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Today's pot twice as strong as 1980s pot

Monday, June 16, 2008 11:43 PM PDT

By Leslie Slape

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The potency of marijuana grown today is more than double the level of 1980s marijuana, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Thursday, the two agencies released the latest analysis from the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project, which has been scientifically analyzing seized marijuana samples since 1976.

The current level of THC — the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana — averages 9.6 percent, according to the latest data. This compares to an average of under 4 percent reported in 1983 and represents more than a doubling in the potency of the substance since that time.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy attributes the growing potency to sophisticated growing techniques that drug traffickers are using at sites in the United States and Canada.

In the Potency Monitoring Project’s most recent quarterly report, the highest level of THC found in a single marijuana sample was 37.2 percent.

John Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy, expressed serious concerns about the increased potency.

“Baby Boomer parents who still think marijuana is a harmless substance need to look at the facts,” he said in a news release. “Marijuana potency has grown steeply over the past decade, with serious implications in particular for young people, who may be not only at increased risk for various psychological conditions, cognitive defects and respiratory problems, but are also at significantly higher risk for developing dependency on other drugs.”

To read the whole report online, visit  www.WhiteHouseDrugPolicy.gov

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cynic954 wrote on Jun 17, 2008 8:37 AM:

" HELP HELP big brother tdn reefer madness is striking again "

klp1102 wrote on Jun 17, 2008 9:53 AM:

" How are they doing their testing? "

Kaijakoira wrote on Jun 17, 2008 1:57 PM:

" Yeah, shame on TDN for presenting facts based on research and providing a link so people can read the official report for themselves. TDN is obviously part of a government plot to destroy people's purple-hazed fantasies. "

cynic954 wrote on Jun 17, 2008 2:50 PM:

" Kaijakoira What part of www.WhiteHouseDrugPolicy did you miss? Of course our government has never misled our country or distorted facts and figures about anything before. Check out the movie Reefer Madness watch it you will lyao then guess who had the movie made. "

Kaijakoira wrote on Jun 17, 2008 3:53 PM:

" Cynic954: What part of "University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project" did you miss? Or did you assume the study was conducted by GeeDub & staff? Did you even READ the report? I don't typically get my facts from movies. Is that where you usually find yours? "

cynic wrote on Jun 18, 2008 12:11 AM:

" the program is conducted by GeeDub & staff. Its funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the reports are released by them in conjuntion with the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Do you really believe that there is no "editing" done or that a decimal point might get moved during printing? As for the movie Reefer Madness it was made by a "Drug Czar" of a long ago administration "

Crystal wrote on Jun 18, 2008 3:23 AM:

" The report is somewhat true, but I doubt a study was really needed. The reason why it is more potent now is because back then people used the whole cannabis plant, including the stems, which have no THC. Now people use only the budding parts, where all the THC is located. "

dogshead wrote on Jun 18, 2008 6:57 AM:

" The good news is that instead of having to smoke a 'cheech sized' joint, two tokes will do. Much less smoke and associated lung-damaging crap enter the lungs. Also, little advertised is the fact that thc is absorbed very quickly in the lungs. Do not hold to smoke in lungs beyond a few seconds, it only permits the smoke to cause more damage to the lung. "

Rosey Glasses wrote on Jun 18, 2008 8:48 AM:

" Of course it is more potent. Gee, the paper industry didn't like the competition and lobbied to ban the tch free hemp (no high) in order to stop the growth of all members of the family. Now, growers strive to grow less, yet have stronger in order to supply the demand. Tax it and controll it like alcohol and cigaretts. (thus let the free market work and the taxes pay for the treatment for those who need it, just like cigarettes). Oh wait.. those taxes aren't distributed to the funds that they are supposed to when they are collected. Too bad our greedy government can't get a clue! But the lobbying people don't want that, we could bring ourselves out of the national debt our government has put us into. If all were allowed to grow for personal use (like Alaska) the need for higher tch content would deminish. "

rosy wrote on Jun 18, 2008 10:30 AM:

" While I'm not prone to reading government propaganda, I would like to know where you go to volunteer to test the substance.:-D "

cynic wrote on Jun 18, 2008 10:39 AM:

" rosey glasses wouldnt work. Pot is too easy to grow. Its a weed. Would you voluntary pay taxes on the pot that you grew if it was legal? tobacco is not that easy to grow and cure. The human race is a very competive, "mine is bigger than yours mentality" or with the growers it is "mine is so good you only have to walk by it to get high". "

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