Cannabis on sale now eight times stronger
Friday August 08 2008
HERBAL cannabis on sale in Ireland is now up to eight times stronger than it was a decade ago, an addiction expert has said.
The demand for the drug, evident in this week's major haul, is reflected by the massive increase in its potency. And it has been claimed strong herbal cannabis or "skunk", poses alarming new dangers in bringing out latent psychological disorders among users.
Swoop
More than €500,000 worth of the drug was seized when gardai swooped on three cannabis "factories" in the midlands yesterday. It was the latest discovery by gardai of major cannabis cultivation operations this year.
Skunk is more potent than the more common cannabis resin, and the evidence is the varieties coming to Ireland are getting stronger. Shay Pegley of the Addiction Training Institute said cannabis was still Ireland's "number one drug of choice".
Mr Pegley said he was "not surprised" by the skunk seizures made in recent months.
"What is available now seems to be a lot more potent than it was 10 years ago," Mr Pegley said.
"Some reports would put it at between five and eight times stronger than it was. Skunk poses new dangers in terms of exposing latent psychological issues like paranoia and schizophrenia."
Mr Pegley said to people working in the field of addiction, it was clear cannabis in all forms was still the country's number one drug, with cocaine in second place.
"Some people can experiment with cannabis and walk away from it very easily. Other people don't, they stay there.
"We would always urge that people where possible look for better coping mechanisms than using any substance," he added.
- Andrew Phelan
