cannabisnews.com: Dope Alarm: Pot Potency Poses New Risk





Dope Alarm: Pot Potency Poses New Risk
Posted by CN Staff on May 12, 2004 at 12:15:17 PT
Editorial
Source: Sacramento Bee 
The marijuana kids smoke at Snoopp Dogg concerts today is not the same pot their parents or grandparents used at Woodstock. Hydroponic growing techniques, in which the marijuana plant is cultivated in nutrient-rich solutions, and the selective use of seeds have produced a more potent form of marijuana that is showing up in cities and small towns across the country. Pot confiscated by police today has 66 percent more THC, its active ingredient, than the pot seized in the 1980s. It has five times the THC of marijuana smoked in the 1970s.
As the potency has increased for one of the nation's most popular and widely used illicit drugs, there has been a correspondingly sharp increase in the number of marijuana-related emergency room visits by young pot smokers. The number of 12-to 17-year-old youths admitted to hospitals because they had an adverse reaction to marijuana tripled between 1994 and 2001, the last year for which federal officials provide figures. They cite a number of different reason for the hospitalization. "Unexpected reaction" to the drug is the most common, followed by "overdose, chronic effects and accident or injury."Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/alarm.htmSource: Sacramento Bee (CA)Published: Wednesday, May 12, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Sacramento BeeContact: opinion sacbee.comWebsite: http://www.sacbee.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis in Amsterdam & San Franciscohttp://freedomtoexhale.com/amsterdam.pdfLies and the Lazy Reporters Who Repeat Themhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18812.shtmlBaby Boomers are Going To Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18800.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 19, 2004 at 12:38:06 PT
Related Letters To The Editor - May 19, 2004
Marijuana PanicRe "Dope alarm," editorial, May 12: The increase in emergency room visits by "young pot smokers" has primarily shown that THC can induce panic attacks in susceptible individuals, a fact which has been well known for years. Perhaps the most important and most often overlooked fact to note is that none of these "young pot smokers" died from a THC overdose.With tens of thousands of people, including children, dying each year from alcohol-related accidents, illnesses and crimes, and hundreds of thousands dying from tobacco related illness each year, a discussion about the dangers of the escalating THC content of marijuana is laughable.Marijuana is not a harmless drug, but it's certainly safer than the two most popular and destructive drugs in the history of mankind - alcohol and tobacco. Only a fool would argue otherwise.- Joseph McGhee, Sacramento***Concerns about marijuana's potential health risks require context and explanation.Marijuana is not a harmless substance; no drug is. However, marijuana's relative risks to the user -- most of which may be mitigated by consuming cannabis in ways other than smoking -- does not support criminal prohibition or the continued arrest of approximately 700,000 Americans on marijuana charges every year.According to federal statistics, approximately 80 million Americans self-identify as having used marijuana at some point in their lives, and relatively few acknowledge having suffered significant deleterious health effects due to their use. Our public policies should reflect this reality, not deny it.- Paul Armentano, Washington, D.C.Senior Policy Analyst, NORMLhttp://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/9347125p-10271802c.html
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on May 18, 2004 at 14:11:31 PT
Rev Jonathan Adler 
Thank you. The news is in it's slow time. It always gets this way during late May. This year will be one that we won't forget very easily when it's all said and done. Everything in the world is so crazy that maybe they'll give up and let us alone. I know I'm a dreamer. We can hope though. It would be wonderful to see Hawaii someday. 
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Comment #6 posted by Rev Jonathan Adler on May 18, 2004 at 14:05:37 PT:
FoM, Aloha!
Aloha from the Big Island to FoM!
Keep doing the job the networks refuse to do! We all thank you. I hope you will consider a visit here someday! Until then, Mahalo nui loa! Rev. Jonathan Adler
Call 808-982-7640 or 345-3411 anytime!
Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on May 12, 2004 at 14:35:03 PT
Rev Jonathan Adler 
I just wanted to say hello.
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Comment #4 posted by Rev Jonathan Adler on May 12, 2004 at 14:31:01 PT:
Represent Our Country!
Aloha and Wassup Growers of America!
Did they really think that potency is a risk? Wassup with that! Here in Hawaii we don't "suffer" from overly potent medijuana. We smoke it up! It is just right! And legal too!
See High Times May Page 27 & 28. Mahalos!
Representing America's Best!
Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute
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Comment #3 posted by Agog on May 12, 2004 at 13:15:53 PT:
E_Johnson - Thank you for the contact info
The more they hear from us refuting senseless claims the more we can make the case for rational behavior and policy.Here is what I sent to the SAC BEE:To whom it may concern:It appears that two of the greatest casualities in the "war on drugs" are critical thinking and the truth. Are reporters/editorial staff with your publication trained to mindlessly repeat government propaganda or are they just too overwhelmed with deadlines to actually check facts. Perhaps they could actually do some reporting and explain just when the active ingredients in cannabis turn deadly, and after explaining that, tell your readership how much would have to be consumed within a given time period to reach LD50... Why not compare the amount to aspirin?Agog..... you betcha!
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Comment #2 posted by dididadadidit on May 12, 2004 at 12:44:06 PT
Dope Alarm
Isn't this story repetively showing up in different papers in different parts of the country?  I think it's an ONDCP propaganda release that is offered up to lazy indifferent reporters and reported as news. Sorta like Fox spreads administration lies like the WMD and the Saddam al Queda link to the point half the people still believe it (and FlightSuitBoy even quietly affirmed no link). These guys are good. You gotta give 'em credit. Goebbels must surely roll in his grave with envy.Question!
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on May 12, 2004 at 12:19:35 PT
The SacBee ombudsman
About the marijuana potency scare -- tell them to look up the Washington Post story The Real Dope: from June 4, 2002.This whole BS was debunked two years ago.[ombudsman Tony Marcano] The Ombudsman investigates complaints of unfairness, imbalance or inaccuracies in The Bee's news reporting. His conclusions are his own.To make a comment, mail him at P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, 95852. Call him directly at (916) 442-8050; FAX: (916) 556-5690; or send e-mail to ombud sacbee.com.
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