Killer skunk everywhere or not?
CANNABIS POTENCY
by Paul Dillon
In recent times stories have done the rounds of super-strength cannabis or skunk that can be up to 20 or 30 times more potent than it was a decade ago. New research released in the UK last week suggests that although there does appear to be a small rise in potency, there is little evidence that super-strength skunk is dominating the market.
Two studies analysed nearly 550 samples of so-called skunk seized by the police. Both concluded that the average content of the main psychoactive agent in skunk strains of cannabis, THC, has doubled from seven percent in 1995 to 14 percent in 2005, contradicting recent claims that most of the skunk on sale in Britain now routinely has a THC content of more than 30 percent. One of the studies showed that only four percent of the skunk that had been seized by the police had a strength level higher than 20 percent, with the strongest sample containing 24 percent THC.
Recent evidence has shown that little of the cannabis grown in the UK is “super-strength skunk”. The majority is less potent – in fact, research in the UK found that most of the cannabis on sale contained only three to four percent THC, unchanged from a decade ago.
So why do people believe that cannabis is so much stronger than it used to be? Talk to long-term cannabis users and many of them will tell you they do believe their drug of choice is much more potent than when they first started using it. As has been said, it would seem that cannabis is indeed slightly stronger. However, most experts believe there is another factor at play – the part of the plant that is smoked. One of the most significant changes in the cannabis market over the past decade is the increased availability of flowering heads or buds, i.e. the strongest part of the plant.
Years ago, the only part of the plant that was available was leaf – having comparatively low levels of THC. Now that people are more likely to smoke flowering heads, it makes sense that they experience more of an effect and believe the drug is more potent than ever before.
Remember: if you do not want any negative consequences, do not use the drug and, no matter how many times you have used a substance, never be blasé.
http://www.ssonet.com.au/display.asp?ArticleID=7136
