From an economic standpoint, the Montana headlines are encouraging: Recreational marijuana revenues statewide exceed expectations, totaling $203 million in 2022.
From a health standpoint, potential side effects from intense cannabis products sold in Montana are concerning: mental and physical health disorders, including psychosis, hallucinations, poisoning and addiction.
The culprit: highly potent THC, the chemical cannabinoid in marijuana that makes a person high.
For the record, this columnist has long supported responsible recreational use of cannabis, publicly debating the pros and cons of decriminalizing pot, while siding with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.
In 2009, I wrote the authorized biography, “Weed Man: The Remarkable Journey of Jimmy Divine.” Until his indictment by U.S. authorities, Jimmy oversaw one of the largest ever marijuana smuggling operations between Colombia and the United States.
A confirmed teetotaler who never smoked pot or tobacco (hence the nickname Divine), Jimmy and his fellow Bahamians quoted in the book – a respected church pastor among them –saw nothing evil lurking in marijuana, calling it “God’s plant.”
But the old-school cannabis of the 1970s and 80s, including prized “Colombian Gold” that Jimmy and his motley crew of seafarers smuggled into America, wasn’t nearly as strong (or potentially dangerous) as today’s THC-laden products – buds, edibles, vaporizers, oils and crystals – sold legally in the Flathead Valley and throughout Montana.
Consider that in 1995 the average THC content of U.S.-seized cannabis was 4 percent. Today, a local licensed marijuana retailer sells two varieties with THC levels of 26.4 and 26.68 percent, a sativa strain at 27 percent THC, and a wooden stalked Kosher Kush pushing 28 percent.
Vaping packs a far more powerful and euphoric punch. Of the three-dozen vape devices sold at the same dispensary, two highlighted as popular contain THC levels of 91.83 and 93.69 percent respectively, while concentrates reach as high as 99 percent THC. All of which are legal.
Montana law stipulates that the total THC content of marijuana flowers may not exceed 35 percent (the limit doesn’t apply to medical marijuana cardholders), while a package of single-serving edibles and topical products are capped at 100 mg and 800 mg respectively. Legal limits for specific vaping products are fuzzy, in my opinion.
As with nicotine and alcohol, Montanans aged 21 and over who choose to legally consume high-test cannabis products do so at their own risk. Pending further study, both the FDA and CDC recommend Americans avoid vaping THC altogether, especially teens whose brain, heart and lung development are more susceptible to the cannabinoid.
What is known is that as weed becomes more potent more teens are becoming dependent and dangerously ill, especially from dabbing, an increasingly popular method of inhaling concentrated THC.
In 2021, Montana health officials counted 5,218 cannabis-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits, including 163 cannabis-poisoning cases (22 percent of them among children aged 10 and under).
According to the 2021 Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 38 percent of high school students in Northwest Montana (Flathead, Lake, Lincoln and Sanders counties) admitted having used marijuana, 21 percent within the previous 30 days. Fifty percent used a vaping product, 31 percent during that month.
In nearby Washington, the first state to legalize recreational marijuana 11 years ago, health officials just released a report on the challenges of powerful THC products that only faintly resemble a marijuana plant. They’ve asked state legislators to weigh new public education campaigns, product warning labels, even taxation per THC content.
“I don’t remember voting for 90 percent THC,” said the report’s lead author.
Whether Montana’s lawmakers consider similar action remains to be seen. Montana currently charges a 20 percent tax on recreational marijuana, and Flathead County is set to implement its own adult-use tax of 3 percent on March 1, 2023.
NORML agrees in an op-ed that high THC products warrant greater education, not recriminalization, since outlawing them will drive their production and sale exclusively underground, undermining “the primary goal of legalization, which is to disrupt and ultimately replace the underground market with a transparent, regulated marketplace, wherein products are tested for safety and are clearly labeled so that consumers can make educated choices.”
As for teens attracted to high-test weed, NORML says state regulators should provide “more comprehensive safety information about the effects of more potent products and … continue to ensure that legal products do not get diverted to the youth market.”
John McCaslin is a longtime print and broadcast journalist and author.