In 1996, California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use.
Over the next three decades, states fell like dominoes to the bud – some 38 states have now legalized medical marijuana, while 24, plus DC, have legalized pot for recreational use. And in December, President Trump signed an executive order directing then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to move marijuana from a federal classification of Schedule I – drugs with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse – to Schedule III, drugs with a moderate potential for abuse and accepted medical use.
That move – which will take time but heralds a new era – comes as weed spreads like, well, a weed. Walk down a main street in cities like New York City, DC, or Los Angeles, and you’ll almost certainly smell it. Weed stores are now springing up even in conservative small towns, and THC products are being marketed nationwide, despite the continued prohibition.
And in February, a group of California researchers published a study challenging the assumption that consuming cannabis causes little-to-no harm.
So how did pot get out of control? And what are the risks of modern marijuana? That’s the subject of today’s deep-dive.
While the legal status of marijuana is a matter of debate, one thing is for certain: Pot just ain’t what it used to be.
In the 1970s, the concentration of THC in weed ranged from between 1% to 4%. But the herb became stronger over time, as sellers sought to create a more potent product, with potency accelerating with legalization. In recent decades, dispensaries and pot growers have engaged in a cannabis arms race to maximize THC concentrations through selective breeding.
By 2017, the average weed concentration had spiked to around 17%; nowadays, cannabis concentration levels average to the mid-20s, with some strains reaching north of 30% – a nearly tenfold increase from the “Woodstock weed” of the 1970s.
Powerful strains dominated the market while weaker strains with lower THC concentrations became harder to find. In 1993, sinsemilla – seedless and unpollinated female pot plants with stronger concentrations – made up roughly 4% of weed. But by 2008, sinsemilla made up over half of the weed varieties. At the same time, dispensaries began experimenting with ways to get higher concentrations through edible gummies, oil extracts, and dab pens, all of which can reach potency levels of over 90%.
And with potency comes problems.