I replied this in another comment but think it is worth repeating here:

We're experiencing a product made by the underground cannabis community for that community -- habitual consumers. The tolerance level of a habitual consumer is really high. So, for decades, breeders chose to continue growing the strongest strain, every time, for years and years. Then, when commercial players entered the market, they took those high-thc strains and put them through even greater quality controls, making strains even more potent.

So, while people in the US do want everything bigger and "better", this doesn't apply to casual alcohol consumption. Americans aren't hammering down shots of grain alcohol. For casual drug use, though, there's a wider preference. The cannabis product that growers and breeders are making was crafted for the OG cannabis community. As they make their own strains with mass appeal, those strains will be far friendlier to casual consumption.

I agree, although I think it's not just tolerance level. Until recently, smoking was the most popular way to ingest marijuana. Smoking kind of sucks though, so it's best to smoke as little as possible to get the desired effects. Ironically, the strongest strains are in a way the healthiest for you as you can do a very small amount vs smoking a large quantity of plant material.

That's a good point, though we may be dealing with small amounts regardless. For instance, I read that for one study of tobacco lung cancer, a "moderate" smoker starts at 10 cigarettes a day. (woah). So let's say someone smokes 10 cigarettes a day, every day, and let's say a single cigarette takes 10 moderate drags (I'm getting this by googling and using the first reddit thread I find, I don't smoke).

Ok, so 103010 = 3000 drags a month for a light/moderate smoker.

Now, imagine a casual (2x a month) cannabis user who actually smokes most of a smallish preroll, 6 drags (though they may be deeper). So we're looking 12 drags a month vs 3000.

I have no idea if the extra 8-10 drags from weaker cannabis make a difference vs 1-2 on something stronger, but we're talking about an extremely low dose, either way, compared to any kind of cigarette smoking, maybe low enough that the difference isn't measurable.

I think it’s more that Americans culturally tend to the “extreme sports” mentality in many aspects of their lives. Biggest baddest loudest most intense most successful mosh committed hardest working are all excessively venerated here.

That's not particularly reflected in other forms of intoxication though. A ton of people in the US drink super light beer for instance (vs hard alcohol). They also tend to avoid espresso shots in favor of shake-like products.

I'm not saying you're incorrect but other consumption habits don't always lean toward the most extreme option.

> they also tend to avoid espresso shots in favor of shake-like products.

Maybe they're just competing to see who can have the biggest, sweetest, most extravagant beverage, rather than who can make it the most concentrated. If the name of your coffee beverage takes five minutes to pronounce, you're the coolest cat in town.

I mean there are still plenty of alcoholics and people with beer bellies. Light beer is more conducive to American activities, maybe. If you are sitting out in the hot sun, are you going to start ripping shots or drinking red wine, or a cold beer? A cup of drip coffee is typically stronger than espresso as well.

My original point was that maybe strong weed was more conducive to American activities :)