Mahmoud ElSohly says marijuana’s potency will continue to rise before tailing off in the next five years.

The average potency of marijuana, which has risen steadily for three decades, has exceeded 10 percent for the first time, the U.S. government will report on Thursday.

Scientists working for the government predict that potency, as measured by the drug’s concentration of the psychoactive ingredient THC, will continue to rise.

At the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project, where thousands of samples of seized marijuana are tested every year, project director Mahmoud ElSohly said some samples have THC levels exceeding 30 percent.

Average THC concentrations will continue to climb before leveling off at 15 percent or 16 percent in five to 10 years, ElSohly predicted.

The stronger marijuana is of particular concern because high concentrations of THC have the opposite effect of low concentrations, officials say.

In addition, while experienced marijuana users may limit their intake of potent marijuana, young and inexperienced users may not moderate their intake and possibly suffer from dysphoria, paranoia, irritability and other negative effects.

Potent marijuana also poses significant risk to the developing adolescent brain, said Edward Jurith, acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. 

Increasing potency is leading to higher admissions to emergency rooms and drug treatment programs, officials say.

The average THC for tested marijuana during 2008 was 10.1 percent, according to the government, compared to 1983 when it was reportedly under 4 percent.

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Wesleyan Resources:

• Online Marijuana Assessment

If you do use and are wondering how your use stacks up, take the online marijuana assessment to get personalized feedback and advice on how to reduce or eliminate your use.  

You will be asked to enter your Wesleyan email and password to access the site; however, your data is in no way linked to your name. All data is aggregated and offers compete anonymity for you.

If you are interested in learning more about how marijuana use may impact your health, how your use compares with other college students, and more, check it out. It takes less than 10 minutes to complete and gives personalized feedback based on the information you enter. 

Take the online marijuana assessment here. 

Be aware that you will be asked to provide your Wesleyan email and password to access the site, but your information is no way linked with your results. We ask for it simply to maintain our licensing agreement. Your results are anonymous and confidential.

A new study finds that the use of water pipes may be on the rise among college students. Some believe that smoking tobacco this way is less dangerous than smoking cigarettes —which is not the case, the researchers say.

The study, which appears in the May issue of The Journal of Adolescent Health, looked at water-pipe use among students at Virginia Commonwealth University. It found that of more than 700 students surveyed, more than 40 percent reported having used a water pipe in the previous year.

The pipes, often called hookahs or shishas, are perhaps best known in the Middle East and are used to smoke flavored and sweetened tobacco. The tobacco is heated over charcoal, and then is cooled as it passes through a bowl of water and is inhaled from a hose.

Despite the belief of some students, water pipes may expose users to more toxic materials than cigarettes. Each puff has as much as 100 times the smoke as a puff from a cigarette, the study said. And smokers are also inhaling fumes from the charcoal.

“There is every reason to believe that this adds to the problem,” said the lead author of the study, Thomas Eissenberg.

Most of the smoking takes place in water-pipe cafes, and one reason they are becoming more popular, the study said, is that unlike bars, they are open to students.

Water-pipe users were most likely to be men, many of whom told the researchers they thought it made them look cool.

Teenagers who use marijuana put themselves at higher risks for serious mental health problems, including worsening depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and suicide, according to a new White House report.

The report said more teens use marijuana than all other illegal drugs combined.

The goal is to “correct the blind spot we’ve had in our society that’s caused more young people to suffer,” Director of National Drug Control Policy John Walters said.

“The short message is: Marijuana’s not safe.”

Although the report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy notes that use of the drug among teenagers has dropped by 25 percent in the past seven years, it emphasizes that more teens use marijuana than all other illegal drugs combined.

That use can have serious consequences, according to the report. Teenagers who smoke marijuana to self-medicate can compound their depression, the report said.

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From FriendsDriveSober.org…

Most times when people think of impaired driving, only alcohol comes to mind. Some students believe that drivers are just fine (or even more careful than normal and surely much better than while drunk) to drive when they’re high, right? Wrong – try again! Here’s the raw data that serves as proof that there are serious effects of driving stoned and that it needs to be taken as a very serious issue.

• Marijuana limits learning, memory, perception, judgment, coordination, reaction time, concentration and complex motor skills, like those needed to drive a vehicle. These effects can last up to 24 hours after smoking marijuana. ¹
• In addition to alcohol, drugs cause a serious highway safety problem. Drugs are estimated to be used by approximately 10-22% of drivers involved in crashes, often in combination with alcohol. ¹
• In 2002, between 13 and 18 percent of young drivers aged 17 to 21 reported driving under the influence of an illicit drug during the past year. ²
• A roadside study of reckless drivers (not under the influence of alcohol) showed that one in three tested positive for marijuana and an additional 18 percent tested positive for marijuana and cocaine. ²
• A study of patients in a shock-trauma unit who had been in collisions revealed that 15 percent of those who had been driving a car or motorcycle had been smoking marijuana and another 17 percent had both THC (the psychoactive chemical causes the “high” and impairment) and alcohol in their blood. ²
• In an ongoing study of non-fatally injured drivers, 23.5% of those drivers under 21 tested positive for drugs other than alcohol. ¹
• While alcohol is the predominant substance in fatal crashes, marijuana is the second most frequently found substance in crash-involved drivers, according to a NHTSA study. Alcohol and marijuana are also frequently found together, which results in a dramatic decrease in driving performance and spike in impairment levels. ²
• Marijuana, even in low to moderate doses, negatively affects driving performance, such as the ability to avoid collisions with evasive action. The effect of combining moderate doses of alcohol and moderate doses of marijuana resulted in a dramatic decrease in driving performance and increased the level of impairment from a .04 BAC (alcohol alone) to impairment comparable to up to 0.14 BAC (alcohol and marijuana combined). ²

References:

1. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Drug Impaired Driving. Retrieved on October 28, 2003, from the World Wide Web: http://nhtsa.dot.gov

2. Office of National Drug Control Policy. Marijuana and Kids: Steer Clear of Pot Fact Sheet. Retrieved on November 25, 2003, from the World Wide Web: http://www.mediacampaign.org/steerclear/factsheet.html#go17