Blowing Smoke

In wake of major pot bust, local hospitals say they haven't seen the so-called marijuana "overdoses."

by Jason Tomassini

NBC-10 BURNT: The press turns on weed. (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

war on drugs

When police seized more than $1.4 million in drugs from a City Avenue penthouse last week, they boasted about the 16 pounds of a potent marijuana strain known as "AK47" that, according to Narcotics Chief Inspector William Blackburn, put people in the emergency room with overdoses.

There were two reactions to the claim, which was regurgitated with little apparent scrutiny by the local media. From nonsmokers: It's great that police got such a large amount of a dangerous drug off our streets, big step for the war on drugs. From pot smokers: Hold on man, overdoses? On weed? Did they eat too many Cheetos or something?

Yes, as police stacked hash bricks for a "look at all the drugs we confiscated" photo op that would make the people at High Times magazine jealous, there still seemed to be a longstanding disconnect — between those who smoke it and those who still target weed offenses as they would cocaine and heroin — on just how dangerous marijuana is.

Blackburn's claim, which is to be expected in a high-profile bust like this, seems to reek of traditional war-on-drugs scare tactics. No matter how potent the strain, can AK47 really land people in emergency rooms when regular weed rarely does?

Of the hospitals City Paper contacted — Jefferson, St. Joseph's and Penn — none have recorded any cases of marijuana overdose within the past few months. There are people treated for the effects of marijuana, which, according to Jefferson toxicologist Paul Kolecki, are limited to increased heart rate and panic attacks, but overdoses are basically impossible.

"If there was a more potent or concentrated marijuana, it could cause maybe more hallucinations or agitation or maybe more increase in your heart rate," Kolecki says. "But I haven't heard of any major physical complications from it."

Not surprisingly, Steven Hager, editor in chief of High Times, questions the validity of the strain's supposed potency.

"A person would have to consume 15 pounds of marijuana in 15 minutes to obtain a lethal dose," Hager says. "Nobody in the history of the world will ever consume that in one sitting. There has never been an overdose death on marijuana in the history of the world."

Hager touts the AK47 strain for the awards it won at the Cannabis Cup — the so-called Oscars of weed. The Hager-founded competition is held annually in Amsterdam. The strain has won eight awards at the Cup and was named High Times "Plant of the Year" in 2003, but Hager says it was recognized not for its potency, but for its superior taste and unique breed (the breeder, a man known only as Simon from Serious Seeds in Amsterdam, has kept the pedigree a secret). However, an independent lab test done in 1999 showed a 21.5 percent THC level for AK47, the highest of all Cannabis Cup entries that year, so perhaps Hager's veteran tolerance is doing most of the talking. (Marijuana's potency is measured by its percentage of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.)

The plant is not as rare as Blackburn, who could not be reached for comment for this article, would have the public believe. Ranging from $20 to $30 per seed, it is easily available online (well, not for shipment in the U.S.) and is the No. 6 top seller on renowned online weed source Planet Skunk. In the case of the local bust, Blackburn told the Inquirer the marijuana was smuggled through Canada, originally via South America, but the avenues of original purchase are not too complicated.

It probably doesn't take a pot-induced conspiracy theory to see why police would want the public to think the streets are much safer as a result of the raid. Even though the product was being distributed mostly to wealthy Main Line smokers, a raid of this size, of a top brand of weed, is still a result of a monthlong Narcotics Field Unit investigation complete with undercover buys and extensive surveillance. The implication being that the time, money and manpower being put into the "war on drugs"— in a city decimated by cocaine, heroin and the violence that comes with it — is not going to waste. But both Hager and local activist Ed "NJ Weedman" Forchion have worked to dispel government "propaganda" regarding their drug of choice. Both say it's easy to cook the numbers regarding marijuana's danger because patients who are admitted to the emergency room and have smoked in the past month can fail a drug test.

Adds Forchion, "For people to say that marijuana is dangerous is as idiotic as saying the world is flat. The only ones who believe pot is dangerous are idiots, fools, preachers and politicians."

(jason.tomassini@citypaper.net)