The effectiveness of cannabis products has increased in the past ten years. Especially the content of active substance of cannabis have increased in the last seven years. This is the result of the study, “Decreasing Potency and Price of Cannabis in Europe 2006-2016”, which was released on Saturday in the journal “Addiction”.
For the study, scientists at the University of Bath and Kings College, London, in collaboration with the European monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction in Lisbon, had collected data from nearly 20 European countries as well as Norway and Turkey. In a standardized method, they analyzed the content of the active ingredient Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) of the police cannabis products seized, and compared it with the usual market prices.
The comparison suggests that, above all, a strong change in the hashish market. Also, the active ingredient content increased marijuana of five percent of the THC in the year 2006 10,22 percent THC in 2016. However, the price in the same period increased accordingly. Different in the case of hashish: In the first part of the comparison period, the THC remained in the resin is relatively stable at around eight percent, but then grew dramatically to 17,22% in 2016.
Significant “increase in value” in the case of hashish
Because the price of cannabis did not increase in the same period, according to, learned of hashish, if you want to call it so, a significant increase in value: 11.0 milligrams of THC per Euro on 16,39 milligrams per Euro.
The reason for the increased THC content in hashish, the scientists suggest in a change in the method of cultivation in the main production country for hashish, Morocco. Over the decades, have been used for the production of the brown resin panels domestic Cannabis breeds. Thus, high proportions of Cannabidiol (CBD) from the female hemp plant were found next to the potent psycho-active THC in the hashish. This acts anticonvulsant, anxiolytic, and anti-inflammatory. A possible antipsychotic effect is currently being explored.
The researchers, based on appropriate data, that the Cannabis growers are preferably switched in Morocco and, in the meantime, but also to the cultivation of THC-dominant strains, as they are commonly used for the production of marijuana. These strains contain less CBD and are correspondingly more effective. “These shifts in an illegal market are difficult to identify,” says Tom Freeman from the University of Barth, one of the authors of the study. “Accordingly, it is difficult for the policy to be effective.”
Increased risk with high-potency
The intense engagement of the researchers with the THC content of various cannabis products is their unwanted side effects: Several studies suggest that the consumption of hashish or marijuana with strong potency, so a high THC content, the risk of psycho-increases genetic diseases, and mental dependencies. According to studies, the consumption behavior of Stoners to fit also depending on the effectiveness you to consume so more effectively marijuana or hashish, not less.
“CBD reduces the risk to the consumer posed by Cannabis, without diminishing the effects, the users of Cannabis your choice, noticeable,” says Freeman. “Unfortunately, the Trend is currently in a different direction: More THC, less CBD, which is Cannabis potentially dangerous”, says the researcher.
Only a detailed analysis of the potency of cannabis products enable an understanding of the health consequences of Cannabis consumption, says the study. “Together with our colleagues from King’s College London we present a study of the question, what is the ratio of THC to CBD carries the least risk for the user to cut without the desired effect,” said Freeman.
The findings could allow for the possible legalisation of Cannabis, which will be discussed in different countries, also the introduction of binding limit values for the concentration of THC of cannabis products justify.
Interestingly, the increase in THC content is not same in all European countries (more detailed data for individual countries can be found here): While in France, meanwhile, hashish with a THC content of more than 20 percent of the market common and the active ingredient content in other countries such as Denmark also significantly increased, show samples of hashish from the Netherlands, the European mother country of the Kiffens, no significant THC rise in the resin.