CALGARY (Staff) – For baby boomer parents who reminisce about smoking marijuana, it can be shocking to hear about the spread of drugs and the potency of what is available to their children.
Everything from illegal sales of prescription drugs like Valium and Ritalin to high grade cocaine are sold to both rural and urban teens.
What many young people don’t understand, however, is the risk associated with modern drugs. These are often mixed in unsanitary conditions and cut with dubious materials used as fillers, said Cpl. Harold Trupish of the Calgary RCMP drug unit. He spoke at a Rural Crime Watch workshop held in Calgary Feb. 3.
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In the 1960s, when people talked about Acapulco gold or Colombian marijuana, the mood altering THC level was only one percent, with an upper limit of seven percent. Today, domestic producers can grow high quality pot in a hydroponic system that carries a potency level of five to 20 percent THC.
“It’s a 2,000-year-old drug. Unfortunately what we’ve seen with this is the trend toward it becoming a stronger drug,” said Trupish.
“Parents talk about their experiences with Sixties marijuana, well, it’s completely different. Nowadays, the stuff we’re finding in Calgary, you could actually overdose on it,” he said.
Other illegal substances, like designer drugs, can be manufactured by any competent chemist.
The hallucinogenic LSD is also back with renewed popularity. Absorbed into an ink blotter, LSD is one of the most popular drugs found among young adults and teens in western Canadian high schools.
“There’s no way to test (its strength) until you use it,” Trupish said.
Magic mushrooms contain a hallucinogenic drug, and they grow naturally in British Columbia. They are also showing up in hydroponic operations.
High grade cocaine, at 50-60 percent purity that sells for $80 a gram, appears glamorous but it can lead to breathing problems, destroyed nostrils or a heart attack, said Trupish.
Anabolic steroids are also used by an estimated 19,000 Alberta teens. Purchased in gyms, the steroids may grow slabs of muscle but they also cause liver and kidney damage.
Veterinarian clinics have reported thefts of Ralgro, an animal growth promotant which can have dangerous effects on humans trying to bulk up.
Young men anxious for the Mr. Olympia look may try birth control pills and other hormones. Besides muscles, they may end up with female characteristics like a higher pitched voice and feminine breasts that can only be reshaped by surgery.
