Reefer Madness: Study: Marijuana potency increases in 2007

[devilgrrl]

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer 55 minutes ago

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. It found that the average amount of THC reached 9.6 percent in 2007, compared with 8.75 percent the previous year.

The 9.6 percent level represents more than a doubling of marijuana potency since 1983, when it averaged just under 4 percent.

"Today's report makes it more important than ever that we get past outdated, anachronistic views of marijuana," said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He cited baby boomer parents who might have misguided notions that the drug contains the weaker potency levels of the 1970s.

"Marijuana potency has grown steeply over the past decade, with serious implications in particular for young people," Walters said. He cited the risk of psychological, cognitive and respiratory problems, and the potential for users to become dependent on drugs such as cocaine and heroin.



more bullshit here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080612/ap_on_he_me/marijuana_potency_1

[Selatius]

1. You could regulate the THC levels if you, well, legalized the growing and transport of it.

Just my views on it, though. Prohibition gets you nowhere.

[madeline_con]

2. Yep, that "gateway" shit is all they have.

Couldn't prove it's addictive, so they say you'll try "harder" stuff if you :smoke:

[dysfunctional press]

9. tobacco and alcohol are the REAL gateway drugs.

nt

[MrSlayer]

3. Smoking pot has the potential to make you dependent on heroin?

What fucking planet do these idiots live on?

[Wizard777]

4. LMAO! That's nothing. 28% hybrids in Amsterdam.

[Carnea]

5. Why is higher potency a health risk????

Wouldn't you smoke less????

[madeline_con]

13. Maybe smokers will gain weight. n/t

[skids]

18. Stop making sense. There you go with that inductive logic again. n/t

[dysfunctional press]

6. how is smoking pot supposed to make me dependent on cocaine and heroin?

:shrug:

btw- tobacco and alcohol are BY FAR the most widely illegally used gateway drugs going...

because the vast majority of people who start drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco do so long before they reach the legal age to do so. pot is a very distant third as an illegally used gateway drug.

[seemslikeadream]

7. yea that's why I do one hits now

[uncle ray]

8. why haven't i heard about the great technological breakthrough

that increased marijuana's potency by ten percent in one year?


what's real funny, when you get busted, they weight it all, stems, seeds, dirt, it all counts as marijuana when you are charged. i suspect however, they cherry pick the best buds to get their inflated numbers for potency.

fuck their drug war.

[Webster Green]

10. Good!

Selective breeding is a beautiful thing. :hippie:

[Bozita]

11. And the up to the minute count of deaths due to MJ overdose is ... ?

[Occulus]

12. Imagine that. And here I thought that one of the reasons for not legalizing the PLANT was

because THC couldn't be regulated per plant, THC being a natural component and all.

Silly me. I thought that if they could test for the amount of THC per plant, they could breed strains of cannabis sativa possessing reasonably controlled doses of the psychoactive chemicals. But no, apparently selective breeding doesn't work with plants weeds cannabis. Or something.

:grr: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :grr:

[Dark]

14. Don't they trot out this bullshit every year?

n/t

[madeline_con]

15. yes, along with flag burning and gay marriage.

To remind idiots how to vote.

[Dark]

16. After seeing pictures of the 60s and 70s, I have a hard time believing MJ's gotten stronger.

n/t

[alfredo]

19. I'd like to do a study. Actually, the people in the study were very heavy

smokers, not the one or two toke smokers.

[XemaSab]

20. All you Baby Boomers who THINK you got high back in the day?

You totally didn't.

NOW marijuana will fuck you up even worse than crack.

So if you're even THINKING about telling your kids (or grandkids) it's okay to smoke some pot, THINK AGAIN!

How would you feel if you saw your son raping the family dog? Or saw your daughter giving blowjobs in an alley to dirty, smelly, VD-ridden homeless people?

Yeah, that's what could happen if your kids smoke pot!

SERIES! It's way more potent now! You don't know WHAT could happen! :o

[spag68]

25. You sir are an idiot

alcol is the one sure way to depravity get it straight.

[madeline_con]

39. Dickin' the dog?!

Now, that's really taking liberties with the possibilities. It's like committing suicide while listening to Judas Priest. You'd have to have a predisposition for animal abuse WAAAAY before ya smoked. :rofl:

[madeline_con]

38. They dropped a lot of acid back in the day.

The naked dancing at Woodstock? Probably trippin' ballz.

[underpants]

37. (W tapping fingers on his chair) What have we got? Um sir we can run THIS back up the flagpole

W:Yeah okay whatever hey how much longer do I have to sit here?

[TexasObserver]

17. it's a gateway drug to Snickers, and Doritos, and Salsa, and Dip, and Ice Cream

[Swamp Rat]

21. Only idiots believe what they hear coming from the White House.

:dunce:

[opihimoimoi]

22. Where can I find some of that shit??? Damn...I be missing out....LOL

[Swamp Rat]

24. I need something... I'd like to smoke me some impeachment weed.

:smoke: I've lost tolerance for the anti-impeachment dickheads posting on the Internets.

[opihimoimoi]

29. all the Pub Coke Heads ranting on fuckin weed...WTF is that???We need shit too

[Hubert Flottz]

34. Kool-aide has killed thousands since 2000...

And the repubs are still lapping the shit up by the snoot-full.

Edit...I guess we all have our own Jones to bear and I think the shit that the GOPers been sippin' goes all the way back to the GOPer's biggest Jones...



The perverted pubs stay so zoned out on the Jim Jones model Kool-aide that when they tried to put two and two together in 2000 all they could come up with was 2 @$$holes...named Bush and Dick...

[trusty elf]

35. You gotta have faith!

[Hubert Flottz]

36. I think George is smoking some of that Monkey Weed!

Or over some seriously over-ripe Banana peels...

Edit Again...I can't believe that this thread only has one Hell Yeah! Thirteen recommends sounds about right!

[spag68]

23. pot potency

having smoked my first pot in 1960 I can tell you for sure that this is bullshit. In thy 60s average for pot was 12to 14% and the hash was available up to 22%. Smoke that stuff and the time dilation was extensive,and we bitched about the quality if we "came down" after only 4 or 5 hours.When the Colombians got their hands into it the quality went in the dumper,just got steadily worse as commercial crops were needed to satisfy the demand. Pot is so mellow these days I don't even bother,but if I could get some of the old stuff I'd sure have at it.I guess our only chance is Amsterdam, or BC, maybe Hawaii.just allow me to grow my own and I'll be a happy camper.

[Monk06]

26. I stopped smoking BC Bud ten years ago and it was totally Chemo then

Decide to stop smoking because I couldn't afford
it. Never had the slightest urge to smoke again.

Pot is less addictive than Pizza by a mile.

[bananas]

30. mmmm, Pizza!

[Monk06]

31. Are you a mushroom/capicolo person or a green pepper, artichoke and feta type person?

[bananas]

32. Onions and pineapple!

On a whole-wheat crust!

[Monk06]

33. Throw some sliced garlic on that and you have a winner. Maybe some chili flakes for extra zip.

[Vickers]

27. Twice as strong? So that means what?

I'd listen to twice as much Pink Floyd now?

:shrug:

[opihimoimoi]

28. 2X as good man...

[librechik]

40. Oh, trotting out this old story--AGAIN

what a crock. Fear mongers on the loose again.

Let's see, how powerful is a cluster bomb?

But let's ignore that and pounce on the pot users.

[Echo In Light]

41. They ran out of bogus "gateway" memes long ago - have to rely on re-framing old propaganda