I have two questions.
Firstly - in the last 50 years, has cannabis become significantly more potent? If so by how much?
Secondly - if so, is the increase in potency due to better growing techniques or is the increase due to selective breeding?
I’m doing a project and need to separate sensationalist nonsense from reality.
Come, join us over here where this discussion is once again underway…
Cannabis sativa as a species is no stronger than it was 50 years ago. For example, native cannabis from Thailand (“Thai weed”) is among the most revered by cannabis connoiseurs. Thai pot is not bred for potency, it just grows naturally with an extremely solid sativa effect.
Pot is not stronger than it was in the past, though you are more likely to find potent cannabis nowadays then you would back then. Make no mistake about it, weed with low amounts of THC (stereotypically associated with the 60s-70s) is still around, tons and tons of it, and people are consuming it with just as much zeal as the new pot. The people smoking more potent cannabis just make up more of the population nowadays, because more is available. This fact makes the typical generalization (“Todays pot is XXX stronger than yesteryear”…) fairly foolish. Pot with low amounts of THC is still prevalent absolutely everywhere. High potency hybrids are everywhere too now though, and that wasn’t so 50 years ago.
Answering your 2nd question: For clarity, potency isnt affected by whether the plant was hybridized. The Thai pot I mention earlier didn’t earn its revered potent due to selective human breeding; it’s grown unchanged for thousands of years. You can selectively breed 2 “brand name” strains from todays era (Skunk and Kush, terms you may have heard for example) for years and never end up with results like Thai potency. Selective breeding in and of itself does not create stronger pot.
And growing technique advancements are a factor, but they certainly wont make or break the strain. If you start out with an excellent variety like Thai, and grow it with dated horticultural techniques from the 60s, you’re still going to end up with excellent pot. You started out with Thai genetics after all. Conversely, you could apply todays cutting edge hydroponic advances, lighting techniques, etc, to a subpar variety and still end up with disappointing results. All of todays technology, worthless, if you don’t apply it to the right varieties.
Hope this clears it up somewhat.