I have heard that weed from the 70s era only had ~2% THC where now at least dispensary grade can hit 20% to 25% THC. That could well be due to the drug war selecting for more powerful highs in smaller packages, but i would think that would also reduce the quantity needed to get the high you want.

  • s38b35M5@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    tl;dr I don’t think I answer your question…

    As a regular smoker since 1995, I can say I definitely don’t rip four foot bong hits anymore. I also don’t go through a half ounce in three days. Now, a quarter lasts me weeks, and a single spliff lasts me a day or three.

    Part of that is that I have things I need my brain for, and the other is that I’m wasted on anything more than three hits. I’m living in a country with no designer weed, and what I get here is only a notch or two above Mexican brick. When I lived 1.2mi from a weed store in the US, the heavy THC strains would kick my ass after two hits or less.

    Still, some friends who do dabz regularly (back in the states) get ripped well beyond what I prefer to, so I’m not sure the increased high is making smokers consume less. Its probably just me getting old.

    • grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I have been using cannabis for decades (with the exception of breaks lasting from a couple months to a few years).

      Unless you count idiotic teen behavior, I have always thought a little bit is enough. It keeps your tolerance low and prevents burnout.

      I usually just do it before bed but I usually like to do an activity (game, book, writing, quiet chore) so getting completely faded is pointless. Quick few vapes while out with the dog and I’m good.

  • grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I started smoking in the mid-80s. It’s true that what we would call “homegrown” wasn’t super potent, but it gave a nice mellow buzz. And yes, we’d often roll bigger spliffs with it. But you could get very potent weed if you had a good contact. Maybe not as potent as now but pretty potent.

    Where I grew up, though, we all smoked hash. We’d use weed or tobacco to roll hash joints or just pipe it, etc.

    It’s so wonderful to have made it to legalization. No stress when buying and having a choice of what to buy is really nice.

  • N3Cr0@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    It depends on the reason. Against my ADHD symptoms: a micro dose. For trauma therapy and recreational use: a big hit, no matter how strong.

  • undeffeined@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    Yeah, currently reducing frequency to 2-3 days a week from doing it virtually everyday for the best part of a decade. Hoping to transition to a pause after getting comfortable with the reduction.

    Where I am its not legal so I have no idea on how potent it is.

  • m0darn@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    I finished highschool in 2004, and I remember being taught in health class (2003?) that pot was much more potent than it had been in the 60s and 70s.

    How does the stuff available now compare to the stuff from 2004?

    My googling suggests averages of:

    60s: 2% 70s: 2% 80s: 3% 90s: 4% 95-2014: transitioned from 4%-12%

    To an average of 15% today.

    I’m guessing gains prior to the 90s were selective breeding. 90’s hybridization? Subsequently GMO?

  • ikapoz@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    Definitely. 20-25 years back when I first started smoking, the weed we could find was much lower THC than the mildest stuff I can find in a dispensary these days (though buying it from a guy with no job behind a dry cleaners might’ve played a factor there). We’d roll a couple joints and pass around 4-5 people - smoke em both and you’d tie on a good buzz but still be functional.

    Started seeing stuff the was more “one hit quit” later in college in the mid 00s - roughly comperable to average commercial product these days. Sharing a single joint of that around and we’d melt into the couch for the afternoon. Nowadays I don’t take more than a hit or two if I need to do anything more complex than grunting or blinking.

    Some of that I am sure has to do with me smoking more seldom generally, and maybea little childhood nostalgia, but I sure miss having something I can hit for a while without turning into a mass of quivering jelly for four hours.

    • xor@infosec.pub
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      9 months ago

      edibles don’t work for me… until i eat so much that they work way too much…
      i can never hit a happy medium…

      • 20hzservers@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        This is second hand and I’ve never tried it but my friends say alcohol tincture under the tounge work for them and hit very quickly. Not enough alcohol to get you drunk if you’re trying to stay off the booze. I’ve been meaning to try it myself.

        • xor@infosec.pub
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          9 months ago

          i have tried the tinctures and they do work better for me… but not that great…

      • Thorned_Rose@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        I have the same thing. What I find works for me is to vape a little flower in addition to the edible. No idea why, but it’s somehow like vaping some ‘activates’ the edible.

  • Chewy@discuss.tchncs.de
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    9 months ago

    Where I live higher THC percentage lead to most people smoking weed and tobacco spliffs. Hopefully growing for personal consumption becomes legal soon, which would lead to less potent weed becoming available. I really don’t like how most of my smoking friends started to smoke cigarettes over the years.

    • Taniwha420@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      This. This got me. And it’s a fucked up feedback loop. Because I’m addicted to nicotine I ironically smoked WAY more strong pot in spliffs than I would have if I had never ‘diluted’ the strong weed with tobacco in the first place.

      On the occasions where I’ve managed to quit tobacco, I have almost no desire to smoke weed, but when I’m hooked I’m chronic.

      The modern vape pens give a really good high. That was the previous problem: substitutes just didn’t scratch the itch. Thanks to a round of pneumonia I’ve managed to quit tobacco again. Previously, the desire to occasionally get high and enjoy the sunset would open the gateway to smoking, but I’m praying the vape pen is enough.

      I hate smelling like smoke. I hate wasting money on tobacco. I hate that I’m killing myself.

      I feel good right now.

  • Smokeydope@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Not an old head but in mid 20s and been smoking about a decade now. Used to be able to pump joints and bong rips intoy lungs as a teen, but nowthe years of smoking is catching up to me and I get out of breath easy which is more of an issue now that I have some children in my life that want to me to play and run with them.

    As the pain of hot smoke in lungs out competes the minor pleasure of smoking mid grade cheap pot I have been looking for healthier ways to enjoy my cannabis and get high. This past year was my time for discovering dry herb vapes. Now that I have the vape situation handled I’m looking into how to process flower into stronger forms so I dont have to smoke as much or at all. This years goals are learning how to make some hash and RSO.

      • Smokeydope@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Put getting a good dry herb vape to the top of your priority list it will save you money in the long run bud last so much longer and smoke is so much cleaner its unreal. If only I had a time machine and tell my younger self.

        This year properly starting the dry herb journey I started went with the arizer air max and would recommend it to others. If you are patient can get it on sale from arizers website probably around 4/20. Pair it with the extremely long stem with a carb that sneaky pete vaporizers makes and its an almost perfect portable vape.

        Other one I would recommend is dynavap m+ which heats with torch or induction heater. I got the dynavap for myself as a Christmas present after 6 months of the air max as my sole daily driver and man its a completely different experience. Fucking around with a torch is annoying and you can easily over do it and combust the material but it extracts herb so quickly and efficiently in one go that .1g will produce a heavy hitting cloud of milk its insane. Only issue with dynavap is you will get tired o fucking around with torch and look into induction heaters only for the outrageous prices to kneecap you.

        Good luck with whatever you do in your cannabis journey ;)

      • PutangInaMo@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I tried to make dry herb work for me, but the high was not the same. Interested to hear your experience if you get one.

  • Blackout@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    There are a lot more concentrates now, some as high as 90% THC. 1 gram of those lasts me a month when I used to smoke over an ounce of flower in the same timeframe and the cost is less than 25% what I used to spend.

  • Herbal Gamer@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    Highly depends on wether or not I’ve got a job.

    I haven’t had one for over a year now so I’ve been smoking more and more.

  • Thorned_Rose@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    I’m in a country with a fairly restrictive medical cannabis system. I can’t compare stuff from back in the 70s or whatever as I wasnt born yet lol. But I can compare the lowest THC strain I have against the highest. I have 12.5%, 15% and 21%. (For context I only vape and only microdose).
    The lowest one can give the highest one a run for its money in terms of how much it hits from one inhalation. But it doesn’t last ovr many hits. The lowest might only be 2-3 hits from the bowl. Whereas the highest I can get easily double that before it becomes naff.

    This for me means the stronger stuff is way better value for money.

    The downside is that you don’t get as much terpenes - the lower strength will be a bowl a session. Whereas the higher strength, a bowl can last two or three sessions and I’m only getting the yummy terpene hits off that first session.