In some ways, the higher THC strains are actually less dangerous, because you don't need to put so much harmful smoke into your lungs to get the same effect. If people treated skunk like malt whiskey, and used quantities equivalent to a shots glass, it wouldn't be a problem.
Quote: Stylee TingTing @ June 29 2012, 2:45 PM BSTI don't agree with that at all. To lump cocaine, heroin, amphetamine etc. together with marijuana and cannabis, is wrong in my opinion.
Why? They're all a big old laugh and really spice up a dull Sunday.
Quote: DaButt @ June 29 2012, 2:40 PM BSTNow the stuff is sold <snip> at prices 30x higher..
Not here in the UK it's not. In 1974 it was around £15-£20 an ounce. I got my first job in 1974. My wages were £20 per week. Today it's around £160 per ounce, which is 8x the 1974 price on paper, but much cheaper in real terms.
Quote: DaButt @ June 29 2012, 2:40 PM BST..and a couple of hits are enough to put a person in a veritable coma.
This is reactionary hyperbole if ever I've seen it.
Quote: DaButt @ June 29 2012, 2:40 PM BSTBelieve it or not, THC content has increased dramatically over the last 30 years.
Not in my experience it hasn't. I came to adulthood in London, when strong hashish was readily available. Stronger than any skunk of today, not to mention some marijuana that was around, that was also much stronger than this weird fixation (skunk) of today.
I think that maybe if the US had had the hashish that we had, you wouldn't say that today's skunk is stronger.
But back to the OP.
Prohibition doesn't work, and just causes more misery. Yes, that's just my opinion.
Quote: DaButt @ June 29 2012, 2:40 PM BSTAbsolute nonsense. In the late 70s nobody sold weed in smaller quantities than an ounce. The typical price was $25 for a Ziploc baggie that would barely close and would create quite a spectacle when shoved down the front of the era's tight jeans. When we smoked we would roll huge joints (no tobacco, as RC noted) and most of the time each person smoked at least a couple of them by himself.
I would typically smoke a joint by myself in the morning while showering, say goodbye to my parents, meet my friends for another few joints, head to school, smoke a few at lunchtime, finish school, smoke a few on the way home, go to work flipping burgers and then smoke a few more after work.
Now the stuff is sold by the gram at prices 30x higher and a couple of hits are enough to put a person in a veritable coma. Believe it or not, THC content has increased dramatically over the last 30 years.
How did you smoke in the shower? Didnt the joint get wet?
Quote: Stylee TingTing @ June 29 2012, 3:02 PM BSTI think that maybe if the US had had the hashish that we had, you wouldn't say that today's skunk is stronger.
It's not really fair to compare weed to hash, as hash is essentially a concentrated form of weed.
Quote: sootyj @ June 29 2012, 3:04 PM BSTHow did you smoke in the shower? Didnt the joint get wet?
If stoners spent as much time and effort on useful things as they do trying to get high ...
Quote: DaButt @ June 29 2012, 3:35 PM BSTIt's not really fair to compare weed to hash, as hash is essentially a concentrated form of weed.
I made a mistake. I meant to say that if the US had had the hashish and the weed that was around in the UK at the time, I don't think you'd say that today's stuff is stronger.
Quote: Stylee TingTing @ June 29 2012, 3:41 PM BSTI made a mistake. I meant to say that if the US had had the hashish and the weed that was around in the UK at the time, I don't think you'd say that today's stuff is stronger.
So why was a product that was once sold by the ounce now sold by the gram?
Quote: sootyj @ June 29 2012, 3:04 PM BSTHow did you smoke in the shower? Didnt the joint get wet?
Most joints get wet in the shower sootyj, that's the main idea really. As my old art teacher Ms Blundell told me - keep it clean as a whistle or it won't get blown!
You bunch of bleedin' hippies.
Quote: zooo @ June 29 2012, 4:28 PM BSTYou bunch of bleedin' hippies.
I don't take anything, not even caffeine. Real hippies live clean...
Well you say clean, but they don't use deodorant...
Quote: zooo @ June 29 2012, 4:51 PM BSTWell you say clean, but they don't use deodorant...
How many hippies do you know, zooo? 
I've read about them in books...
They don't believe in aerosols, they use those crystals instead. Duh.
nb a final issue is criminalises thousands to no good end.
Ever seen this scenario? Police(upto about 20 including PCOs) at large tube station funnel all the passengers past a copper with a dog.
Dog sniffs everyone going past (so they don't have to justify the search). They're not looking for Pablo Escobar, they're looking for a student with an 1/8th. They now have an excuse to search him, his house (tough shit if its a shared house).
The whole criminal justice system is gummed up with people who either need help or are doing something quite harmless.
Quote: sootyj @ June 30 2012, 7:55 AM BSTnb a final issue is criminalises thousands to no good end.
What's more, the stats show that usage actually fell when it was downgraded to class C, and then rose again once it was reclassified to B. Maybe if it was legalised, usage would fall.