Higher and Higher

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Credit the Mexicans with smuggling most of the marijuana into the United States and now, apparently, with making it stronger than ever. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy reported this week that the potency of marijuana sold in the United States has reached record levels. “This isn’t your father’s marijuana,” said John Walters, President Bush’s drug czar.

The University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project found that samples from around the country averaged 8.5% in THC, pot’s active ingredient, with some batches reaching a brain-numbing 32%. Your father’s dope averaged around 2% to 3% back in the day.

Mexican gangs in central California are using select seeds from back home to grow more powerful marijuana, according to the U.S. State Department’s 2007 National Drug Threat Assessment. Their counterparts in Mexico also are using strains that yield more THC-enriched buds. Canada’s new expertise in high-potency pot, with some 800 metric tons exported to the U.S. each year, also figures in the change.

Posted by Sam Enriquez in Mexico City