Citation

Attwood DA, Williams RD, McBurney LJ, Frecker RC. Proc. Int. Counc. Alcohol Drugs Traffic Safety Conf. 1981; 1981: 938-953.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, The author(s) and the Council, Publisher International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Eight male volunteers participated in a closed-course driving experiment to determine the effects of moderate levels of marihuana and alcohol, alone and in combination, on driving behaviour in four separate tasks. Each subject participated in the experiment on five separate sessions, one session per week, spaced one-week apart. The first session was used to acquaint the subjects with the automobile and driving tasks. On the remaining four experimental sessions, drivers performed the driving tasks after receiving one of the following drug doses: (I) placebo beverage plus marihuana cigarettes with the delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (thc) removed; (II) alcohol to a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% plus placebo cigarettes; (III) placebo beverage plus marihuana cigarettes containing 200 micrograms/kg body weight thc, or (IV) alcohol to a BAC of .04% plus marihuana containing 100 micrograms/kg thc. Data indicated that vehicle handling was adversely affected by each of the drug conditions and that the different drug conditions affected different aspects of driving behaviour. Results are discussed in terms of the potential for on-line identification of abnormal driving behaviour using multivariate selection criteria. (Author/TRRL)


Keywords: Cannabis impaired driving