Drug War Stupidity: Cannabis Potency Hysteria

As cannabis has become more socially acceptable, the prohibitionists have been struggling to find arguments against its use. They never made a good case (if you ask me) but they have really been stretching the limits of their imagination in recent years. One of the weaker arguments that seems to be appearing more often these days is an attack on the allegedly higher potency of modern marijuana. It goes like this, marijuana is stronger than it was at some point in the past and, therefore, is "dangerous."

This point is nonsense for a number of reasons, not the least of which is its basic premise. That is to say, that stronger equals dangerous marijuana. This works off the false assumption that a user will use just as much regardless of potency and this is false. We all know, that overly exuberant cannabis dosing can be unpleasant but not dangerous. People who are not ready for that kind of experience can suffer from paranoia, panic, and a general "icky" feeling. In the real world where facts and common sense matter, a cannabis consumer meters his or her dose based on quality. If your weed is strong you smoke less, simple. This actually makes cannabis consumption safer, as a person need not inhale a large quantity of harsh smoke. Sadly, prohibitionists and their mouthpieces (I would call them pieces of something else but that's beside the point) in the media, conveniently, fail to mention this aspect of high potency cannabis.

Even if the premise was true (which it isn't), their "evidence" for this trend is weak. They often site THC content and compare it to decades old tests that were preformed under completely different parameters and hold this up as proof of their point. This is incredibly dishonest and misleading. A lot things have been written on this subject so I won't go into great detail but I will briefly explain the issue. In the past the standard practice used be to test the entire plant for THC content. These tests included the roots, stems, and seeds and, since many parts of the plant have little or no THC, the average THC content of a given plant appeared to be rather low. This has changed in the last twenty-five years, however. Now, only the usable parts of the plant are tested which gives a much higher reading. The age, storage, and transportation of modern cannabis also contributes today's supposedly higher potency. In days of yore, most cannabis in the U.S. was shipped in from mexico in the form of bricks. These bricks were often old, poorly cured, and shipped in less than ideal conditions. All these things negatively affect quality and give the false impression that modern weed is significantly stronger than it really is. The truth is that weed isn't that much more potent now. It is preserved and cared for better which makes for better quality on the consumer level but that is a difference in how we treat cannabis and not a difference in the cannabis itself.

(Some old time brick weed. Image credit: freeimages.com)

When all else fails they just straight up lie to us. It is undeniable that there is more good smoke in circulation these days but the media and the prohibitionists lie about how good that good weed is. If you don't mind depressing yourself, google some news stories on this subject. You will find people saying things like "marijuana is hundreds of times stronger today" and so on. This can be disproved with basic math. They will state that marijuana was three to five percent THC in the past (we already covered why this is false) if you multiply three percent by one hundred (less than many of the claims that I have read, by the way) you end up with three hundred percent. So if we take them at their word a modern bud is three times its own weight of THC. Clearly this is untrue but the masses, being unlikely to investigate a claim they hear on the news, go about their lives believing that there is some dangerous super weed on the market.

Can we get some of this mythical super weed? Please.

Clearly, this potency hysteria is utter nonsense. If you come across someone who makes this claim pleas consider correcting the record if you are able.

Peace.

This is the third installment of my continuing series of brief posts that are intended to highlight some of the dumber aspects of the drug war. If you liked this post, please feel free to check out my page for more similar content.

Unless otherwise credited, the images in this post are sourced from the free image website unsplash.com.