This ain't your grandpa's weed. As cannabis becomes legal in more states in countries, it's a claim heard again and again: Today's marijuana is far more potent than it was in the '60s, supposedly. This week, Patrick Kennedy, a former Congressman from Rhode Island, repeated this assertion, tweeting, "The high concentration of THC in these marijuana products is not what people grew up with." THC is the main ingredient in cannabis responsible for the "stoned" or high feeling some people seek.
Though it might sound like one of many other drug scare tactics, there is some truth to the idea. Marijuana, the processed products of cannabis plants, is getting more potent over time. Thanks to specialized breeding techniques, cannabis can be cultivated to produce 30 percent THC or more — although there is a physical limit to how much the plant can actually spit out.
