Potency of Cannabis |
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| Some ill-informed people have claimed that
cannabis is more than thirty times stronger than 20 years ago. Nonsense ! Absolute and
dangerous nonsense! Test Australian cannabis and see for yourself. Cannabis seized by
police can be easily tested and would provide a good idea of the range of THC content in
currently available cannabis.
"Reefer Madness" is still alive and well in some irresponsible quarters. The root of the rumour that cannabis is twenty or thirty times more powerful lies in police testing done in America in the 60s. The base samples were industrial hemp that contained very low quantities of THC, "rope dope". Seizures in the same period elsewhere around the world showed 20–30 -fold variations in THC content also.
Twenty years ago locally grown cannabis was generally weaker. Since then, Australian growers have improved their agronomic techniques and seed stock to produce higher THC cannabis more consistently. Twenty years ago an ounce of pot cost $30 —a bag of domestically grown cannabis leaf with a few stronger heads. Today’s ounce is full of strong heads and costs between $300 and $1000 depending on the quantity you purchase. Cannabis smokers adjust how much they smoke to the strength of the cannabis available. For health reasons, quality is preferable to quantity as you need to smoke much less, with less damage to the lungs and throat from the process of smoking. For many medicinal users, like sufferers of Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis, good quality cannabis is needed to get the desired medicinal effect. Studies show that increase in THC content of cannabis does not translate to equal increase in effect. For example, a 200% increase in THC creates only 35% more subjective effect. |
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Cannabis is no stronger now than twenty
years ago, in fact more likely the opposite. There is nothing available today like the
Nepalese hashish or Thai buddha sticks of the 70s. Cultures who have used cannabis for
centuries produce the best quality pot. Unlike heroin, imported cannabis is practically
unknown in Australia these days.