UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!! (AGAIN)

I’ll be appearing live this afternoon on the Dr. Drew (Pinsky) Live nationally syndicated radio show to discuss this issue further. I will be appearing at 12:35pm pst (3:35pm est), just minutes after Drug Czar John Walters, who no doubt will claim that supposedly ‘potent pot’ supposedly causes brain damage, depression, addiction and every other malady known to man.

To stream the show live, click here. To find a local radio affiliate in your area, click here.

Several media outlets, including the influential Huffington Post, have run with my rebuttal to last week’s Associated Press story regarding the federal government’s specious claims of ridiculously potent pot.

My personal favorite: Today’s op/ed in The Daily Mississippian, which is the daily newspaper for the University of Mississippi. For those who don’t know, the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy is home to NIDA’s Potency Monitoring Project, the very group responsible for this questionable ‘study.’

Let’s hope that Dr. ElSohly and all of his PMP colleagues read the morning paper!

UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!!

It’s just come to my attention that the following essay is making waves at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, where the Drug Czar’s minions have actually taken the time to respond to it. Now, I know that nobody actually reads the Drug Czar’s blog on their own, so here’s the link. (You can also read Russ Belville’s excellent deconstruction of the Czar’s reply here.)

As Gandhi once said, “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” Well, I guess it’s safe to say we’re at the stage where they finally fight! You know what comes next.

‘Potency pot’ is all hype
via The Daily Mississippian

by Paul Armentano

Government claims of highly potent pot must be taken with a grain of salt (”Marijuana THC potency levels highest in 30 years,” June 16, 2008). As is the case with any black market commodity, definitive facts are difficult if not impossible to come by.

That said, even by the University of Mississippi’s own admission, the average THC in domestically grown marijuana — which comprises the bulk of the US market — is less than five percent, a figure that’s remained unchanged for nearly a decade.

By contrast, the average strength of imported cannabis has grown in recent years. Nevertheless, non-domestic marijuana comprises only a small fraction of the domestic market. To imply that this rare, unusually potent cannabis is reflective of what is typically available on the US market is highly (and purposely) misleading.

Furthermore, it must be noted that THC — regardless of potency — is non-toxic and incapable of causing a fatal overdose. Currently, doctors may legally prescribe a FDA-approved pill that contains 100 percent THC, and curiously, nobody at the University of Mississippi or at the Drug Czar’s office seems particularly concerned about it.

It should also be noted that most cannabis consumers actually prefer less potent pot, just as the majority of those who drink alcohol prefer beer or wine over hard liquor. If and when consumers encounter unusually strong varieties of marijuana, they adjust their use accordingly and smoke less.

Of course, if lawmakers and government researchers were really concerneda bout potential risks posed by potent marijuana, they would support regulating the drug, so that its potency would be known to the consumer.

So if today’s pot is essentially the same plant it’s always been with any marginal increase in potency akin to the difference between a cup of tea and an espresso why is the government claiming otherwise? Mainly to scare parents, particularly those millions of parents who may have, without incident, experimented with marijuana in the 1970s, when they were about the same age as their children are today. Fortunately for them, while the feds’ latest “reefer rhetoric” may sound alarming, there’s little substance behind the hype. 

Study: Marijuana potency increases in 2007
via Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.

…

“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.

When I was in journalism school, the rule of thumb was that you needed to have your facts confirmed by three separate sources before a news story was ‘fit to print.’ By that standard, the ‘three sources’ cited in the story above — White House Drug Czar (and chronic liar) John Walters, NIDA’s (US National Institute on Drug Abuse) Potency Monitoring Project, and Nora Volkow, who heads the rabidly anti-drug propaganda agency that paid for the Monitoring Project study — don’t even add up to one.

Fortunately, the AP did at least demonstrate the good sense to speak with SUNY Albany Professor (and NORML Advisory Board member) Mitch Earleywine, who stated the obvious factoid overlooked by the White House: As the potency of pot rises, people simply smoke less of it. Mitch could have also noted that most cannabis consumers actually prefer less potent pot, just as the majority of those who drink alcohol prefer beer or wine over hard liquor. Or he could have mentioned how doctors may legally prescribe a FDA-approved non-toxic pill that contains 100 percent THC, and curiously, nobody at NIDA or at the Drug Czar’s office seems particularly concerned about it. Strangely, AP writer Hope Yen felt the need to identify Dr. Earleywine, who has authored numerous peer-reviewed studies and books on various aspects of cannabis, as “an adviser for marijuana advocacy groups,” but felt no such need to identify Mr. Walters or Ms. Volkow as “those who favor arresting and jailing adults who use marijuana, even when their use is for medical purposes.”

Of course, in an effort to get to the bottom of the so-called “potent pot” story, Ms. Yen might have thought to inquire why the US National Drug Intelligence Center’s 2007 National Drug Threat Assessment states, “Most of the marijuana available in the domestic drug markets is lower potency commercial-grade marijuana.” Geez, you’d think that the various prohibitionist branches of the US government would at least get their stories straight!

Oh well, since lying about the alleged dangers of allegedly more potent pot is now an annual tradition (Remember “Pot 2.0” anybody?), there’s always next year.