Potency tests, the only ones Colorado currently requires, looked at tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound that produces the plant's famous high. His group has tested more than 600 strains of marijuana from dozens of producers. LaFrate says he's been surprised at just how strong most of today's marijuana has become. 'That's not necessarily the case at all.' LaFrate presented his results this week at a meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Denver. “There's a stereotype, a hippy kind of mentality, that leads people to assume that growers are using natural cultivation methods and growing organically,' says Andy LaFrate, founder of Charas Scientific, one of eight Colorado labs certified to test cannabis. But the boost in power comes at a cost-modern marijuana mostly lacks the components touted as beneficial by medical marijuana advocates, and it is often contaminated with fungi, pesticides and heavy metals. In Colorado, which made marijuana legal in November 2012, the latest results show that the pot lining store shelves is much more potent than the weed of 30 years ago. But as more states approve medical and even recreational marijuana, scientific inquiries have spiked, especially studies aimed at finding out what exactly is in today's weed-and what it does to our bodies. In the U.S., legal hurdles have long hampered research into marijuana. Marijuana buds are often two to three times as potent as they were 30 years ago.

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