'Hash' potency increased by 25% over the last 50 years: U.K. study
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Cannabis resin, otherwise known as “hash,” has become 25% more potent over the last five decades, a new study out of the United Kingdom has found.
Other countries, including Canada, are also seeing more potency with its hashish supply over time because dealers want to make it more addictive, says Bernard Le Foll, of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
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“It’s a gradual selection process when you select and breed plants that are more potent,” said Le Foll, who heads CAMH’s Clinical Research Innovation Service. “We have seen the same for opioids. In the legal market in Canada, we have also seen licensed producers have also provided more potent products.”
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In the U.K. study, University of Bath researchers analyzed data from more than 80,000 cannabis street samples tested in the past 50 years in the United States, U.K., Netherlands, France, Denmark, Italy and New Zealand.
What they found was THC concentrations in herbal cannabis increased by 14% between 1970 and 2017. According to the Guardian, rising market share of stronger varieties, such as sinsemilla, were pinpointed as the major cause.
Cannabis resin, which is extracted from herbal cannabis, had jumped by 24% in concentration levels between 1975 and 2017, the study found.
Industry expert Lisa Campbell, who has a certificate in drug epidemiology from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, said the higher potency is in part from cannabis companies using advanced technologies to extract oil from the plant, which produces higher concentrations of cannabinoids — the most notable of which is THC, the main compound that creates “the high.”
“But just because it has a high potency, doesn’t mean it’s a dangerous product. It’s already approved by Health Canada for consumption,” said Campbell, the founder of Mercari Agency, which helps cannabis companies come to retail across Canada.
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A benefit from higher concentrations is people don’t necessarily have to use as much — which helps with harm reduction, she said.
Ontario Cannabis Store spokesperson Daffyd Roderick recommended people “start low, go slow” with concentrated products.
“Extracts available through OCS that are meant to be inhaled can contain no more than 1,000 mg of THC per package; ingestible extracts contain no more than 10 mg of THC per unit, as per Health Canada federal regulations,” said Roderick.
Campbell disagreed with CAMH’s view that increased cannabis resin potency is on the same platform as the opioid epidemic.
“It’s irresponsible for them to compare,” she said. “The opioid epidemic is killing people at higher rates than COVID.”
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