Cannabis: massively increased potency is a myth.
As almost any casual smoker of cannabis could have told you, the drug has not been getting stronger. Only a small percentage has noticeably increased in potency - mainly varieties home-grown by hydroponics or in illicit huge warehouses or lofts - while the more common and cheaper hashish blocks have certainly not increased in potency.
Paul Griffiths at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Portugal said: "Some of the figures quoted are just nonsensical."
He co-authored a report in 2004 which reviewed data on potency. It found that the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the effective potency of cannabis, in Britain has stayed at around 6% for the past 30 years. Strong varieties make up only 15% of the market.
The only country in Europe where potency is increasing is the Netherlands where intensively-grown cannabis has more than 50% of the market.
He argues that concentrating on potency is a red herring. " Do people who drink whisky take in more alcohol than people who drink beer?" he asked. More important is how often people smoke, how early they started and how much they put in a joint.
All this is of special importance, as the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs is due to report on whether they believe cannabis should re-classified as a Class B drug, only 2 years after the former Home Secretary David Blunkett, in one of his few sane policies moved the drug down from Class B to Class C. Ever since, the tabloids have been running scare campaigns claiming that such a move undermines drug policy as a whole - even if cannabis isn't turning our youths into schizophrenics, it leads to the use of harder drugs, which is again in general another myth. Much like alcohol, many smoke cannabis sociably. The likes of the Daily Mail though regard it as an assault on their mythical moral society, and have seemed to have some influence on Charles Clarke.
Thankfully, it appears as though that influence will not lead to the drug being reclassified. According to a letter in the Guardian, it's an open secret that the advisory committee is not going to recommend its reclassification. Police hours have been freed up by not having to deal with the pointlessness to both the courts and themselves of arresting and charging someone with an eighth, instead confiscating the drug and issuing warnings, which was the position of some forces even before the reclassification. Hopefully, within a few years and when a whole nation of young people don't end up in mental health wards as a result of their casual use, the authorities will come even more to their senses and finally legalise a drug which is certainly no more dangerous than alcohol.
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