THC Potency Claims in Question
June 2nd, 2009 by Rick
For the past couple of weeks, the media has been running a series of reports stating that according to new statistics, marijuana is more potent than ever!
The Marijuana Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi was responsible for the study and report, passing it on to the ONDCP. According to Bruce Mirken, of the Marijuana Policy Project, the full report sheds light on the actual findings.
For instance, the mainstream news has been reporting that THC levels from certain samples had reached a 10.1% – Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske even confirmed that in a statement. The full report shows that only when they mixed hashish with the marijuana that the ten percent THC threshold was crossed.
The average marijuana potency was 8.52%, while the hashish had a THC infused 20.76%. It doesn’t take a PhD in Theoretical Physics to realize that the combination of the two different sources of THC would pump the THC level and ultimately skew the results. Whether it means poor researching on all the mainstream media counterparts, or a clear sign that the media is indeed the 4th branch of the government, the verdict is still out.
Is Pot Becoming More Potent?
November 24th, 2008 by Perry
Looking purely at the potency of government-seized marijuana over the years, a 2008 study recently looked at the percentage of THC, marijuana’s active ingredient, prevalent in the drug.
The results show an effect less dramatic than you might suspect, but the discussion underneath the article identifies several relative points to remember, not the least of which is the influence of law enforcement on the grow industry.
Since the first legalization 12 years ago in California, the potency of seized cannabis more than doubled, after staying relatively close to four percent for nearly 20 years.
DrugMonkey does an excellent job of mapping data points and correlating them with the looseness of official anti-drug messages – the article is a bit long, but definitely worth the read. Also, DM has a deep look into the efficacy of the war on drugs.
