By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer 34 minutes ago
Marijuana potency increased last year to the highest level in more than 30
years, posing greater health risks to people who may view the drug as harmless,
according to a report released Thursday by the White House.
The latest analysis from the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring
Project tracked the average amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in
marijuana, in samples seized by law enforcement agencies from 1975 through
2007. It found that the average amount of THC reached 9.6 percent in 2007,
compared with 8.75 percent the previous year.
The 9.6 percent level represents more than a doubling of marijuana potency
since 1983, when it averaged just under 4 percent.
"Today's report makes it more important than ever that we get past outdated,
anachronistic views of marijuana," said John Walters, director of the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He cited baby boomer parents who
might have misguided notions that the drug contains the weaker potency levels
of the 1970s.
"Marijuana potency has grown steeply over the past decade, with serious
implications in particular for young people," Walters said. He cited the risk
of psychological, cognitive and respiratory problems, and the potential for
users to become dependent on drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
While the drug's potency may be rising, marijuana users generally adjust to the
level of potency and smoke it accordingly, said Dr. Mitch Earleywine, who
teaches psychology at the State University of New York in Albany and serves as
an adviser for marijuana advocacy groups. "Stronger cannabis leads to less
inhaled smoke," he said.
The White House office attributed the increases in marijuana potency to
sophisticated growing techniques that drug traffickers are using at sites in
the United States and Canada.
A report from the office last month found that a teenager who has been
depressed in the past year was more than twice as likely to have used marijuana
than teenagers who have not reported being depressed 25 percent compared with
12 percent. The study said marijuana use increased the risk of developing
mental disorders by 40 percent.
"The increases in marijuana potency are of concern since they increase the
likelihood of acute toxicity, including mental impairment," said Dr. Nora
Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funded the
University of Mississippi study.
"Particularly worrisome is the possibility that the more potent THC might be
more effective at triggering the changes in the brain that can lead to
addiction," Volkow said.
But there's no data showing that a higher potency in marijuana leads to more
addiction, Earleywine said, and marijuana's withdrawal symptoms are mild at
best. "Mild irritability, craving for marijuana and decreased appetite I mean
those are laughable when you talk about withdrawal from a drug. Caffeine is
worse."
The project analyzed data on 62,797 cannabis samples, 1,302 hashish samples,
and 468 hash oil samples obtained primarily from seizures by law enforcement
agencies in 48 states since 1975.