bluealein56
Misderected Hostilty
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ok so..... doin school work and having to research topics and, yes marijuana was one of the topic options. SO naturally i picked it, seems to keep me focused on class. But yeah thought id let ya see this article i found on tha net.
hahaha, let me know what all you little stoners think. i chuckled and it made me slightly think of reefer madness the movie:joint4:
Marijuana Is Becoming More Potent
Table of Contents: Further Readings
National Drug Intelligence Center, “National Drug Threat Assessment 2005,” February 2005.
"Samples of marijuana testing at 9 percent or higher THC ... increased more than 600 percent from 1994 ... to 2002."
In the viewpoint that follows, the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) contends that the average potency of marijuana has soared in recent years and that high-potency marijuana has become more available. Higher-potency marijuana can produce intense reactions, the organization asserts. In fact, the increased availability of higher-potency cannabis, the NDIC suggests, may be partly responsible for the rising number of emergency room visits where marijuana is involved and drug treatment admissions that have occurred since 1994. The NDIC, the nation's center for strategic domestic counterdrug intelligence, also produces drug threat assessments. This report combines information from enforcement and intelligence agencies with comments from the NDIC.
As you read, consider the following questions:
In NIDA's contention, what happens in the first hour after a person smokes marijuana?
Why don't all cannabis growers produce high-potent product, in the NDIC's view?
According to the author, what percentage of state and local law enforcement agencies reported that the availability of marijuana was high or moderate in 2004?
The escalating prevalence of higher potency marijuana such as sinsemilla has resulted in an increase in average marijuana potency; however, high potency marijuana constitutes a relatively small portion of the marijuana available throughout the United States. Commercial-grade marijuana is the most widely available type throughout the country.
Demand is higher for marijuana than for any other illicit drug; however, marijuana use among eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders as well as college students has declined since peaking in the late 1990s.
The consequences of marijuana use evidenced in ED [emergency department] mentions and treatment admissions have increased steadily over the last decade; however, three significant underlying factors should be considered when analyzing such increases. First, marijuana often is used with alcohol or other illicit drugs, which obscures the relevance of marijuana as a cause of many ED mentions. Second, a rise in treatment referrals through the criminal justice system has contributed largely to the increase in marijuana-related treatment admissions. Third, increased prevalence of higher potency marijuana has likely resulted in a greater number of individuals experiencing more intense and often unpleasant effects of the drug, leading them to seek medical intervention....
Adverse Effects
Marijuana is not harmless. Marijuana's effects can include those problems attendant to cigarette smoking as well as problems with distorted perception and loss of coordination, which can contribute to household, occupational, or vehicular accidents. For example, in 2001 an estimated 38,000 U.S. high school seniors reported that they had crashed a vehicle while driving under the influence of marijuana. Other effects include problems with memory and learning, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and increased heart rate. According to one study, fewer heavy users of marijuana completed college and more had household incomes of less than $30,000 as compared with a control group, despite similar educational and economic backgrounds. (In this study, heavy users smoked marijuana a mean of 18,000 times and no less than 5,000 times, while control group subjects smoked at least once but no more than 50 times in their life.) NIDA [National Institute on Drug Abuse] reports that another study has indicated that a user's heart attack risk quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana....
Highly Potent Marijuana
The escalating prevalence of higher potency marijuana such as sinsemilla appears to have resulted in an increase in average potency levels. Samples of marijuana testing at 9 percent or higher THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) [the active chemical in marijuana] increased more than 600 percent from 1994 (104 of 3,281 samples) to 2002 (545 of 2,378 samples), according to data from the Potency Monitoring Project. Yet the increase in the average potency of tested marijuana and sinsemilla during that period was less dramatic. Average THC levels for both types rose approximately 50 percent, from 3.50 to 5.11 percent THC for marijuana and from 7.49 to 11.43 percent THC for sinsemilla.
NDIC Comment: Marijuana potency has increased; however, it is unlikely that average potency levels will reach 20 or 30 percent THC in the near term. Even with the advances in indoor cultivation techniques or marijuana production methods used throughout the United States and Canada where much of the higher potency marijuana is produced, THC levels remain, typically, under 15 percent. Growers can and do produce marijuana with potency levels over 20 percent; however, not all growers have the capability or the determination either to produce top-quality marijuana or to achieve the highest potential yield from their crops. The trend toward larger grows controlled by organized crime groups in Canada and, to a lesser extent, in the United States should help stabilize or further slow the rise in average potency levels. The interests of DTOs [drug trafficking organizations] and criminal groups are in marijuana's profitability, and they are unlikely to invest the care required to mass-produce top-quality marijuana, particularly in the drying, manicuring, and curing stages of production. Thus, average THC levels likely will continue to increase only gradually or remain relatively stable.
Marijuana-Related Emergencies and Treatment Admissions
The consequences of marijuana use evidenced in ED mentions and treatment admissions have increased steadily over the last decade. Marijuana-related ED mentions increased nearly 200 percent from 1994 to 2002. Marijuana-related treatment admissions increased 100 percent during the same period.
NDIC Comment: The dramatic increases in marijuana-related ED mentions and treatment admissions often are viewed with concern, and while these increases may be attributable in part to the higher potency marijuana available today, this hypothesis has yet to be confirmed. Polydrug use and integrating treatment services in the disposition of minor cases of marijuana possession are two significant underlying factors to consider when assessing the consequences of marijuana use. Marijuana very often is used sequentially or concurrently with alcohol or other illicit drugs. In fact, only 28 percent of marijuana-related ED episodes in 2002 involved marijuana alone, so the presence of alcohol or other illicit drugs undoubtedly obscures the relevance of marijuana as a cause of many ED visits. Also, a rise in treatment referrals through the criminal justice system (such as through drug courts begun in the early 1990s) has contributed largely to the increase in marijuana-related treatment admissions. According to SAMHSA [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration], treatment admissions referred by the criminal justice system were more likely to report marijuana as a primary substance of abuse than admissions referred by all other sources (24% vs. 10%). This is not to suggest that marijuana use is not harmful or that providing treatment as an alternative to arrest is a flawed policy, but these underlying factors do have bearing on analysis of marijuana's consequences....
hahaha, let me know what all you little stoners think. i chuckled and it made me slightly think of reefer madness the movie:joint4:
Marijuana Is Becoming More Potent
Table of Contents: Further Readings
National Drug Intelligence Center, “National Drug Threat Assessment 2005,” February 2005.
"Samples of marijuana testing at 9 percent or higher THC ... increased more than 600 percent from 1994 ... to 2002."
In the viewpoint that follows, the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) contends that the average potency of marijuana has soared in recent years and that high-potency marijuana has become more available. Higher-potency marijuana can produce intense reactions, the organization asserts. In fact, the increased availability of higher-potency cannabis, the NDIC suggests, may be partly responsible for the rising number of emergency room visits where marijuana is involved and drug treatment admissions that have occurred since 1994. The NDIC, the nation's center for strategic domestic counterdrug intelligence, also produces drug threat assessments. This report combines information from enforcement and intelligence agencies with comments from the NDIC.
As you read, consider the following questions:
In NIDA's contention, what happens in the first hour after a person smokes marijuana?
Why don't all cannabis growers produce high-potent product, in the NDIC's view?
According to the author, what percentage of state and local law enforcement agencies reported that the availability of marijuana was high or moderate in 2004?
The escalating prevalence of higher potency marijuana such as sinsemilla has resulted in an increase in average marijuana potency; however, high potency marijuana constitutes a relatively small portion of the marijuana available throughout the United States. Commercial-grade marijuana is the most widely available type throughout the country.
Demand is higher for marijuana than for any other illicit drug; however, marijuana use among eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders as well as college students has declined since peaking in the late 1990s.
The consequences of marijuana use evidenced in ED [emergency department] mentions and treatment admissions have increased steadily over the last decade; however, three significant underlying factors should be considered when analyzing such increases. First, marijuana often is used with alcohol or other illicit drugs, which obscures the relevance of marijuana as a cause of many ED mentions. Second, a rise in treatment referrals through the criminal justice system has contributed largely to the increase in marijuana-related treatment admissions. Third, increased prevalence of higher potency marijuana has likely resulted in a greater number of individuals experiencing more intense and often unpleasant effects of the drug, leading them to seek medical intervention....
Adverse Effects
Marijuana is not harmless. Marijuana's effects can include those problems attendant to cigarette smoking as well as problems with distorted perception and loss of coordination, which can contribute to household, occupational, or vehicular accidents. For example, in 2001 an estimated 38,000 U.S. high school seniors reported that they had crashed a vehicle while driving under the influence of marijuana. Other effects include problems with memory and learning, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and increased heart rate. According to one study, fewer heavy users of marijuana completed college and more had household incomes of less than $30,000 as compared with a control group, despite similar educational and economic backgrounds. (In this study, heavy users smoked marijuana a mean of 18,000 times and no less than 5,000 times, while control group subjects smoked at least once but no more than 50 times in their life.) NIDA [National Institute on Drug Abuse] reports that another study has indicated that a user's heart attack risk quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana....
Highly Potent Marijuana
The escalating prevalence of higher potency marijuana such as sinsemilla appears to have resulted in an increase in average potency levels. Samples of marijuana testing at 9 percent or higher THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) [the active chemical in marijuana] increased more than 600 percent from 1994 (104 of 3,281 samples) to 2002 (545 of 2,378 samples), according to data from the Potency Monitoring Project. Yet the increase in the average potency of tested marijuana and sinsemilla during that period was less dramatic. Average THC levels for both types rose approximately 50 percent, from 3.50 to 5.11 percent THC for marijuana and from 7.49 to 11.43 percent THC for sinsemilla.
NDIC Comment: Marijuana potency has increased; however, it is unlikely that average potency levels will reach 20 or 30 percent THC in the near term. Even with the advances in indoor cultivation techniques or marijuana production methods used throughout the United States and Canada where much of the higher potency marijuana is produced, THC levels remain, typically, under 15 percent. Growers can and do produce marijuana with potency levels over 20 percent; however, not all growers have the capability or the determination either to produce top-quality marijuana or to achieve the highest potential yield from their crops. The trend toward larger grows controlled by organized crime groups in Canada and, to a lesser extent, in the United States should help stabilize or further slow the rise in average potency levels. The interests of DTOs [drug trafficking organizations] and criminal groups are in marijuana's profitability, and they are unlikely to invest the care required to mass-produce top-quality marijuana, particularly in the drying, manicuring, and curing stages of production. Thus, average THC levels likely will continue to increase only gradually or remain relatively stable.
Marijuana-Related Emergencies and Treatment Admissions
The consequences of marijuana use evidenced in ED mentions and treatment admissions have increased steadily over the last decade. Marijuana-related ED mentions increased nearly 200 percent from 1994 to 2002. Marijuana-related treatment admissions increased 100 percent during the same period.
NDIC Comment: The dramatic increases in marijuana-related ED mentions and treatment admissions often are viewed with concern, and while these increases may be attributable in part to the higher potency marijuana available today, this hypothesis has yet to be confirmed. Polydrug use and integrating treatment services in the disposition of minor cases of marijuana possession are two significant underlying factors to consider when assessing the consequences of marijuana use. Marijuana very often is used sequentially or concurrently with alcohol or other illicit drugs. In fact, only 28 percent of marijuana-related ED episodes in 2002 involved marijuana alone, so the presence of alcohol or other illicit drugs undoubtedly obscures the relevance of marijuana as a cause of many ED visits. Also, a rise in treatment referrals through the criminal justice system (such as through drug courts begun in the early 1990s) has contributed largely to the increase in marijuana-related treatment admissions. According to SAMHSA [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration], treatment admissions referred by the criminal justice system were more likely to report marijuana as a primary substance of abuse than admissions referred by all other sources (24% vs. 10%). This is not to suggest that marijuana use is not harmful or that providing treatment as an alternative to arrest is a flawed policy, but these underlying factors do have bearing on analysis of marijuana's consequences....
