Joints aren' stronger than 25 years ago - euro drugs expert
THE average cannabis joint is no stronger than it was 25 years ago, say EU experts.
They have analysed official data from across the EU and concluded there have been no significant changes in cannabis potency.
Levels of the drug's active ingredient - D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - has remained virtually constant.
Cannabis resin (hashish) produced overseas comprised about 70 per cent of the UK market, with the rest being marijuana, around half of which was imported.
On the typical British joint, the report said: "The absence of any decline in the amount of herbal cannabis or resin used may suggest there has been no long-term increase in the THC content of the average cigarette." But scientists warned an increasing trend towards "home-grown" cannabis could lead to increased potency and subsequent health implications.
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction reported that the content of British reefers was constant at about 200 milligrams of herbal cannabis or 150mg of cannabis resin between 1979 and 2001.
But the scientists' research seemed to suggest that the "Camberwell Carrot" - a huge joint shown in the cult 1986 British film Withnail and I - has largely remained fiction rather than facy.
The experts concluded: "There is no evidence of a significant increase in potency."
