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According to studies, cannabis potency has indeed increasedi n Europe in the last few decades. See An overview of cannabis potency in Europe (https://www.emcdda

According to studies, cannabis potency has indeed increasedi n Europe in the last few decades. See An overview of cannabis potency in Europe (https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/insights/cannabis-potency_en https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/insights/cannabis-...) and Increasing potency and price of cannabis in Europe, 2006–16 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.14525 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.14525). From the abstract of the latter study: "Resin potency increased from a mean [95% confidence interval (CI)] of 8.14% THC (6.89, 9.49) in 2006 to 17.22 (15.23, 19.25) in 2016. Resin price increased from 8.21 euros/g (7.54, 8.97) to 12.27 (10.62, 14.16). Resin increased in value, from 11.00 mg THC per euro (8.60, 13.62) to 16.39 (13.68, 19.05). Quadratic time trends for resin potency and value indicated minimal change from 2006 to 2011, followed by marked increases from 2011 to 2016. Herbal cannabis potency increased from 5.00% THC (3.91, 6.23) to 10.22 (9.01, 11.47). Herbal price increased from 7.36 euros/g (6.22, 8.53) to 12.22 (10.59, 14.03). The value of herbal cannabis did not change from 12.65 mg of THC per euro (10.18, 15.34) to 12.72 (10.73, 14.73). All price trends persisted after adjusting for inflation. Conclusions European cannabis resin and herbal cannabis increased in potency and price from 2006 to 2016. Cannabis resin (but not herbal cannabis) increased in the quantity of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol per euro spent. Marked increases in resin potency and value from 2011 to 2016 are consistent with the emergence of new resin production techniques in European and neighbouring drug markets." Certainly, the potency is much higher than it was in the 1960's and 1970's.

asdff 5y ago
Anecdotally, I've heard in the 60s and 70s generally people would just smoke a lot more weed in a single sitting than today. Several joints to a person of harsh brick weed vs. half of one with decent modern weed, for example.
- subpixel 5y ago
  Anecdotally, half a joint of weed purchased from a legal, recreational shop is enough to get a dozen people stoned into the ground, unless they are regular users of the stuff.
  - BizarroLand 5y ago
    I moved to a recreational state and I tried a single puff. I was almost instantly high. Prior to this I had not used marijuana since I was a stupid teenager doing stupid stuff, so it had been over a decade since the last time. When it was available back then it was always some low quality dirt weed that you could smoke for days and still function on. With the legal recreational stuff, I was so blasted out of my mind that I couldn't hold a conversation. I had a mild panic attack because of slow playing music, and was high for the rest of the night. It was not fun, it was scary. Maybe my tolerance has decreased, sure, but the strength differences in modern recreational weed are so severe that they probably should not be considered to be the same drug any longer. If what was available to me as a teenager was like beer, the new stuff starts at vodka and goes way past Everclear.
- amanaplanacanal 5y ago
  Yes. Typically when I was young, you kept smoking until you reached the desired level of intoxication then stopped. Do people do it differently now?
  - jbuhbjlnjbn 5y ago
    Exactly. The narrative of the "stronger, more dangerous(!) weed" falls short because consumers have always, and will always, micro-dose. That's just the human way to do it. You don't drink 1l of water when you are thirsty, you drink until the body tells you it is enough. You don't eat until the food is empty (ok well, sometimes we do..), you eat until you are full. I find it disappointing the same'ol propaganda reappear still today for MJ...now all left to do is to find out who sponsored the study this time and dictated the outcome...
    - haswell 5y ago
      To be fair, if someone gets to the point that they’re dabbing concentrates, the minimum dose is pretty damn high, and it’s easy to overdo it. If a casual smoker made the mistake of smoking a dab, they might be in for a surprise. Many of the vape pens are also extremely potent, and it’s even easier to overuse those. I’m not saying the old propaganda has any value, but I do think it’s a lot easier than many think to level up to “heavy use” very quickly with modern offerings. But even at insanely high concentrations, you’re still most likely to just have a bad time, not get seriously injured. This should be addressed by education though, not regulation/propaganda.
      - jbuhbjlnjbn 5y ago
        Ok I was commenting on the false narrative of stronger weed strains causing overdosing. If we talk about concentrates that's a different situation I agree.
    - PhasmaFelis 5y ago
      That's very much not universal. Some people use moderation, some people go crazy on it. It's always been that way, for anything. There are drinkers who will have a couple of drinks, get pleasantly buzzed, and enjoy their evening, and there's people who get completely smashed every time. Same thing for food--over 40% of Americans are obese now. It would be very surprising if there weren't (at least) a substantial minority of weed-smokers who have trouble knowing when to stop.
- pmoriarty 5y ago
  There was not much testing of cannabis in the 60s and 70s, so we can only speculate about how potent it was back then.

asdff 5y ago

Anecdotally, I've heard in the 60s and 70s generally people would just smoke a lot more weed in a single sitting than today. Several joints to a person of harsh brick weed vs. half of one with decent modern weed, for example.

subpixel 5y ago
Anecdotally, half a joint of weed purchased from a legal, recreational shop is enough to get a dozen people stoned into the ground, unless they are regular users of the stuff.
- BizarroLand 5y ago
  I moved to a recreational state and I tried a single puff. I was almost instantly high. Prior to this I had not used marijuana since I was a stupid teenager doing stupid stuff, so it had been over a decade since the last time. When it was available back then it was always some low quality dirt weed that you could smoke for days and still function on. With the legal recreational stuff, I was so blasted out of my mind that I couldn't hold a conversation. I had a mild panic attack because of slow playing music, and was high for the rest of the night. It was not fun, it was scary. Maybe my tolerance has decreased, sure, but the strength differences in modern recreational weed are so severe that they probably should not be considered to be the same drug any longer. If what was available to me as a teenager was like beer, the new stuff starts at vodka and goes way past Everclear.
amanaplanacanal 5y ago
Yes. Typically when I was young, you kept smoking until you reached the desired level of intoxication then stopped. Do people do it differently now?
- jbuhbjlnjbn 5y ago
  Exactly. The narrative of the "stronger, more dangerous(!) weed" falls short because consumers have always, and will always, micro-dose. That's just the human way to do it. You don't drink 1l of water when you are thirsty, you drink until the body tells you it is enough. You don't eat until the food is empty (ok well, sometimes we do..), you eat until you are full. I find it disappointing the same'ol propaganda reappear still today for MJ...now all left to do is to find out who sponsored the study this time and dictated the outcome...
  - haswell 5y ago
    To be fair, if someone gets to the point that they’re dabbing concentrates, the minimum dose is pretty damn high, and it’s easy to overdo it. If a casual smoker made the mistake of smoking a dab, they might be in for a surprise. Many of the vape pens are also extremely potent, and it’s even easier to overuse those. I’m not saying the old propaganda has any value, but I do think it’s a lot easier than many think to level up to “heavy use” very quickly with modern offerings. But even at insanely high concentrations, you’re still most likely to just have a bad time, not get seriously injured. This should be addressed by education though, not regulation/propaganda.
    - jbuhbjlnjbn 5y ago
      Ok I was commenting on the false narrative of stronger weed strains causing overdosing. If we talk about concentrates that's a different situation I agree.
  - PhasmaFelis 5y ago
    That's very much not universal. Some people use moderation, some people go crazy on it. It's always been that way, for anything. There are drinkers who will have a couple of drinks, get pleasantly buzzed, and enjoy their evening, and there's people who get completely smashed every time. Same thing for food--over 40% of Americans are obese now. It would be very surprising if there weren't (at least) a substantial minority of weed-smokers who have trouble knowing when to stop.
pmoriarty 5y ago
There was not much testing of cannabis in the 60s and 70s, so we can only speculate about how potent it was back then.