Medicinal Δ(9) -Tetrahydrocannabinol (Dronabinol) Impairs On-the-Road Driving Performance of Occasional and Heavy Cannabis Users but is not Detected in Standard Field Sobriety Tests
The acute and chronic effects of dronabinol [medicinal Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)] on actual driving performance and the Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST) were assessed in this article. It was hypothesized that occasional users would be impaired on these tests and that heavy users would show less impairment due to tolerance.A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, three-way cross-over study was conducted. Twelve occasional and 12 heavy cannabis users (14 males/10 females) received single doses of placebo, 10 and 20 mg dronabinol. The standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP; i.e. weaving) is the primary measure of road-tracking control. Time to speed adaptation (TSA) is the primary reaction-time measure in the car-following test. The percentage of impaired individuals on the SFST and subjective high on a visual analogue scale were secondary measures. The superiority tests showed that SDLP (P = 0.008) and TSA (P = 0.011) increased after dronabinol in occasional users. Equivalence tests demonstrated that dronabinol-induced increments in SDLP were bigger than impairment associated with BAC of 0.5 mg/ml in occasional and heavy users, although the magnitude of driving impairment was generally less in heavy users. The SFST did not discriminate between conditions. Levels of subjective high were comparable in occasional and heavy users. It was concluded that Dronabinol (medicinal tetrahydrocannabinol) impairs driving performance in occasional and heavy users in a dose-dependent way, but to a lesser degree in heavy users due possibly to tolerance. The Standard Field Sobriety Test is not sensitive to clinically relevant driving impairment caused by oral tetrahydrocannabinol.
- Record URL:
-
Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/09652140
-
Authors:
- Bosker, Wendy M
- Kuypers, Kim P
- Theunissen, Eef L
- Surinx, Anke
- Blankespoor, Roos J
- Skopp, Gisela
- Jeffery, Wayne K
- Walls, H Chip
- van Leeuwen, Cees J
- Ramaekers, Johannes G
- Publication Date: 2012-10
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Print
- Features: References;
- Pagination: pp 1837-1844
-
Serial:
- Addiction
- Volume: 107
- Issue Number: 10
- Publisher: Blackwell Publishers
- ISSN: 0965-2140
- EISSN: 1360-0443
- Serial URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1360-0443
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Cannabis ; Drug use; Drugged drivers; Impaired drivers; Standard deviation; Tolerance (Physiology)
- Identifier Terms: Standard Field Sobriety Tests
- Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01474202
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Feb 28 2013 4:33PM