The trend was the result of prohibition, and is akin to the phenomenon of high potency moonshine being produced in the alcohol prohibition era. Sellers and movers had an incentive to maximize their profit to risk ratio. One way was to increase perceived potency. Just look at K2/spice for another result of this dynamic. That's a moonshine situation.

Now there is plenty of low THC weed out there. The dispensaries just don't offer it for some reason. You can find it in head shops and online. These are very good strains, mind you, bred with intention by skilled growers.

If cannabis was legal on a federal level, we'd likely see more low-mid THC strains emerge in markets. Right now there's a weird legal gap between what headshops can sell and what dispensaries are interested in selling, so the ~1-5% THC weed is pretty niche.

There's quite a lot of energy going into that those alternative strains right now. People are cultivating lots of other cannabinoids, CBG, CBN, CBT, CBC... and many more. They're making some good ones too!

I don’t use cannabis much as an adult. But when I do, I really miss the ability to sit and smoke a big joint almost like I might smoke a cigar. When I was a teen in 90s mostly brick was available cause Texas and I’d smoke a quarter oz in a evening. Granted I have no tolerance these days.

It’s just not possible at these THC levels I see when I visit retail in legal places. I can smoke a gram or two in a evening if I’m really trying.

That seems like a strange thing to pine for. Why wish for additional lung damage if you can get the same effect off one or two puffs and move on with your life?

Believe it or not some people enjoy the act of smoking even though it's not the most efficient method to get high. In general, something does not need to be safest or most rational in order to be satisfying.

This is correct. For something I do maybe once a year, I’m willing to take the risk. I do the same thing with cigars about once a year. I actually enjoy act of smoking and the flavors. So a one hitter 40% THC strain eliminates that enjoyment.

FWIW I never smoked cigarettes for similar reason, taste like crap and stinks too IMO. Even when I smoke cigars I regret it for 24-48 hours cause of smell and taste left in my mouth/tongue feel. MJ doesn’t do that per se, but I do have to change clothes and basically take a shower before sleeping. I really don’t like smell of smoke. It’s a weird thing I know.

I would rather smoke several low-thc spliffs over the course of an evening than the equivalent amount in two hits. Sure, the lung damage isn't ideal, but it beats just falling asleep and being useless for 4 hours.

Really bad idea to mix tobacco with your cannabis.

Tobacco is a dangerous addictive drug that ruins your health and shortens your life.

I know and I've tried to quit many times with varying degrees of success (one time for almost a year!) For now the tiny amount of tobacco I mix into spliffs is my concession. It's certainly way better than the pack a day I used to go through in my early 20s.

Well, smoking joints ftw.

It's a social act, one has to roll it, pass it, i've even met people who had some superstitions and strong beliefs about the correct way of consuming a joint (weed in general) :P

If you wish to lower lung damage, you eat it.

Different high. The liver processes the THC first when you eat it. When you smoke it, your brain gets actual THC.

Doubtful. As evidence, I present the "how much hops can I cram into my IPA" movement of the craft beer movement.

Hops are a flavouring ingredient, not a psychoactive ingredient.

And despite a decades-long love affair with strong IPAs, most craft beer areas have been big into low alcohol kettle sours, etc for the last 5 years or so. IPAs haven't gone away, just moved to the sidelines

Is this true? The "hype" continues to be NE-IPAs - which contain as many hops as anything around, and (admittedly, I know less about this world) big giant BA stouts.

Maybe more kettle sours are being brewed, but sold?

It's very much local market dependent. In my locale, mid-90s to mid-00's was all about getting people to try craft beer with anything they could - a lot of English styles. Then NW IPAs dominated from about 2007 to 2010, then one-hop IPAs were big, then kettle sours (generally dry hopped or fruited) were big for a few years, you are right that NEIPAs and heavily lactose'd milkshake IPAs are now sharing the limelight. But the NWIPAs and kettle sours and BA Stouts (and BA sours and belgian golden strongs and...) are all still there, still selling well.

Hops do have some interesting properties. You can make a tea to help you sleep. Also used as a antipsycothic before we got pills.

Close relative to Marijuana as I understand.

Well, if I wander into the beer shop a few blocks away, there’s a shelf unit full of IPAs which I avoid because of exactly that phenomenon, but it’s part of a row of shelf units with craft beers of all kinds - there’s sections for stouts, ciders, ambers, and so on. All kinds of wonderful ways to get a little drunk or very very drunk, depending on the ABV of whatever you select; all of them from small breweries.

That reminds me, I really need to send some email to Untitled Art begging them to please do another run of the fabulous “rainbow sherbet” beer I only got ever one can of...

For every strain thats above 20% there are 10 more that are above 15%.