70s To The Modern Day: How Has Weed Changed?

70s To The Modern Day How Has Weed Changed

70s To The Modern Day How Has Weed Changed

 

The ideas of what weed was like back in the day compared to what it’s like now varies greatly. Some say it’s vastly stronger now, others say that the classic stuff is what would knock you on your ass. I can only really weigh in on the difference between the 2000s and today. Even from that tiny period of time I can definitely say that things have changed considerably. Everyone I know at that point could only get solid and soap bar which were still somehow weaker than what’s available today. So since the 70s, the hippie era and a huge era for weed, how much has cannabis really changed. If it has changed so drastically, then we may also want to look into why. 

 

1970s Weed

 

In the 70s the average THC level was considerably lower than it is today. The average recorded in the 70s was apparently about 1% THC. However, the same article says that the average now is about 5 – 6% THC which in my experience studying and writing about strains isn’t true. It is far more likely that a strain will have a THC level between 10 – 16%. So assuming that the average in the 70s was in fact a little higher, we still end up with a stark difference in THC levels. 

 

In the 1970s cannabis was primarily imported from other parts of the world. As it was the 70s and a good deal of cannabis was coming from Columbia and other similar countries, it would age considerably by the time it reached its destination. Transporting cannabis at the time would have been tricky, especially in the height of the war on drugs. The cannabis would take a much longer time to get to the consumer. As we all know, the older the weed is the more THC it loses, especially if it is not properly sealed away. Not only was this a vital aspect of the decreased THC levels of the time, but the farmers and dealers didn’t really know what they were doing in the same way. The weed that was making its way into pockets wasn’t pure, beautifully dried buds. It was a mix of leaves, flowers, buds, stems, seeds, pretty much just a little bit of everything. Of course, this simply meant that what people were buying to smoke wasn’t the bit that you wanted to smoke. They were getting the sections of the plant that were far lower in THC. 

 

What Changed?

 

The 1980s brought us hydroponic farming systems. This, of course, improved the way in which weed was grown and created plants that were initially more potent. Before hydroponic growing mass farms were the only way to really create sellable amounts of weed. As we all know, larger outdoor farms can face all sorts of issues, diseases and pests that can affect the quality of the weed. Not only did this mean better weed was being grown, but it completely revolutionised indoor growing. Where before most weed could only be grown outdoors on farms and in hot countries, now there were other options. Private citizens could grow weed indoors with the new hydroponic systems. Suddenly basements, attics, cupboards and sheds all became fair game for growing. Not legally obviously but that’s not really what this is about. 

 

Throughout the 80s and 90s there was still a lot of nonsense cannabist going around. But as more people were able to grow the plants in their own homes, or in larger underground setups, access to fresh grown cannabis became the norm. This meant that the brick weed that had been imported from further afield was no longer popular, even if it was usually a bit cheaper. When homegrowing came into play so did hybridisation. The more botanistically minded out there decided to create their own super strains using the best parts of some of the most popular plants at the time. The more they crossed genetics the more the plants improved and the higher the THC levels climbed. By the 90s and 2000s brick weed was pretty much completely off the table, why would anyone bother with the sort of stuff that was going around. This is largely based on what was happening in the US. I can definitely say that weed in Scotland didn’t really start to improve until the 2010s. 

 

2009 was actually the first year that the average cannabis strength went above 10% in the US. Again this is just in the US, in the Netherlands the average usually sat at around 17%. 

 

Modern Day Weed

 

Over the last 20 years we have experienced an explosion in technology as a species. Not just in science, medicine, technology etc but in farming, botany and general plant care. These days cannabis farming has become significantly more high tech which allows the plants to thrive. We can also transport the weed completely sealed to stop it from decreasing in potency, while also getting it to the consumer at a much faster rate. We have far stronger strains that are being grown better and transported faster. Which means that one of our modern joints will get you as high as 17.5 joints from the 1970s. Of course, now research in medicinal cannabis is expanding and the legal cannabis trade is coming into play now that so many parts of the world are at least decriminalising. 

 

Our understanding of the effects of cannabis has improved. I mean, you would barely know it looking at some of the right wing anti-legalisation propaganda that’s going about. And I’m sure many of us remember the adverts where weed made young teens kill their mums or lose all their bones. As the understanding of cannabis increases so does the understanding of how it affects our bodies. We are now fully versed on the basics of the endo-cannabinoid system. This allows growers and scientists to create increasingly impressive ways to get as much THC from your weed as humanly possible. What a time to be alive. 

 

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Photo by Ian Sanderson on Unsplash

5 thoughts on “70s To The Modern Day: How Has Weed Changed?

  1. Seems there is a diminishing number of people who werre around in the sixties, and you think it all started in the 70s?
    I was a dealer in London in the late 60s, and had access to most of the best dope around including; Thai Sticks, Lebanese Gold, Lebanese Red [RedLeb], African Bush, Jamaican bush, Turkish Hash, Moroccan Hash, and occasionally Nepalese Temple Balls, the idea that none of this was over 1% THC made me burst out laughing, Thus myths are made.

    The idea that ‘back in the 1960s’ weed was weak and is much stronger now was a creation of the anti-cannabis misinformation shills, trying to get their lies accepted by those who had tried it back then but not since, and who were largely in favour of legalisation. It was never true, and today’s products are no more potent. Remember, these all came from countries which had traditionally been growing and using cannabis for centuries, if they had only managed 1% they would have failed miserably, and the 60s might never have happened.

    Of course there have4 been some small increases in THC, but don’t make the mistake of thinking THC is the sole cannabinoid out of more than 80 in the plant, much of the sublety has been lost along with flavanoids andf terpenes which inevitably get mixed or lost in hybridisation. Don’t ever think landrace cannabis [as found in the Hindu Kush and other parts of the Himalyas, Africa, West Indies and across Asia is inferior to weed grown under lights with Sativa and Indica mixed and matched. Even plain old Morooccan Kif, finely chopped whole plant grass, was powerful enough to make some lose their identify for hours! Red Leb, again made from whole plants, crushed and filtered though successively fine mesh then bagged and pressed, was sticky and and crumbly when heated.

    I have personally always preferred hash to grass, the latter was cool occasionally, just for a change, but somehow didn’t have the same degree of couchblock, much more suited to an active/creative life. Of course in the USA it has always been weed, as it is in Mexico, there being no tradition of hash to build on, and wars have put a stop to the importation of all those fine hash products. Back in the day we grew plants from seeds found in grass to grow orhamental plants for the balcony, since no one else recognised them then.

    Yes there’s much more technology now, but that doesn’t mean anything, cannabis has always been termed a weed; it grows in poor soil with little rainfall and is suited to the hot dry countries it has traditionally been grown in, and it improves marginal soil. I’m not a fan of the PH tinkering, nutrient balancing obsessiveness that typified todays grows, with so much money involved that yield is all and quality takes second place. Measured on a purely grass/weed basis, Thai Sticks were a lot stronger than anything I have experienced these days, I was rather hoping Thailand would start exporting again now it has legalised cannabis for medicine. Then you youngsters would understand, fiddling about too much gains nothing.

  2. Quote: ‘allows growers and scientists to create increasingly impressive ways to get as much THC from your weed as humanly possible’ illustrates a wrong attitude, THC is not the be all and end all, that’s a very two dimensional way of seeing it. And ‘farmers and dealers didn’t really know what they were doing’ shows an arrogance and youthful ignorance that’s pure American [I thought you were UK, but since we didn’t get weed from Colombia but Africa and Asia, I guess you really are an arrogant American]. Those farmers you dismiss had been growing this plant for more than two thousand yours down the generations, and you think upstart Americans know more? Plus, I and other dealers in the 60s and 70s knew precisely what we were dealing, and could judge a hash just from the smell. Gimme a break Lui! The only difference I’m aware of is the skunk stink that can spread through a whole street and cling to clothing until washed, making it much easier for the police to identify a car ‘smelling of cannabis’ for a search.

    1. Hi Pete, I’m sorry you didn’t like this content. We put our heart into everything we post, and we do our research prior to posting an article. Hopefully, next time you’ll find a post you’ll like more than this one!

      1. Hi Pete, that’s weird, we’ve checked all the pending comments and the ones automatically marked as spam, and we couldn’t find it. I’m really sorry about it

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