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As more and more states legalize their medicinal and recreational use, marijuana is becoming increasingly addictive, warns public health officials, probably because of its growing potency, designed to appease the regulars and hang on new ones.
Nearly nine percent of marijuana users are addicted, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and 17 percent of drug addicts have started using it in their teens.
David Smith, a doctor who treats drug abuse, said the Washington Post this selective selection of cannabis plant can increase its THC content – the psychoactive ingredient that attracts users – that could increase its addictive properties, especially in young people.
"At the time when children were sitting around smoking a joint, the levels of THC found in marijuana averaged two to four percent," Smith said To post. "That's what most parents think today, and that's why the company thinks marijuana is harmless."
Selective breeding has emerged to meet the demands of marijuana connoisseurs who are looking for strains with higher levels of THC once they have reached their maximum tolerance. For traditionally grown marijuana, a higher THC content means less varied cannabinoids that produce the distinct flavors and aromas of the different strains. With genetic modification, producers can choose the desired traits in the genotype of the plant, such as crop producers who make corn to resist pests.
In 1995, the average activity of cannabis peaked at 4%, then at 12% in 2014. THC levels have risen sharply since then. In 2018, the average power reaches 20%, but it is not limiting: more and more popular marijuana extracts, called "dabs", contain 40 to 80% of THC, according to a report by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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A 2016 study indicated that higher levels of THC could account for the 53 percent increase in marijuana-related emergency transportation among teens between 2005 and 2010. The chronic use of teenagers was also linked to poor schooling. performance and decline in overall life span, higher probability of car accidents and chronic lung inflammation.
Although the effects of the compound on the brain are poorly known, studies have shown that it illuminates the brain's reward center by increasing dopamine levels and altering nerves, two indicators of drug-causing an addiction. The chronic use of marijuana decreases the sensitivity to THC, which promotes the demand for strains with greater potency, according to a report from the California Society of Addictive Medicine. The addiction symptoms also reflect those of other drugs, such as physical and psychological dependence, although no overdose has been fatal.
Researchers have long argued that teens are more likely to become addicted to marijuana and suffer cognitive delays as a result. In 2013, psychologists have postulated that weekly use may interfere with adolescent brain development and damage their memory and problem-solving abilities.
Even pot of retail can contain harmful materials. In Colorado, one of the pioneering states to legalize recreational marijuana, investigators have found creepy products with contaminants like fungi, which have invaded marijuana flowers with a million spores. Marijuana concentrates were even more worrying: the inspectors found solvents such as butane, which can have an impact on the central nervous system. Most of the products sold in the stores contained only traces of CBD, the compound that gives marijuana its medicinal value.
"These samples are representative, I think, of what's happening here in the state and, probably, across the country," Andy LaFrate, who runs a lab that tests the potency of marijuana, said NBC News in 2016. "Because most new states come online with medical or retail marijuana, Colorado people arrive to establish these markets."
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