Marijuana Potency Reaches 30-Year High

[Roon]

WASHINGTON -- Marijuana potency increased last year to the highest level in more than 30 years, posing greater health risks to people who may view the drug as harmless, according to a report released Thursday by the White House.

The latest analysis from the University of Mississippi'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.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/16584627/detail.html

[underpants]

1. I love how the White House tries to spin this as a health problem

and the prof in that article just makes them look...well ...like squares


:bounce:

I love that this is in the "Staying Healthy" section!!!

[unpossibles]

3. well, there was that study that said smoking a joint every 15 minutes all day

would mess with your heart rate.

;)

[jmowreader]

17. And, in fact, they're absolutely right

I think they call this phenomena "asphyxiation." There's not that much smoke in a house fire.

[redqueen]

2. Health risks?

:spray:

This, while they refuse to test for CJP... relax air quality standards... increase speed limits... approve the sale of pharmaceuticals that maybe need more testing, etc?

That's rich.

[underpants]

5. Isn't war a health risk?

I mean I HAVE seen the pictures

:shrug:

Oh BTW- no tomatoes at the salad bar. The guy told me they stopped receiving them yesterday. BUT ones grown here in Virginia ARE safe. Which is nice.

[RadiationTherapy]

4. Higher %-age = less fiber smoked for effect = better for the lungs. nt

[RainDog]

6. exactly

people I have known recently who happened to do that sort of thing, at least I thought so but maybe I was wrong officer mike, didn't smoke a joint like when I was younger. instead they would just do ONE hit on a bong, or two at the most.

so, yeah, hybrids are more potent, which means ppl use less.

from what I understand, unless you already have problems with mental issues and don't respond well, if you smoke a lot it would just put you to sleep.

[nomorenomore08]

19. "Marijuana overdose" = falling asleep. Hardly a major health crisis.

nt

[Carnea]

7. Is this why the inflation rate is so low?

More powerful mary jane effecting the basket of goods...

[DarkTirade]

8. ...

[NJmaverick]

9. I remember attending a lecture on illegal drugs

they talked about how pot had to compete with all the stronger and better drugs. So they were finding ways to boost its strength. One of the tricks, at that time, was to soak the stuff in embalming fluid. The problem was that stuff would blister skin. So when people smoked too much, they would tend to damage the lungs and end up with pneumonia. That's why back then you started hearing about more people in their teens and twenties ending up with pneumonia and sometimes dying from it.

[galledgoblin]

21. that's why you need to know your supplier

buy local!

[RainDog]

24. actually, I think that's b.s.

the truth is that if less of a bulky fiberous plant that's also illegal will accomplish the same thing or something better than something that takes up lots of space, then of course someone would prefer to create the more potent plant.

Not only that, the truth is that commercial mj growers work indoors, not out in some abandoned field b/c they can control the growth cycle of the plants and remove any males, which is, in fact, how potency is increased. that and using hybrids, or "clones" of plants that have been bred for their thc, the psychoactive ingredient in pot.

It takes less space to grow in other words, as well as less space to store or to handle.

Hard drugs and mj are really not in the same ballpark.

I think mj should be legal. Actually, I think drug use should be dealt with as a health problem, not a criminal one. Anything can be a drug... chocolate or coffee... everything that we ingest has an impact upon our brains and nervous systems.

I don't know when teens were dying from pneumonia from smoking pot soaked in embalming fluid. Just another reason, I suppose, why mj should be legal and regulated like alcohol to keep it away from teenagers and to keep disreputable people from messing with it.

pot has medicinal value that is not available in any other way that ppl know of at this time. smoking it allows someone to titrate the exact dose because the effects are immediate. the side effects of pot are no worse, and in many cases better than side effects of pharmceuticals prescribed to children, even.

mj has been "marketed" as dangerous. aspirin had been marketed as helpful. aspirin can kill you if you overdose. not so, or no reported cases ever with mj.

[regularguy]

10. Beer potency has been increasing also. YAY! nt

[JVS]

27. We have the 40 and a blunt movement to thank for these developments.

[montanto]

11. Yay!!

[BarenakedLady]

12. Oh sure

Now that I'm old with no contacts.

[Karenina]

30. Don't worry, they're bullshitting.

Nothing I've tasted in the 30 years since "our boys" came back from southeast Asia with the REAL GOODS has come close. PROPAGANDA and nothing more. Today's kids don't even really know what "One hit, no shit" means.

[Book Lover]

13. Excellent!

So what you're saying is that it takes fewer puffs to get high? Sounds good to me :-)

[Lyric]

14. They don't care about our health. They care about our productivity, and

they're terrified that marijuana might lead to people waking up from the work and stress-induced stupor of typical American life.

Free Mary Jane! (from someone who doesn't even smoke it)

[Forkboy]

15. ....

[sammythecat]

16. Terrorist fist jabs all around!

:thumbsup:

[fizzgig]

18. they're still pushing the gateway drug bullshit?

that should make me a hopeless smack addict :eyes:

[SPKrazy]

25. Tobacco is considered the gateway drug

one thing that the vast majority of persons addicted to anything have in common is tobacco use. Not all, but enough that it gives a statistical probability that there is a correlation. What is that? Unknown except that nicotine is addictive. You go to any addiction treatment center and outside it now, not in, you'll find a crowd of smokers and coffee drinkers. Dopamine regulation? Many theories no answers.

The marijuana as gateway drug is only in the sense that most people don't go straight to harder drugs but are introduced to them through people that they come in contact through using other drugs, such as marijuana, and perhaps even tobacco :P

:hi: smackhead! :rofl:

[Reverend_Smitty]

28. which is a perfect reason to legalize weed...

if people bought weed through legitimate sources like the coffee houses in Amsterdam, they'd come in contact with less drug dealers wanting to push the "harder" stuff on them.

[Fleshdancer]

20. As it should be after what we've been through for the past 8 years n/t

[frickaline]

22. wow a 30 year high?

That really *IS* potent :rofl:

[Reverend_Smitty]

23. ROFL...that *is* some good shit!

:smoke:

[JVS]

26. Long live progress.

[Orsino]

29. Just as * is coming off of his.

Coincidence? I think not!