Legal weed gets US smokers higher and higher

Cannabis sold in parts of the US is getting stronger as legalisation takes root. A marked increase in the percentage of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the chemical in cannabis that makes users feel high) is being recorded in products sold through dispensaries. It can be as high as 90 per cent in products designed for vaping, and 30 per cent in smokable plant strains, which is much higher than the weaker strains common in past decades. The result is that the casual stoner is getting rocked by much stronger weed as the cannabis industry targets more lucrative enthusiasts seeking ever more potent strains. Smokers looking for a milder high aren’t a big enough customer base for manufacturers to bother pushing a mass-market low-THC product. Unprepared consumers of potent weed report spikes in paranoia and anxiety. Keith Humphreys, a former drug-policy adviser to the Obama administration, tells The Atlantic that stronger strains present a risk of brain damage to younger smokers whose brains are still developing. Because the industry is regulated at state not federal level, packaging and distribution standards are inconsistent, meaning some buyers don’t know what they’re getting into.