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by yodsanklai 3095 days ago
> Today's cannabis is, in general, much more potent than it used to be.

I hear that a lot (especially from anti-legalization people), but I don't believe it makes any difference. What makes a difference to the consumer is the amount of cannabinoids consumed, not the concentration in a given amount of weed.

The typical weed consumption experience is to vaporize/smoke/eat some small amount, and reiterate until satisfaction. Once the sweet spot is reached the experience becomes less enjoyable. If your weed is twice as much potent, you'll iterate two times less...

One could imagine a scenario where a user is caught off-guard by a super strong weed, but I don't see this happening. Standard THC rates are 15-20%(?) you're not going to get much more than that amount and you will always notice at the first inhalation if the weed is more potent than what you're used to.

Edibles are different and need more caution. You can eat an arbitrary amount of cannabinoid and get sick. But this is not related to the weed potency.

I totally agree with you that schools should teach harm reduction strategies (don't smoke week but use vaporizers, be careful with edibles, don't drive, don't make it a habit). I also think that prevention should focus on the real risks of regular cannabis usage, which exist and are not benign (de-socialization, learning impairment...) instead of trying to scare people with things that are extremely unlikely to happen.

3 comments

> I hear that a lot (especially from anti-legalization people), but I don't believe it makes any difference.

Oh, it does. A pre-rolled joint at a coffeeshop from 2017 is far more potent than a pre-rolled joint at a coffeeshop from 1997 or the 70s/80s. Beginners often cannot roll their own, and think that they should finish the whole pre-rolled joint all by themselves or together with that one friend.

Beginners: everyone who smoked was once a beginner. Do yourself a favour and take one puff. Then use an ash tray to put the joint off.

Nevermind the people who want to try spacecake, or make their own hash oil.

Also, not everyone's as sensitive, and stomach/sugar has effect as well.

It also has a long half-life, and I've witnessed people starting to believe all kind of paranormal/new age shenanigans thanks to regular cannabis usage. Heck, I've done that myself as well.

Problem with the advice "don't make it a habit" is that many drug users have serious mental problems which they combat (successfully or not) with self medication.

> Once the sweet spot is reached the experience becomes less enjoyable

Not much different than alcohol in that respect. Some people abuse high dosages but most don't because it's usually an unpleasant experience. The problem with marijuana specifically is the advocacy/culture that celebrates over indulgence in a way we haven't seen since the glory days of 'Mad Men' style alcoholism.

> One could imagine a scenario where a user is caught off-guard by a super strong weed, but I don't see this happening. Standard THC rates are 15-20%(?) you're not going to get much more than that amount and you will always notice at the first inhalation if the weed is more potent than what you're used to.

For infrequent users, I believe the potency does make a difference because undesired effects could come with as little as a single hit.

Cannabis potency 10 years ago was 7%, and yes today's rates are at around 15%. I figure that means that in 10 years the potency of a single hit of cannabis has doubled.

I have a hard time finding my preference of 15% THC unless it's CBD-dominant (and then THC is usually below even 5-10%). Here in WA, THC amounts are generally 20-30%.