How to Make a Hash of Calculating Average Pot Potency

Jacob Sullum | June 1, 2009

A few weeks ago, I noted the latest government report about ever-stronger marijuana. "According to the latest data on marijuana samples analyzed to date," the Office of National Drug Control Policy announced, "the average amount of THC in seized samples has reached a new high of 10.1 percent." But as Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project notes, these samples included hashish (resin) and hash oil (extract), both concentrated forms of cannabis. The average for just marijuana (leaf and buds) was a substantially lower 8.5 percent, up from 8.1 percent in 2007. A New York Daily News article I quoted made the increase in average THC content look much bigger than that by comparing the 2008 number for marijuana plus hash (10.1 percent) to the 2007 number for what the ONDCP calls "marijuana seizures at Southwest border ports of entry" (7.3 percent).

As I mentioned in my earlier post, it's not clear how representative the samples seized and tested by the government are. Mirken notes that last year "the domestically produced marijuana tested tended to be significantly weaker than the imported stuff, but domestic cannabis only represented 29.7% of the samples tested." By contrast, a 2005 State Department report cited by Mirken suggests that domestic marijuana represents something like two-thirds of the U.S. market.

Regardless of exactly how much average marijuana potency has increased during the last two decades, of course, the government has yet to give a plausible reason for viewing the trend with alarm. 

This year's marijuana potency report is here (PDF); last year's is here (PDF).

Comments

|6.1.09 @ 5:34PM|#

the domestically produced marijuana tested tended to be significantly weaker than the imported stuff

Somebody really ought to be suing for libel over this.

|6.1.09 @ 5:37PM|#

domestically produced marijuana tested tended to be significantly weaker than the imported stuff

Its been awhile, but back in the day [shakes cane], the domestic stuff tended to be totally top shelf.

I wonder if they aren't including a bunch of ditch weed in their sample. Cops, etc. love to claim that stands of wild hemp are pot plantations, after all.

|6.1.09 @ 5:43PM|#

RC - that sounds possible. Where I'm at, the import stuff is total crap. The best stuff is invariable hydro, domestic, featuring top of the line genetics. Dont get that in mexico, my friends.

|6.1.09 @ 5:52PM|#

Oh and 8.5% is by definition mediocre. I'm not a chemist, but I've been told that good shit is always upwards of 10% if its worth the price. Can anyone verify?

SpongePaul|6.1.09 @ 6:17PM|#

ok this writer has no fact checker, the domestic stuff is the best, homegorwn hydro there is, mexi-crap schwag is for kids, lol! and as far as measuring THC there is no standard way. it can be stated as %thc in the plant matter, low 2% for leaves/fans up to 20% in bud calxy. or as %thc/%cannabinoids, which some seed banks use to get the ungodly 30% number.

SpongePaul|6.1.09 @ 6:18PM|#

i would guess avg dank/chronic/hg etc, to be 15% +/-

mids 10-12%

regs 5-8%

schwag < 5%

the innominate one|6.1.09 @ 7:01PM|#

Regardless of exactly how much average marijuana potency has increased during the last two decades, of course, the government has yet to give a plausible reason for viewing the trend with alarm.

Apparently, Jacob, you've never heard of a little thing called...THE CHILDREN!

|6.1.09 @ 7:25PM|#

...the government has yet to give a plausible reason for viewing the trend with alarm.

Simple. It means people are getting higher when getting high at all is what the big raging hard-on is all about.

Just good ol' puritanism, same as always.

AB390|6.1.09 @ 7:41PM|#

Even if it is true that today's marijuana is stronger, that would make it less dangerous not more. This is because the user has to smoke less of it to get the desired effect.

If you want marijuana to be legalized, taxed, and regulated for adults, YOU can make it happen. Tell your legislators to support California Assembly Bill 390. It's easy. Visit yes390.org

KenK|6.1.09 @ 8:08PM|#

Hash??? Who the heck ever sees hash anymore?

It's been decades for me.

Theist|6.1.09 @ 10:23PM|#

"...the government has yet to give a plausible reason for viewing the trend with alarm."

Jesus drank wine. He didn't smoke pot.

TallDave|6.1.09 @ 10:29PM|#

the domestically produced marijuana tested tended to be significantly weaker than the imported stuff,

That right there tells you they're testing hash, not marijuana. Most of the imported stuff is grown in Mexico in giant fields and is full of seeds. Unless they're talking about Canada, I call BS on that one.

Hash??? Who the heck ever sees hash anymore? It's been decades for me.

I've never seen it (I've heard people talk about it, but they were hard-core druggies moving on to heroin). The closest thing I've seen is home-made hash oil.

|6.2.09 @ 8:51AM|#

Yeah I agree TallDave; if we're talking about plain old grass (and not hash or anything), the domestic and Canadian stuff is almost always much better than any brick merch BS you get from Mexico.

Also, I just perused this report for the first time after seeing a few of these stories. I found the graph on page 12 particularly ridiculous. It shows "Domestic Cannabis THC% Vs Year of Confiscation".

Initially it looks very impressive; the average percentage barely nudges past 4% for 1990-2008, and then bam! Scraping 13% in 2009. Crazy increase right?

Luckily though, they showed the number of samples involved. For 1990-2008, a minimum of 475 samples were used to determine the average; in many years there were well over 1,000 samples tested. The 2009 sample space? Two. Yeah, two.

Check it out. Page 12. Pretty messed up.

|6.2.09 @ 10:39AM|#

I had only seen hash once in the 90's. But then I discovered that if you save all of your baggies for a while you can turn them inside out, rub the trichromes off onto a plate, collect the trichromes in tin foil, and set it on a light bulb for a minute or two and viola! hash! It's yummy too (works best with domestic kind bud).

With the crazy amount of non-taxable pot out there today, hash and tinctures are making a comeback. There's more than enough pot out there to experiment with from what I've seen. And I live in what is supposedly the state with the least amount of pot smokers in the country (Utah)!

Oh, and I have no idea why religious folk are sometimes down on pot. One of the first things the Bible tells us is "God gave onto the Earth the green herb bearing seed, and it was good". So true...

|6.2.09 @ 7:23PM|#

Jesus drank wine. He didn't smoke pot.

Hey, I've actually met Jesus of Cannibis. Cool dude.

But yeah, I think you've got THE justification for all the religidiots this side of the Baptists.

LEGALIZE IT|6.6.09 @ 11:42PM|#

The best pot in the world is imported but you will never see it in the USA because it is easier to import cocaine. I am sure some of you have heard of Panama Red, Gold Columbian, Real Afghani, Thai stick, Moroccan hash. Once it is legalized it will be easier to import than grow.