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According to Dr. Richard Hawks at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, THC levels in weed increased from 0.5 percent in 1974 to 3.5 percent in 1985.
Analyses of confiscated samples from the 1970s show that marijuana back then was nowhere near as strong as it is today. Marijuana use is increasingly mainstream use with kids’ culture. This was largely driven by a growing social acceptance of cannabis.
Levels of the psychoactive compound THC have
been steadily rising in marijuana since the 1970s, due largely to growers’ more potent strains. Weed isn’t like it used to be in the 1960s-70s. The psychoactive potency of cannabis is on the rise, which means that so, too, are the risks of potentially harmful side effects.
Data prove that today’s cannabis is much stronger than the weed of even a few years ago, let alone several decades prior.
Potency Monitoring Program, a project led by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, shows a clear trend: Over the last 50 years, the average amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in cannabis – the plant’s main psychoactive component – has increased more than tenfold. The availability of highly potent marijuana – coupled with data showing that more and more people think cannabis is relatively harmless – is creating a platform for unthinkable problems.
Higher THC levels raise the risk of unpleasant or dangerous side effects like nausea, vomiting and paranoia, affecting both your mental and physical health. Altered sensorium, mood swings, hallucinations, delusions, impaired memory and worsening of depression are the mental effects it can have. Other physical effects include increased heart rate and respiratory rate, breathing difficulties, etc.
It can also impair a child’s health if used by a pregnant woman, says Dr. Mayank Saxen. Marijuana use comes with real risks that can impact a person’s health and life. Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal substance in the U.S., and its use is growing. Marijuana use among all children and adult age groups is going up. At the same time, the perception of how harmful marijuana use can be is declining.
Today’s marijuana is becoming the quiet assassin. Young people today do not consider marijuana use a risky behavior.
Today’s marijuana is stronger than ever before. People can and do become addicted to marijuana. About 1 in 10 people who use marijuana will become addicted. When they start before age 18, studies in Colorado show first-time users ages between 12 and 17 representing a 65 percent increase in use in adolescents the
rate of addiction rises to 1 in 6.
The potency of THC before the 1990s was less than 2 percent. In the 1990s, it grew to 4 percent. Between 1995 and 2015, there has been a 212 percent increase in the THC content in marijuana flowers.
Some doctors have concluded there is no medical use for such high strains of THC other than to attract customers to their specific strain of cannabis, which is being marketed in many states where labels and THC content not only control the market but those who purchase it.
Details: Call the National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or TTY: 1-800-487-4889, or text zip code to 435748 (HELP4U).
Dr. Herb Clark of Murphy is an expert in the field of addiction with 33 years of experience. He served on the N.C. Professional Practice board, adjunct professor for two universities and was a U.S. Marine serving 25 years, through two wars and three conflicts traveling the world, seeing the effects of addiction firsthand. Send questions to hypno321@hotmail.com.