Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Feb;269(1):5-15.
doi: 10.1007/s00406-019-00983-5. Epub 2019 Jan 22.

New trends in cannabis potency in USA and Europe during the last decade (2008-2017)

Suman Chandra  1 , Mohamed M Radwan  1 , Chandrani G Majumdar  1 , James C Church  2 , Tom P Freeman  3   4 , Mahmoud A ElSohly  5   6
Affiliations

New trends in cannabis potency in USA and Europe during the last decade (2008-2017)

Suman Chandra et al. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2019 Feb.

Erratum in

Abstract

Through the potency monitoring program at the University of Mississippi supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a total of 18108 samples of cannabis preparations have been analyzed over the last decade, using a validated GC/FID method. The samples are classified as sinsemilla, marijuana, ditchweed, hashish, and hash oil (now referred to as cannabis concentrate). The number of samples received over the last 5 years has decreased dramatically due to the legalization of marijuana either for medical or for recreational purposes in many US states. The results showed that the mean Δ9-THC concentration has increased dramatically over the last 10 years, from 8.9% in 2008 to 17.1% in 2017. The mean Δ9-THC:CBD ratio also rose substantially from 23 in 2008 to 104 in 2017. There was also marked increase in the proportion of hash oil samples (concentrates) seized (0.5-4.7%) and their mean Δ9-THC concentration (6.7-55.7%) from 2008 to 2017. Other potency monitoring programs are also present in several European countries such as The Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, and Italy. These programs have also documented increases in Δ9-THC concentrations and Δ9-THC:CBD ratios in cannabis. These trends in the last decade suggest that cannabis is becoming an increasingly harmful product in the USA and Europe.

Keywords: CBD; CBG; CBN; Cannabis; Concentrates; Hash oil; Hashish; Marijunna; Potency monitoring; Sinsemilla; Δ9-THC.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. J Forensic Sci. 2000 Jan;45(1):24-30 - PubMed
    1. Afr Econ Hist. 1976;(1):17-35 - PubMed
    1. Pain Res Manag. 2001 Summer;6(2):80-91 - PubMed
    1. Addict Biol. 2005 Jun;10(2):171-80 - PubMed
    1. J Ethnopharmacol. 2006 Apr 21;105(1-2):1-25 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources