“Hippies I knew growing up grew [cannabis] outside in their gardens, as they still do today,” says Jonathan Page, an adjunct professor in the botany department at the University of British Columbia. “But it wasn’t like there was a real push for super high potency. People would harvest too early or sometimes smoke not just the flower but also the leaves, which have some THC content in them but not a lot. I think there was a general lack of understanding on how to increase potency.”
However, thanks to an improvement in technology and genetic crossbreeding, cannabis is now a bit stronger. The THC-heavy strains are now normal at a medical level, and on October 17 they will also be the norm on the recreational market, too.
So, just how much more potent is it?
Now that we’ve addressed that yes, it is indeed more potent – let’s take a look at just how much more potent it really is.
Here is an interesting statistic from the United States on potency:
In 2017, California’s Godfather OG strain was evaluated and boasted a record-breaking 34 percent THC level, according to High Times magazine. In comparison, studies in 1995 determined that potency was around 4 percent – that is a whopping 30 percent difference.
This analysis just sheds light on the caution that should be used when participating in the use of marijuana – whether medical or recreational. Also, it sheds light on what should be considered before deciding if you are for or against it. Just because something was popular decades ago, does not mean that the same thing should be popular now or that it is even the same thing that was popular all that time ago.
Marijuana is often referred to as a gateway drug, and this increased potency level only contributes to that. It gets people high, and higher than previous strains, but it will still leave most people looking for something to get them even higher. And after marijuana already getting them so high, they will be left with only incredibly dangerous options when searching for something stronger.
