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.
CNN Rehashes the THC Potency Debate
May 19th, 2009 by RickIn an ongoing attempt to cover the explosive marijuana issue and the seemingly demise of the war on drugs, CNN’s Anderson Cooper talks about the supposed new THC potency, showing interview clips of Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project and John Walters, dinosaur former drug czar.
John Walters starts it off:
You have more people getting in trouble because there is a wolf in sheep’s clothing here.
This is probably the first honest answer that’s come out of this man’s mouth in a long time — although some people will keep it in the context of him referring to the higher potency of weed and others will know exactly what I am talking about when it comes to drug crusaders that need to take a long walk off a short pier.
The study that all this new information is originating from is through a Mississippi University that tested thousands of strains and have claimed that the THC level has risen to an all time 30 percent within marijuana. Just last year the THC level was supposedly 10.1 percent.
Bruce Mirken sees the new THC potency issue as more rhetoric from the government and opposition:
They’ve used these sorts statistics every year going back twenty or thirty years as an attempt to scare people. Oh my God, it’s a whole new marijuana, it’s way more potent, be afraid. It’s nonsense then and it’s nonsense now.
Mirken believes that if the claims were true, then a more potent marijuana would be a good thing:
THC is essentially non-toxic, so in some ways a higher potency marijuana is actually healthier because the main heath risk associated with marijuana is the respiratory harms of smoking and when it’s more potent people smoke less.
Walters, disagrees:
There’s no evidence of that, if anything the higher potency creates a greater risk of dependency.
Walters goes as far as saying that more and more people are winding up in the emergency rooms and that users may lose control, have trouble concentrating and sleeping — teenagers especially may feel suicidal. This, of course, is all bullshit, as the next day at the MPP website, Mirken commented on his interview at CNN and showed that Walters is a liar.
In a study entitled Vaporization as a Smokeless Cannabis Delivery System: A Pilot Study, published in the Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, researchers at University of California, used marijuana with THC levels of 1.7%, 3.4% and 6.8%. The study was to compare smoking and vaporization so the participants were taken through a “standardized puff procedure.”
Mirken writes:
Although the high-strength marijuana was four times as potent as the weakest, it produced a peak plasma THC level only about 20% higher, smoked or vaporized. This, the researchers wrote, suggests that either less is absorbed at the higher potency levels or there is “self-titration of THC intake,” meaning that “smokers adapt their smoking behavior to obtain desired levels of THC.”
Final note, Mirken brings another example to light of the mainstream news not telling the whole story:
I was disappointed that perhaps the most important thing I said to the interviewer didn’t get on the air. If potency is a concern, there is an obvious solution: Regulate marijuana as we do alcoholic beverages, and require the cannabinoid levels to be listed on the label. If consumers know what they’re getting — as they do now with beer, wine, or Bacardi 151 — they can adjust their behavior to avoid unpleasant surprises.
THC Levels Continue to Increase
May 18th, 2009 by ErinTHC levels in marijuana have been measured and recorded since the 1980s, back when it was ~4%. In contrast, the marijuana we smoke today contains somewhere ~10% THC and is expected to reach ~16% within 5-10 years with advances in genetic manipulation. Some samples that have been checked have even been reported at around 30%; this isn’t just limited to domestic sources like indoor cultivation, but the increasing potency seen even in traditionally low-potency weed sources, like Mexican stress.
The areas of your brain that are affected by THC are the cannabinoid receptors, located in different parts of the brain, responsible for memory, decision-making and cognition. They also release dopamine, the euphoria-inducing hormone that makes us high. When the receptors are flooded, you get the munchies.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta asserts that regular cannabis users consume less marijuana since the THC level is so much stronger.
THC Level in Pot Rises, Per CNN
May 14th, 2009 by RickCNN American Morning reported on the issue of marijuana being the most abused drug in America and the fact that it is also more potent than ever.
CNN Homeland Security corespondent, Jeanne Meserve, visited the University of Mississippi and became privy to the only federal government sanctioned and licensed grow operation/storage area in the United States. Not only do the scientists there have barrels upon barrels of high grade dried marijuana in a vault but they also have an indoor cultivation area that produces large quantities of marijuana used for research.
Thousands of samples of marijuana confiscated in seizures across the country are sent to this department every year. The marijuana is put through a siv, to clean out the seeds and stems, the weed is then weighed, put in a solution and analyzed chemically.
The result of the studies is today’s announcement that the THC level within marijuana has risen for the first time in years to a little over ten percent. Some samples were even found to contain a thirty percent level of the psychoactive ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Mahmoud Elsohly, part of the Mississippi Potency Monitoring Project had this to say about inexperienced users:
They’ll get paranoid, they’ll get irritable and that’s just the opposite of what they were looking for.
CNN goes on to say that because of the higher potency, more people are going to emergency rooms and seeking drug treatment. What? If anyone is going to the emergency room, I strongly doubt it would be from overdose or direct effects from smoking pot.
As usual, they bring in the argument about the kids and them having access to the drug and with it being more potent if it will sway their minds from using it. I’m sure that marijuana, even with it’s ten percent level of THC is better and safer and far less addictive than that ten milli-Percocet or thirty milli-Vicodin, easily found in their parents’ medicine cabinet or even the fifth of Jack stored in the cupboard.
Researchers say that after years of decline, there has been a recent surge in marijuana use. Scientists at the project predict that the THC potency will go up another five percent within five to ten years as marijuana growers learn more sophisticated techniques to cultivating marijuana.
Study: Female Hormones May Counter THC’s Effect on Cognition
April 21st, 2009 by Erin
Experiments done on adult female rats by Louisiana State University have shown that the estrogen produced by ovaries slightly counters the effects that THC has on memory and learning ability. Moreover there has been no research conducted on exposure to THC during the rodent equivalent of adolescence.
In the most recent tests, six female rats with ovaries intact and six female rats with ovaries removed were all exposed to THC during their so-called “adolescent” period, and were trained to perform tasks for food. Upon reaching adulthood, the rats were again exposed to THC and given a test. For comparison, 12 rats (six with ovaries, six without) were given the same tests, but were only exposed to THC during adulthood.
The results showed that the rats exposed to THC during adolescence performed more poorly on their tests overall; with or without ovaries. Although this particular study excluded male rats, it’s yet another insight into the world or the effects of THC.
Don’t let the Partnership for a Drug Free America get their hands on this, it would just be adding fuel to the fire.
Baby Broccoli Sprouts, THC Keep Cancer at Bay
April 14th, 2009 by Rick
What do baby broccoli sprouts and marijuana have in common? Besides the obvious of them both being green, both have substances within them that naturally fight off cancer. Broccoli has a substance in it called sulforaphane, only found in baby broccoli sprouts.
Back in 1992 it was learned that sulforaphane was a premier natural cancer fighter and preventer. It wasn’t until September of 1997 that John Hopkins issued a press release that educated consumers about its beneficial properties. It’s a science now actually, marketed by Brassica under the brand name BroccoSprouts.
Marijuana has that good THC, which was proven in a few studies to fight off cancer. A case was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation about two patients that had dissolved THC mixed with saline introduced into their brain tumors. Researchers found that live cancer cells dropped after a prolonged administration.
[img via carleton500gardener on flickr]
New Progress in THC / Brain Mapping
December 3rd, 2008 by Perry
Some parts of marijuana talk tend to get a bit dry and “science-y” for my tastes, but this Science Daily article talks about exciting chemical progress in marijuana’s active ingredients which could one day lead to a new type of smoke-less medication.
Separate from the already available Dronabinol, Marinol (THC pill) or edible marijuana products, the findings from Scripps Research Kellogg School of Science & Technology uses a chemical reaction which naturally occurs in our body’s cannabinoid receptors, also regulating appetite, inflammation and memory loss.
Basically, they’ve identified and mapped a chemical pathway, at least in mice, that can imitate the effects of THC.
The research uses the body’s naturally producing endocannabinoids, N-arachidonoyl ethanolamine (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) which react with THC, to see if they can chemically stimulate the receptors without THC.
While these reactions have been well documented for years, efforts to specifically study the relationship in a useful manner has been lacking until recently. The breakthrough that made this current step possible is Activity-Based Protein Profiling, a proprietary chemical technique that has been used successfully on other inhibitor hunts.
The benefits? One day the fruits of all these in-depth efforts could lead to the deveopment of treatments for chronic pain, anxiety, depression and even obesity.
How Long Does THC Stay in the System
December 2nd, 2008 by Perry
An article in about About.com regarding how marijuana metabolizes in our system, points out some of the limitations of drug tests and explains how marijuana’s active ingredient, THC, is processed in our system.
It also explains what stays in the system — the metabolites in marijuana which leaves our body through our excretory system — and gets people fired for testing positive in urine drug tests. These metabolites have a “half-life” of about two weeks, but heavy smokers have had a problem up to 90 days, although there’s no authenticity to this claim.
From what I hear, it’s about 50/50 on completely washing out your system with a masking agent, unless you stop smoking at least 48 hours beforehand — any closer than that and you’re taking a pretty good risk that something positive will show up in the results.
