But honestly i think it makes perfect sense that of course an old-timer Liker their weed back then, (it has better memories, youth, less tolerance) all that plays into their choice. Their Tolerance just went up I tell you this if you Wanna fell like your YOUNG again, come to cali Pack an Entire Bowl of some Concentrate from some hashplant + indica with some type of Goo.. youll be on your ass, no need for marijuana then.
That is one of the most typically made responses to the question of potency through the years. It has become a; was Joe Louis better than Ali and was Ali better than Tyson thing, too which no one taking any position can offer absolute positive unquestionable proof.
But I do know many things that younger people do not know, or maybe that they know but prefer to reject. Like how Mexican strains were not always low potency over-dry pressed brickweed that so many today believe was always the case and instead how some were very high quality.
That is why you will find it in so many of the very best strains of today. It was not that it was all or mostly all breeders had to work with years ago. They chose it because it was among the very best and they bred it together with other things that were among the very best and eventually 'The Dutch Masters' got genetics from many of them, because they were among the very best that could be found so that is what they wanted to work with, and then they used them to make the strains, that people who say Mexican was always low grade over-dry pressed brickweed, absolutely go bonkers over today.
It is not like the Mexican used in them was a weak link that better breeding that only came later made up for. Instead they were important building blocks, part of what was needed to make the best possible crosses and their influence continues today.
I may be in a small percentage of the population but I can say, at least in my case, the built up tolerance level argument, and even the medical studies that show a brain will not process cannibinoids the same as people age position, are not totally accurate, at least not as in each individual person. Maybe in half, maybe in most, but not in all.
When I grow a high quality sativa, meaning a cross that is made of two high quality sativas or some old IBL sativa, but whichever way, all sativa, I get just as high as I used to and I do not have to smoke any more of it to do it. I have smoked other types of crosses with younger people who got very high and had enough and I will smoke more, maybe again as much as when they dropped out to get as high. I blame that on the crosses, not my brain suddenly reacting different then when I smoke a high quality 'simple' sativa. (Simple as in not a triple-cross that was then used to make a cross that came from a cross etc.)
What makes or breaks a high is not so much the THC level, though it of course plays a very large part in it, but what puts the icing on the cake is that all of the various cannabinoids that combine to make a high what it is are in the best possible mixture/combination, in perfect percentages in relation to each other.
Some have positive affects on THC and enhance it and others have a negative effect on THC and decrease it's ability to make someone high or to stay high for as long. I tend to think that more perfect balance of cannabinoids was found in some strains that evolved over a great number of years to get to that point and that evolution is a bit more skilled and experienced at breeding than 'The Dutch Masters.'
I am not claiming that every or even most old strains belong in the hall of fame. But there were some that were unbelievable in how amazing and spectacular they were. Those are the ones I refer to when I talk about 'the olden days.'
Here is a short history of cannabis since 1968.
Later 60s to early 70's - Depending where you lived and what you could afford, or if you were one of the rare home growers that had a clue, you either smoked excellent herb, or average herb that was still pretty darn good, but I never ran across any that was terrible.
Mid 70's to early 80's. A few really top strains were created, but pretty much remained regionally accessible. Later when they got to 'The Dutch Master's only then did they become famous and many were the building blocks of the best strains of today. At the same time Mexican farmers, which what the Mexican commercial growers actually were, cannabis was just their crop, learned of indicas and their much heavier production and shorter flowering periods. Crosses were made that were disasters and enter the mostly low to very low quality Mexican strains that many people believe were always the case for Mexican strains, the over-dry, pressed brickweed era began. At the same time a few more pure strains or simple crosses from different parts of the world began to spread, so again depending on where you lived and what you could afford and if you knew how to grow, and had a storehouse of good genetics, you could smoke some very high quality bud, or you likely smoked Roadside Red, Ditchweed, pure trash. The average had become very low grade.
Mid 80's to early 90's - More and more people attempted breeding, along of course with 'The Dutch Master,' and while there were some crosses made that were abominations, more and more better crosses emerged and then again depending on where someone lived and what they could afford, or if they knew how to grow, you could smoke some very high quality herb, much of which grown different from the past, not better, just different, but the average quality of herb climbed back up again so more people were back to better than average quality, but with an indica flare added. Unless you were stuck in a terrible area for pot, or were dirt poor, you could smoke some fairly decent herb, herb that when compared to the previous level of average grade was in improvement.
From then on pretty much everyone knows the story. There were few true increases in potency in the highest grade strains but again the average level of potency did rise and we were offered more variety, more options, many of which were in no way true improvements, certainly not in potency, but more gimmick things. Pretty colors, erotic aromas while growing and or smoked, various flavors, fruity or citrus or semi- chocolate-like, etc. and feminized beans, which are at best slightly unstable and increased the number of hermis people get, and dwarf strains for stealth or ease of growing in smaller places and then of course auto-flowering strains.
Very few that took that route really turned the toking world on its head, potency-wise. Their only true appeal was if something in their uniqueness was something that someone saw as being beneficial too them.
Basically there was a period with a whole bunch of highly impressive pot with a small amount of average pot, followed by a period with a pretty fair amount of highly impressive pot, but with a while bunch of crap that was unfortunately what many people mainly had access to. Then followed a period where quality began to return, but with a different flare to it, and higher quality average strains more people had access to. Then there were a couple good improvements mixed in with tons of the same old stuff, of fairly decent or better quality, but basically the same thing under a zillion different names but again the average quality improved. Then things just pretty much stopped actually getting better, as in more potent, and the era of the gimmicks was born.
If someone looks at a list of the highest potency strains they will see that many on the list are getting a bit long in the tooth. There have been no major increases in a rather long time now, and some of those that claim the highest potency among the highest can be traced back decades.
Potency-wise there was a peak followed by a long wide valley and then another peak. No one can factually prove which peak is higher. The only thing that can be proven is that this peak is different because of vastly more variety and a fairly high level of quality among what would now be the average strains plus gimmick strains too boot.