NO MORE ’LOVE’ DRUG

[Alfa]

NO MORE 'LOVE' DRUG

Marijuana has long been linked with headbands and girls with kaleidoscope eyes.

It has been known as the love and peace drug, the mystical smoke which put
the paisley into the Beatles.

But latest research suggests the marijuana of the new century is a far more
potent drug. Some research even connects it to psychosis.

A Dutch study published last month made a strong link.

The study of 2400 young Germans found exposure to cannabis during
adolescence and young adulthood raised the risk of psychotic symptoms later
in life.

Psychosis is when people lose touch with reality and suffer delusions.

As many as one in 20 people experience psychosis during their lives --
whether they smoke marijuana or not.

Last year a British study found cannabis users were seven times more likely
to have mental illness.

It found the drug affects the brain severely and is a leading cause of
psychosis in Britain.

Head of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, Prof Robin Murray, last year
raised concerns that marijuana today is different from what it once was.

Prof Murray said modern strains of marijuana are up to 10-times stronger
than that consumed by previous generations. His comments were backed up
around the world.

German cannabis authority Prof Markus Leweke, of Cologne University,
reported that cannabis is at least three times stronger than it used to be.

"Cannabis today is totally different than cannabis 20 or 30 years ago,"
Prof Leweke said.

Prof Wayne Hall, from the University of Queensland, has estimated the
chance of psychosis increases from 1 in 100 to about 1 in 50 with heavy
marijuana use.

Prof Hall also linked heavy marijuana use with poor school performance,
early drop-out and increased chance of depression and poorer mental health.

Clinical psychiatrist Peter Norrie said many decision-makers in their 40s
and 50s had memories of marijuana which was quite different to modern "dope".

"It's like comparing light beer with a bottle of whiskey," Dr Norrie said.

Hydroponics have allowed the development of far stronger marijuana,
including skunk, a hydroponically grown type of marijuana which originated
in the Netherlands. The name comes from the pungent smell and the plant is
usually in dwarf form.

Skunk is high in THC, the ingredient which is responsible for the marijuana
high.

Cannabis growers have also experimented with other dwarf sub-species
including Mexican Big Buds (a distinctive dark red strain which has been
reported in Tasmania), Northern Lights, Early Girls, Super Skunk, Hindu
Kush and Shiva.

The Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence has identified a major trend
towards hydroponic cultivation of cannabis.

Tasmania Police have reported an increase in the number of plants seized
which have been hydroponically grown.

[bubaloo]

the skunk in the 60's must have been pretty week

[bubaloo]

i mean weak

[William_Again]

look at it this way, stonger weed means that people have to inhale less
smoke to get high and that leads to less stress on the lungs and heart.

[turfshark_40]

thats a great way to look at it, I like your point of view.

[fnord]

the reason for it may not be that pot has gotten stronger from what ive read aboute the potency of pot is that it has gone up but not much, most weed tested in the 60-70 was pot that was confiscated mainly from mexico which was cheep weed packed tightly in brick form and not much care was put iin to growing it while now adaya most pot comes from local sources that dedicate time to thier little babies, also take into effect that most of these studies were probly done/funded by antidrug groups or government groups, i mean if you had the money you could get an independant laborory to give you a studdie saying just aboute anything

[billbong]

Also a lot of marijuana is sprayed wit things like methadone these days.

[Peyote]

Sorry guys, but marijuana over here has increased in its % of THC. 19,9% for WhiteWidow, believe that's f*ckin strong(excuses me teh language)!

[fletch]

pretty much any hippy can verify this statement for you, and of course they're going to tell you that theherb back in the day is nothing compared to today.

[mariecurie]

I believe that marijuana CAN increase the chances of psychoses in some
individuals, but I've known so many uptight people who finally became
laid back after they started smoking a lot of pot.



I definitely think the damage THC causes to the hippocampus is
something we have to be careful of, but in general I think it helps a
lot of people. Some people use it to escape from their lives, like many
people use alcohol, but people will use anything to escape from their
lives.



I think we need to educate people about the benefits of vaporizing. The
effects on your lungs are reduced almost 100% when you vaporize and
it's truly worth it.

[GDxCAT]

billbong i dont mean to be rude but that is the dumbest thing i have
ever heard. Methadone sprayed on marijuana? What the fuck, why not give
it to all the heroin addicts who need it? And how do u spray it? I
think you are mistaking.

Marijuana is rarely if ever sprayed with anything. Also there was very
potent pot in the 60's just not as big a variety as we have today.
Things such as purple haze, cali gold thai sticks were some of the more
potent strains of the day and compare favouribly with todays potent
strains.

The not so potent shit from the 60's was all imported (likely from mexico, which is notorious for shitty cheap weed).

Hope this helps.



oh and vaporizing is defintely the way to go. I recently started, and
although i still like smoking, vaporizing a bowl gives a slighty
different high which i am starting to appreciate.

[zipoo]

i've heard from a cancer patient that only smoking really works for her.