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.

In my latest Reefer Madness post I made this assertion…

Reefer Madness: Legalizing pot in no way makes us safer | NORML’s Daily Audio Stash
Agent Capra, when Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, you might remind him that according to the European Monitoring Center on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA, the EU’s ONDCP) latest report entitled…

…which elicited this response from a reader in the Netherlands who is much better informed about the EMCDDA (or “Emkah Daddy”, I like to call it):

One small remark; EMCDDA in Lisbon is not at all like ONDCP in DC. It is a data collection enterprise, and puts national data together into an EU report. It is excluded from any policy design activites although it does publish studies about euro drug policy issues, e.g. prevention (the global fairy tale!) It has a managment board in which bureaucrats from all 27 EU members, and a Director (was a German guy, now a French one) and a small staff, with a total budget of around 9 million euro annually. Most conspicuous difference with ONDCP is that it can not pollute the world with weird and truthless TV propaganda or support ads in papers, and its director does not mix in policy issues anywhere.

So I thought about trying to use a different US agency to make the metaphor work — NIDA, SAMSHA, NIH — and I just don’t think they fit either.  Leave it to the Europeans to actually collect data then make conclusions.

Report Clears the Air on European Marijuana Use | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 26.06.2008
Cannabis is the drug of choice in Europe, with 13 million people lighting up each month. A new report by Europe’s drug agency EMCDDA aims to debunk misconceptions that persist about the drug.

Twenty percent of European adults have tried cannabis at some point in their lives, according to a mammoth 700-page report by the EU’s The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

The report examines Dutch dope-selling in coffee shops, hashish smoking in London during the heady 1960s, and the state of Moroccan marijuana production. The report was released on Thursday, June 26, and coincides with the UN’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The study doesn’t push for EU-wide legalization of marijuana, nor does it advocate harsher punishments. Instead, it aims to serve as an authoritative reference work on scientific research, legislation and policy issues associated with the drug in Europe.

Most European cannabis comes from Morocco, which supplies 80 percent of all resin seized in Europe. The report also looks at emerging supply lines from countries such as Thailand, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia.

Not that all marijuana is being imported. In Britain, home-grown marijuana accounts for 50 percent of the market, according to the report.

The report also points out the differences between legislation in European countries. Portugal decriminalized cannabis use in 2000 and Luxembourg punishes possession with a fine. Meanwhile both Denmark and Italy have toughened laws.

It also examines the cost of cannabis, which gets more expensive as one heads north. Cannabis sells for 1.40 euros ($2.20) per gram in Spain while costing on average 21.50 euros per gram in Norway.

The report also claims to debunk the belief that modern-day cannabis is much stronger now than in the past. The report said that is an “urban myth” based on flawed data.

A 700 page report that tells the truth about cannabis without calling for harsh punishments and debunks the US drug czar’s “Not Your Father’s Woodstock Weed” scare tactics?  Well, Happy International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking!  Maybe this will help Europe recognize that if they took the “illicit” out of the “trafficking”, they could tax the proceeds to fight “drug abuse”.