Yo, check it. Whether you’re coppin’ your Mary Jane from the legit market or the shady underground, it don’t even matter. This study I stumbled upon says that weed nowadays is a whole 25% stronger than it was way back in the day, like over 50 years ago.
So, there’s these researchers at the University of Bath in the UK, right? They got their hands on 80,000 samples of that good stuff from all over the world—USA, Netherlands, UK, France, Denmark, Italy, and New Zealand. And guess what they found? People smokin’ cannabis these days are gettin’ way higher than when Nixon, Ford, and Carter were runnin’ things.
This study, published in the journal Addiction, says that the levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) have been skyrocketin’ since the early ’70s. THC is that psychoactive compound in weed that gets you straight up stoned. The researchers even claim that Mary Jane has been gettin’ stronger on the regular for the past five decades. They spotted a 14% increase in flower potency between 1970 and 2017 and a whopping 24% increase in resin strength since 1975.
But hold up, peep this: America’s favorite compound CBD hasn’t changed one bit. It’s stayin’ the same while THC keeps gettin’ stronger.
Now here’s the thing. Just ’cause weed is gettin’ more potent doesn’t always mean it’s better, especially for folks who use it medicinally to treat stuff like anxiety and insomnia. Some users have actually found strains with more CBD to be more effective. Quality over quantity, ya feel?
Now why is weed gettin’ stronger, you ask? Well, it’s mostly ’cause growers have leveled up their game when it comes to cultivating that green goodness. They know what makes those plants thrive, and they’re doin’ a bang-up job. Plus, back in the day, weed probably only had around 2% THC—barely enough to get you faded like you can be now that it’s legal in some places.
But here’s the catch. Researchers are worried that stronger weed might lead more people down the path of addiction as legalization spreads. Dr. Tom Freeman, director of the Addiction and Mental Health Group at the University of Bath, says that as weed gets stronger, more Europeans are seekin’ treatment for cannabis problems than for heroin or cocaine. That’s wild, man.
Now, over in the US of A, President Biden has been talkin’ about decriminalizin’ marijuana nationwide. But he’s been slow as molasses with takin’ action. This dude once said that comparin’ the weed from back in the ’60s to what the kids are smokin’ today is like comparin’ “buckshot in a shotgun shell to a laser-guided missile.” Yeah, he knows things have changed.
But here’s the question: is stronger weed a bad thing? Well, some studies funded by the feds say that more and more folks, especially young peeps, are usin’ Mary Jane these days. Legalization was supposed to help with that, and in some cases it has. But even with all this talk of stronger weed goin’ around, addiction rates have stayed pretty steady at about 9%. That’s ’bout the same as people gettin’ hooked on caffeine.
So even if more folks start puffin’ on the green stuff as legalization spreads, it ain’t likely to cause some huge spike in addiction rates. But listen up—more research is definitely needed so we can understand the risks better. We gotta stay informed, my dudes.