Cannabis on sale in Ireland now eight times stronger
Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 10:00 am | By: Radical Russ
Cannabis on sale now eight times stronger – National News, Frontpage – Herald.ie
HERBAL cannabis on sale in Ireland is now up to eight times stronger than it was a decade ago, an addiction expert has said.Skunk is more potent than the more common cannabis resin, and the evidence is the varieties coming to Ireland are getting stronger. Shay Pegley of the Addiction Training Institute said cannabis was still Ireland’s “number one drug of choice”.
Mr Pegley said he was “not surprised” by the skunk seizures made in recent months.
“What is available now seems to be a lot more potent than it was 10 years ago,” Mr Pegley said.
“Some reports would put it at between five and eight times stronger than it was. Skunk poses new dangers in terms of exposing latent psychological issues like paranoia and schizophrenia.”
That’s odd, because this 2004 report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction states:
Today’s study reveals that when the overall potency of cannabis products available on the European market is calculated, there is no evidence of a significant increase in potency. This is because, in most EU countries, imported cannabis (herbal and resin) dominates the market and this has remained stable over many years.
Today’s report shows that effective potency of cannabis in nearly all EU countries has remained quite stable for many years, at around 6–8% THC.
But that was four years ago. Maybe in that time they really have come up with Irish Skunk bud that comes in at 30-64% THC – that would be “five and eight times stronger” than the 6-8% THC from 2004, right?
Maybe there is a reason they call it “the Emerald Isle”. But I think you’re more likely to find a leprechaun in Ireland than some 30% THC “Lucky Charms” bud.
