only have to smoke 1100 pounds of grass to die. What crap.

[Life Long Dem]

7. True

More like, instead of smoking a whole joint from the 70's to reach a ceiling high, you only take a few hits to reach the same ceiling. Anything more when you reach the ceiling high is just a waste of weed.

[Eleanors38]

8. This is true.

[A HERETIC I AM]

46. Back in the day (yes, I'm going there because I'm old!)....

we had what we called "Two toke pot".

Sit in a circle with 4 or 5 people, pass the doob around and as each person got their second toke, they would just drop out of the circle.


I keep hearing about the reefer being so much more potent these days, but I was getting high in Miami in the late 70's/early 80's and you could get Panama Red that was as red as a fire engine and Acapulco and Colombian Gold that was the color of the metal. Thai stick that was tied to a bamboo stick with bamboo thread and dipped in Opium, that kind of shit.

We had plenty of good weed back then, and an OZ of good Gold Bud would run you $45.00

There was plenty of crap around too, don't get me wrong. The kind that smoking two tobacco pipe sized bowls would just give you a headache.

We had "Sea Weed" - reefer that had been thrown overboard by the fast runners coming ashore when being chased by the DEA. We called finding such a bale "Fishing for square Grouper"! You never knew whether it was crap or decent till you lit it up, as it often had been soaked by seawater and dried again.

But the idea that such potent reefer is such a new thing is something I just don't get.

[ArcticFox]

47. this only means digging weed it's getting healthier

Twice the potency means half the smoke.

People will get to the same high either way.

[brewens]

42. I believe it was Gallagher that once said, "don't smoke dope when you're already stoned. You don't

get any stoneder, you just get lower on dope!" No truer words ever said. Having said that, it's probably a good idea for beginners to go easy on the strong stuff. I wouldn't expect many non-smokers to rush out and try weed because it's legal now but there will be a few. Especially a cigarette smoker that's perfectly comfortable inhaling. Take too many nice drags off a bomber of some wicked creeper weed and they might get a little too fried!

That happened to a woman I was with thirty years ago with just some respectable Mexican bud. Not bad for the day but she'd never smoked pot before. I was just out of high school and she was maybe 35 or so. A beautician I had a huge crush on that always flirted with me. I told her I smoked weed and she was asking me all about it. Particularly if I found it to be a good "pantie remover"?

She was WAY out of my league for the day but I did get her to smoke a big fatty with me. This disproved the myth that you can't get high your first time for me. I kind of knew that wasn't true. That comes from many peoples first experience. They don't smoke cigarettes and just don't do it right or maybe only got one or two tokes off some weak weed. That actually happened to me my first time but my second try, after I'd started smoking cigarettes and did it right, I got baked.

We sat at her place, it was a home salon, drank a beer and smoked that joint pretty quickly. It hit her and I'd say she was very uncomfortable for a little while. She was asking me what was in that, like I'd spiked it with angle dust or opium or something. Maybe a little first time paranoia there. I got he to calm down, smoke a cigarette and drink some more and she got used to the buzz and really liked it.

It was kind of funny really. A successful divorced woman in her own home, spraying air freshener and asking me what she should do with the roach! Like tossing that in the garbage might get her busted or a neighbor might stop by and smell it. I'd probably had weed on me or in my car every day, everywhere I went for at least a couple of years.

This was about 1981 when it seemed like we might see legalization in the near future. You could be out most places as long as you were somewhat discreet and no one would give you any trouble if they smelled it. Little did we know that the right-wingers would launch such an anti-drug hysteria campaign and roll things back so dramatically. It got so that you had to hide even at the beach because some asshole might have a cell phone and call the cops. Now we're finally seeing things turn like they should have by 1990.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

10. Gregory Peckinpaugh, domestic cannabis eradication suppression coordinator

How can I become a Domestic Cannabis Eradication Suppression Coordinator? Sounds like a really cool job--for a fucking narc.

Other highlights from the article:
"The rise in marijuana use among teens, as documented by recent national surveys, comes as particularly alarming to health advocates because marijuana is more potent than ever before, experts say. That means the pot youth are smoking today carries a greater risk of harm than what their parents might have experienced a generation ago."
(they're claiming increased THC content leads to more "harm". Rationale for this? There's not one.)

But reading on to the next page, I found out that pot is harmful after all. It's creating a generation of psychotics:
"They end up with psychosis, psychological problems, panic disorder, things of that nature, because their body is not used to that material," ElSohly said.

"The science behind the practice has produced a shadowy subculture of rogue horticulturists concerned about whether product quality will affect their reputation."
(Dope growers want their product to be a high quality product. Therefore, they're part of a shadowy subculture)

But at least these crimefighting geniuses have a discerning eye:
"Seasoned investigators have learned to distinguish at a glance enhanced marijuana from what they refer to as "brick weed," so called because traffickers compress it to sneak as much as possible across the border."

So someone on the staff of some newspaper decided to interview a bunch of drug warriors whose livelihoods depend on marijuana being illegal. Lo and behold, the drug warriors were happy to confirm that marijuana is, in fact, Very Bad Stuff.

DUers from different regions: does this seem like daily fare to you, or does it seem really out of place? I have a cheap theory that those of us living on the west coast don't hear nearly as much in the way of anti-marijuana propaganda as those in the midwest, south, and east coasts do. Thoughts?

[MindPilot]

22. Apparently it doesn't turn you into a mush-brained authoritarian prick

And clearly that is an issue for them.

Yes, you're right, I see very little of this kind of twaddle here on the border, and when I do see it, it is usually some dweeb posting in the comments section.

Is it at all possible that "psychosis, psychological problems, panic disorder, things of that nature" are actually normal reactions to a crumbling economy, dilapidated infrastructure, hopelessly corrupt government, and limited prospects for the future?

[SomethingFishy]

11. Authorities Still Think Reefer Madness Was A Documentary...

The ignorance is astounding.

Psst "Authorities".. let me help you here. Yes the pot now is way better than the shwag I used to get. You know what that means? It means I buy less and smoke less you morons.

[immoderate]

36. You know!

The best weed I ever had was in 1970. (Best hashish in '69.) Sure this is subjective, and I don't want to advertise my credentials -- but I know about this.

The Cheeba from Columbia has not been surpassed.

--imm

[Blue_In_AK]

13. Oh, please,

nobody's been cleaning out seeds for decades, unless they grow their own and are saving them for the next crop (not that I would know anything about that). Everyone's been killing off the males for years. And I doubt that today's street weed is any stronger than the Thai sticks, etc. that we used to get back in the '60s.

It's always something with these people.

[EOTE]

20. There's still an awful lot of brick out there.

Pretty shitty stuff, but it's cheap. For cooking, I usually prefer brick to sinse in terms of value. I find it tends to provide just as much of a body high while being considerably cheaper. For smoking, sinse wins hands down, but good I've found brick is extremely abundant, at least where I'm at.

[Blue_In_AK]

24. You're probably right.

Since I haven't bought any in quite a few years, I'm not really sure about Anchorage's supply or quality. We've always been known for good weed, though, so I can't imagine that things have changed all that much. Do you remember Matanuska Thunderf***? http://www.weedreviewer.com/2010/08/matanuska-thunderfuck/

[Ellipsis]

14. She seems to be looking at that bag with admiration...

[MindPilot]

15. "Hmm...I really can't wait to retire." n/t

[JaneyVee]

16. Quality over quantity.

[EOTE]

17. How awful that people today won't need to smoke a gram+ in order to get high!

And instead they'll be able to smoke .1 or .2 grams! What are we going to do now that people have less particulate matter in their lungs? Let's get the fuzz on this immediately.

[WinkyDink]

18. Don't bogart that bag, my friend.

[ohheckyeah]

21. Their assessment

of the THC levels is probably as accurate as the street value they put on drug busts.

"Today police confiscated 2 pounds of marijuana, estimated to have a street value of $500,000."

What crap pot were they testing in the 70s because we had some damn good shit.

[Earth_First]

23. ...and the kids aren't smoking an entire gram at a time like their parents were either...

higher potency strains requires much less for the desired effect.

A gram can last me a day or two some weeks.

[Boxerfan]

25. I'm in it for the medicine...And I go back to the 60's as a user...Todays stuff is mostly all Tits-

No ass...

Sorry to be so crude but its my analogy.

Most of the modern strains are "stylized". Pretty is good-lots of chrystals etc...Dominantly Indica strains
Well & good for certain users. But the best medicine strains for me(and it varies) is Sativa's.

The stuff from way back when was much more complex & had soaring highs & long lasting effects. Not the couch lock stuff.

I was lucky to get a hold of some very good genetics way back when & have kept the strains as pure medicine wise as possible.
I'm happy & have been keeping to myself for the most part. My current strain is a cross of lowland thai(the origional gifted plant) and African Pure Power Plant(another long ago gift). Yowza stuff that lets me stay busy & happy w/o muscular / joint pain.

[tridim]

32. The old stuff is still available. The Dutch made sure of it.

You just have to grow it yourself in a legal state.

[Unknown Beatle]

37. I'm partial to indica myself.

It helps me enjoy playing my guitar and listening to music. Plus, it relaxes me and gets rid of my minor pains.

I guess different buds for different studs (only thing I could think of that rhymes with buds).

[RedCappedBandit]

26. Oh no! The authorities are concerned!!!

[cali]

28. Marijuana cultivation has become like wine making

it's about thc, sure, but also taste and aroma. there are strains like lavender kush and banana kush.

[RainDog]

29. hemp has less than 0.3% THC. I call bullshit on this claim

The claim that marijuana seized in the 1970s had 0.5% THC is really, really hard to believe.

If you read the way this article is written - it's a propaganda hit piece, talking about growers as "almost religious" in their attention to their crops. WTF?? That's not reporting. What, should they slack off and be poor business people/farmers? Would they make the same comment about people who have vineyards? No. Does the same sort of attention occur? Yes.

Nevertheless, the reality is that, back in the day, people smoked a lot more for the same effect. Now people smoke a lot less for the same effect. This article calls this "enhanced marijuana." This meme is STUPID. It's actually the bud, the flower bud, rather than a mashed up block of weed, stems, and some flowers. It's the difference between eating a gourmet meal or opening a can of spam. It's just that simple.

In places where mj is legally or quasi-legally available, people are able to make informed choices about the levels of various cannabinoids in the mj they purchase.

The person in charge of the potency testing (in the only legal grow in the U.S., in Miss.) had this to say in the article:

Because long-term marijuana users develop tolerance for the drug, ElSohly said the stakes were higher for young people whose bodies are unaccustomed to high-grade marijuana's powerful effects.

"They end up with psychosis, psychological problems, panic disorder, things of that nature, because their body is not used to that material," ElSohly said.

While I don't advocate for cannabis use in young people unless they have a medical condition for which it ameliorates suffering, the claims of psychosis, panic disorder is something ENTIRELY different than having discomfort from too much THC v. CBD. The way to stop that "anxiety," if someone has it (tho many do not) is to let an hour pass and do some deep breathing... the THC doesn't continue to evoke anxiety if it's no longer within the parameters of "under the influence." Alternately, if someone had some hemp available, one toke of it would counter the THC and immediately stop a feeling of unease, as has been demonstrated repeatedly... along with tests that show that some people do not like mj with more than a certain percentage of THC to CBD. So, informed consumers would deal with this issue.

As the leading pharmacologist in the UK, Roger Pertwee has noted, psychosis (schizophrenia) and mj use shows no causal basis. Instead, those who were already predisposed to schizo-affective disorders were at greater risk - not all the population.

Here are some facts about schizophrenia - its onset is, typically, within the same narrow window of teenage and young adult ages as those most likely, in the general population, to use mj anyway.

Schizophrenia is a disease that typically begins in early adulthood; between the ages of 15 and 25. Men tend to get develop schizophrenia slightly earlier than women; whereas most males become ill between 16 and 25 years old, most females develop symptoms several years later, and the incidence in women is noticably higher in women after age 30. The average age of onset is 18 in men and 25 in women. Schizophrenia onset is quite rare for people under 10 years of age, or over 40 years of age. The diagram below demonstrates the general "age of onset" trends for schizophrenia in men and women, from a representative study on the topic.

(from schizophrenia facts)

So, the guy is trying to claim correlation equals causation. That's not a scientifically sound argument.

Rates of schizophrenia are generally similar from country to country—about .5% to 1 percent of the population (there are variations - but the variance is difficult to track due to differing measuring standards in many countries, etc.).

If cannabis caused schizophrenia (psychosis), then those nations with large populations of cannabis users would have higher rates of schizophrenia... but they don't. (Actually, what's called "schizophrenia" varies from nation to nation, too, in how it is expressed and dx'd, but numbers aren't that different.)

Then this, from the article-

Lt. J.A. LeBlanc, an investigator with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office's Vice and Narcotics Unit, said users have become choosey with the quality of marijuana they consume, refusing to even buy the drug unless it meets a high standard.

Again, that gourmet meal vs can of spam thing. I guess people don't actually find mj addictive if they choose to pass up any type available. A junkie wouldn't do that, if spam was all that was around.

What a mixed up, jumbled up, cooked up propaganda piece that was. Or rather, it's merely a reiteration of the standard "acceptable" mainstream view of marijuana and THE FEAR that mainstream media has of telling the truth about this substance.

[madinmaryland]

30. Huh? Big Tobacco has taken over the marijuana industry and has added tobacco ingredients

into mj???

[tridim]

31. Regular potency marijuana "concerns" authorities too.

As does ditch-weed and zero-THC Hemp.

Their "concern" denies our freedom every day.

[Ed Suspicious]

34. There seems to be a increasing amount of marijuana concern stories lately. What's with the negative

branding campaign in the media lately? I don't smoke so I have no real dog in the fight, but I find the woo to be pretty frustrating.

[RainDog]

39. Patrick Kennedy is one of the leading bullshitters in this campaign

it's sad to see, really. He's not an anti-vaxxer, as far as I can tell, but it appears he has his own "scientific" stupidity to share with the world.

this is a push back from social conservatives.

the fight is lost, though.

prohibition is ending. the question, now, is what side of history will various pols be on?

will they end up on the side full of racists that brought on prohibition in the first place, or will they be on the side of history that is trying, again, to stop the neo-slavery of the private prison/mj prohibition economy?

Not too many national politicians seem to be interested in being right about this issue - because money means more to American politicians than civil rights and the wrong that is prohibition.

...cause they know they, nor their family members, will ever have to face the same sort of justice, or, rather, injustice regarding this issue because of their elite status.

It's another iteration of the plutocracy.

[burnodo]

35. high potency marijuana means

an individual needs less to achieve the same effect

The authorities should be in favor of this development, since it will mean a huge drop in marijuana related deaths. Oh, wait...

[badtoworse]

38. I wonder how the modern weed would stack up against some good, 70's vintage hash.

[sigmasix]

40. better medicine for cancer fighters!

I've been fighting intestinal cancer for 10 years. I have been on several different experimental chemotherapy regimes and have had 4 major surgeries wherin I have lost entire organs as well as feet of intestine. My life has been reduced in size to the space between my bed and my bathroom. Medicinal Marijuana offers the only relief from constant sickness, cramps and depression. I have found that good medicine enables me to participate in my family's life and tolerate the discomfort and illness enough to be able to say that all of the pain and illness is worth it to be able to be here. If not for medicinal marijuana, the quality of my life would be horribly unbearable. The better the quality, the less plant matter I have to smoke- which is better for my lungs. Every Oncologist I've ever met approves of and encourages my use of medicinal Marijuana- even though my state's politicians don't-
Medicinal Marijuana is the next federal civil rights struggle -after marriage equality- and the pressure of history assures us that de-criminalization will happen in America.

[Beearewhyain]

41. Ahhhh, another marijuana article meant to scare people that think

it is only used by Jazz musicians, Beat poets and other ne'er do wells.

[msongs]

43. I wish "authorities" were concerned with the corporate and wall street financial rape of the USA nt

[Sunlei]

44. "Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project" i see a little hole on that bag

[jmowreader]

48. We've been reading this same shit ever since caucasians discovered weed

In drug and alcohol school at Fort Drum in 1993, the nice cop from the New York State Police told us we must be vigilant because weed was 10x stronger than it was 20 years ago. If the pot farmers keep this up, eventually pot plants will be all THC and no herbaceous material. And 20 years after that, pot will be so strong just looking at a picture on the internet will get you stoned - which will fuck the pot trade, but that's the price of progress.

Between reprinting propaganda and claiming good weed from the Seventies had the approximate THC percentage of a hemp t-shirt, one must wonder if they read the propaganda or if there's a timer that dumps boilerplate on the AP wire regularly.

[Uncle Joe]

49. I been told that the wine Jesus made wasn't as potent as today's

fermented fruit of the grape either.

Thanks for the thread, Unknown Beatle.