Highly potent weed creating cannabis addicts worldwide, study says
More reefer madness or an element of truth about articially high THC levels?
Compared with people who use lower-potency products (typically 5 to 10 milligrams per gram of THC), those who use higher-potency cannabis
200mg thc are more likely to experience addiction and mental health outcomes, according to the study published Monday in the journal Lancet Psychiatry.
Scientists have established a “
standard THC unit” of 5 milligrams of THC for research. That amount is said to produce a mild intoxication for nonregular users.
“One of the highest quality studies included in our publication found that use of high potency cannabis, compared to low potency cannabis, was linked to a four-fold increased risk of addiction,” said study coauthor Tom Freeman, a senior lecturer in the department of psychology and director of the addiction and mental health group at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, in an email.
In the United States, about 3 in 10 people who use marijuana have cannabis use disorder, the medical term for marijuana addiction,
according to the US Centers for Disease and Prevention.
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction found a 76% rise in people entering treatment for cannabis addiction over the past decade, “while cannabis potency continued to rise during the same time,” Freeman said.
In addition, “a report by the United Nations found that in the past two decades, the proportion of people seeking treatment for cannabis addiction has risen in all world regions apart from Africa,” he said.