The Compleat Advocate

[Shelbia_Brown]

August 1, 2008

Marijuana - THC content doubled since 1996

This is from the front page of today's Times Daily, of Florence, Alabama




The full text of the article is available at
http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20080801/NEWS/808010322/-1/COMMUNITIES

* Highlight: Burns said marijuana is commonly shipped from Mexico to larger cities in Texas and Atlanta, where is it distributed.

"I definitely see the usage has increased," he said. "The amount we've seen from Mexico is unbelievable."

DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney agrees that the demand to get high and the desire to make larger profits are driving potency levels.

"You're not dealing with people who are just trying to get people high," he said. "You can charge more when you have a higher THC count."

Courtney said more cartels from Mexico are smuggling the drug into the U.S. to gain a profit and to build a better market base.

"It's a cash-based business," he said.

Courtney said cartels are using more convoluted methods to "genetically modify" the marijuana and increase the potency because of the demand.

[Source: Shelbia Brown, "Not your average pot | Marijuana's potency increasing rapidly, along with its demand", Times Daily (Florence, Alabama), August 1, 2008, pp. 1A, 4A]