Marijuana Is Too Strong Now - The Atlantic
Marijuana Is Too Strong Now - The Atlantic
As weed has become easier to obtain, it has become harder to smoke.
In 2022, the federal government reported that, in samples seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration, average levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC—the psychoactive compound in weed that makes you feel high—had more than tripled compared with 25 years earlier, from 5 to 16 percent. That may understate how strong weed has gotten. Walk into any dispensary in the country, legal or not, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a single product advertising such a low THC level. Most strains claim to be at least 20 to 30 percent THC by weight; concentrated weed products designed for vaping can be labeled as up to 90 percent.
The high that most adult weed smokers remember from their teenage years is most likely one produced by “mids,” as in, middle-tier weed. In the pre-legalization era, unless you had a connection with access to top-shelf strains such as Purple Haze and Sour Diesel, you probably had to settle for mids (or, one step down, “reggie,” as in regular weed) most of the time. Today, mids are hard to come by.
The simplest explanation for this is that the casual smokers who pine for the mids and reggies of their youth aren’t the industry’s top customers. Serious stoners are. According to research by Jonathan P. Caulkins, a public-policy professor at Carnegie Mellon, people who report smoking more than 25 times a month make up about a third of marijuana users but account for about two-thirds of all marijuana consumption. Such regular users tend to develop a high tolerance, and their tastes drive the industry’s cultivation decisions.
This article feels like it was written by an old man yelling at clouds. "... Back in my day we smoked mid and we liked it" shakes fist and then uses it as a reason to go back to prohibition. Why can't we just make it legal and let the free market figure it out.
Turns out more THC for the buck means people can make a few months supply of edibles out of a few grams. Cost effective!
This argument shows up every few years and its always been BS. Not that weed doesn't get stronger, but it always fails to mention how the majority of people simply consume less. This happened when growers figured out sinsemilla (seedless) weed. This happened when continued cross breeding techniques and lab testing became more regular in the horticulture aspect of the business. This happened when vape pens, dabbing, and further concentration methods showed up. Ultimately it's up to the adults consuming these products to determine how much is "too much" or "too strong".
Am I for bigger warnings on packages? Yes. Am I for heavier regulation of the industry as a whole? Definitely. Am I for having honest respectful conversations with teenagers and kids about the pros and cons of drugs use that doesn't demonize nor glorify it? Hell yes. And ultimately, am I for responsible use? Absofuckinglutely.
But I get so fucking annoyed by seeing that this kind of scare tactic article shows up every few years, pretty much beat for beat trying to demonize the drug exactly the same bs article, every time...every few years. No new news. No new insights. Just the same old shit with slightly updated data. We get it, the weed is stronger. Its because people started to give more of a shit about the quality of what they were putting into their bodies. That's because the cannabis industry became more legitimate and regulated. That's a good thing.
Now I've got my criticisms of the modern cannabis industry, but it has more to do with my problems with how capitalism encourages oligopolistic practices, which definitely has manifested in the cannabis industry here in the States.
But I'm definitely not complaining about the fact the weed is stronger. I can go out and buy ether alcohol and drink myself to death way quicker than with a bottle of vodka. It doesn't mean I think ether shouldn't be available. If I want to kill myself with ether alcohol, I'm an adult, I'm informed on what ether alcohol is and the dangers of using it. I should have the freedom to use it as I see fit. Same with strong ass cannabis.
The mg and percentages are right there on the package, you've got more research available today from legitimate chemists on the subject you can look up right now. Read that and make your decisions off of that, not this trash. At least then you could truly say you were making an Educated decision.
Their explanation is pretty dumb. The main driver for more concentrated drugs in general is money. If you can make more money with less material, its going to be easier to transport, hide, trade. Thats what drug cartels care about. To be blunt the reason cannabis is more potent now is because it was/is illegal.
This is good, IMO. People don't have to smoke as much, so less damage is done to their lungs. Vapes, edibles, and concentrates that are not combusted are probably even less damaging.
I heard this 'marijuana is too strong now' argument back in the 90s i swear to God.
Okay who had to write this for their public service hours instead of going to jail
Since computers are too strong, websites only need seconds to load.
No one can read that fast, so this is a problem.
I actually miss the old Mexican brick weed from thirty years ago. It could give you a headache, but otherwise, the high it produced of everything being hilarious doesn't seem to exist anymore. Modern weed pretty much makes me instantly catatonic.
Further, I don't know if it's age, but a single bong rip will send me into violent fits of coughing that frequently render me running outside to puke.
I've stopped smoking entirely in favor of edibles due to the coughing thing. The edibles still knock me the hell out. I don't know how the younger set wakes and bakes and carries on with their day with the modern stuff.
They can fuck right off, I enjoy going to outer space on half a joint.
Marijuana has been getting stronger for a long time according to news outlets. I remember seeing a collection of reports on stronger marijuana from different decades. Multiplying those "x times stronger" tells us, that marijuana is now 2000 times stronger and consists of at least 200% THC or something like that.
Does anyone have the original calculations and references? It was hilarious.
Nay, the people are too weak.
Another point on this. CBD and THC content are inversely correlated. So high TCH will almost always result in very low CBD. So instead of getting the high + relax you just get high.
One of the best weed I've ever smoked was "shit weed" which put me into a "relax and enjoy life" mood. I really want weed to be legalised so that people will start producing weaker weed with high CBD content.
with consequences including hospitalizations for chronic vomiting
This was me learning to set my limit when I was 15yo. Every time I smoked, I puked. Same thing when I started drinking alcohol. Puked every time.
I can now smoke (cautiously) and drink (mightily) without issue. I think the real issue is changing cultural expectations about how much THC can be consumed at what rate. No more huge bong rips.
Agree to disagree, especially if you tried the synthetic shit back before the analog law came into effect (don't try the stuff that bypasses the laws; you will have a bad time). It made THC feel like coffee, and permanently wrecked my tolerance. It's been 10 years and I still need 500mg+ of pure THC distillate to feel anything. I need stronger weed.
Bastards always trying to see "how far can we take this thing?", always "chasing that demon". The same as with spicy food, once they got their hands on ghost peppers, scotch bonnets and moruga scorpions, doing hybrids, looking to break the 2 million Scoville Units barrier and above... for some reason that's beyond my comprehension.
THC percentage in isolation means nothing - if it did, you could easily use less, like you don't chug booze like it's beer. The problem is the disturbing ratio of THC to the many other contents, especially the anti-psychotic CBD.
It's easy not to pack the bowl full of the strong weed, but it has become hard to avoid the strains that make me paranoid and probably drive a teenager to psychosis.
The solution is to legalize and mandate warnings on the packaging, and other safety measures such as different age limits on different strains.
I read a while ago that the landraces of cannabis that were used sacramentally by Rastafarians in Jamaica are believed to be extinct, replaced by more profitable high-THC varieties grown by organised crime for export to US consumers.