Marijuana Is Too Strong Now - The Atlantic
Marijuana Is Too Strong Now - The Atlantic
As weed has become easier to obtain, it has become harder to smoke.
In 2022, the federal government reported that, in samples seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration, average levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC—the psychoactive compound in weed that makes you feel high—had more than tripled compared with 25 years earlier, from 5 to 16 percent. That may understate how strong weed has gotten. Walk into any dispensary in the country, legal or not, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a single product advertising such a low THC level. Most strains claim to be at least 20 to 30 percent THC by weight; concentrated weed products designed for vaping can be labeled as up to 90 percent.
The high that most adult weed smokers remember from their teenage years is most likely one produced by “mids,” as in, middle-tier weed. In the pre-legalization era, unless you had a connection with access to top-shelf strains such as Purple Haze and Sour Diesel, you probably had to settle for mids (or, one step down, “reggie,” as in regular weed) most of the time. Today, mids are hard to come by.
The simplest explanation for this is that the casual smokers who pine for the mids and reggies of their youth aren’t the industry’s top customers. Serious stoners are. According to research by Jonathan P. Caulkins, a public-policy professor at Carnegie Mellon, people who report smoking more than 25 times a month make up about a third of marijuana users but account for about two-thirds of all marijuana consumption. Such regular users tend to develop a high tolerance, and their tastes drive the industry’s cultivation decisions.
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I actually miss the old Mexican brick weed from thirty years ago. It could give you a headache, but otherwise, the high it produced of everything being hilarious doesn't seem to exist anymore. Modern weed pretty much makes me instantly catatonic.
Further, I don't know if it's age, but a single bong rip will send me into violent fits of coughing that frequently render me running outside to puke.
I've stopped smoking entirely in favor of edibles due to the coughing thing. The edibles still knock me the hell out. I don't know how the younger set wakes and bakes and carries on with their day with the modern stuff.
Tolerance is kind of the only reason I've been able to enjoy ridiculously strong weed. Otherwise, like you said, I'm just catatonic. These days, I need to consume such a small amount (I'm talking 5mg edible) when I don't have a tolerance.
But I take 1 puff off a joint and that's when I find that beautiful high where everything is funny, and I still am able to talk to my friends.
Seriously, with this strong ass weed, less is more.
I don’t know how the younger set wakes and bakes and carries on with their day with the modern stuff.
It was tough lemme tell ya. I hadta set goals, show up every day and give it 110%.
Im no hero, i just care, yaknow? You too can achieve, just do what i did. Set your mind to it and put in a little work daily and greatness will come
It sounds like you're looking for a really uplifting sativa / haze the get the giggling feeling. The mainstream strains have been crossbred so much you'll probably have to look a bit to find a classic lineage.
Just smoke less. Take one hit of potent weed and it will feel like an entire joint of that trash you are used to