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Abstract
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Recognizing the increasing diversity of cannabis products and their expanded use, Freeman & Lorenzetti propose a standard unit dose of 5 mg 9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to be used for all cannabis products, regardless of method of administration 1. They argue that a standard dose would help to guide consumers towards safer patterns of cannabis use. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) strongly supports the need for a standardized measure to facilitate research, and this was a key recommendation from NIDA's Cannabis Policy Research Council Workgroup 2.
However, as discussed by Freeman & Lorenzetti, the development of such a measure has been challenging, due to concerns that the effects of any standardized dose would differ on the basis of mode of consumption or, possibly, how it is combined with other cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD) 3.
These complexities hardly negate the value of having a standardized measure of THC, irrespective of product type. In fact, having and using such a standard is a prerequisite for comparing the effects of various cannabis products on THC bioavailability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacological effects 3, which is knowledge fundamental to studies pertaining to medical use of cannabis.
A standardized measure will also be essential for advancing our understanding of some of the major concerns related to cannabis use, especially its influence on brain development, and the risk for cannabis use disorders and psychoses 4, 5. Current and past studies evaluating the effects of cannabis on brain development and cognition, whether focused prenatally or during childhood or adolescence, are limited to rough estimates on the basis of reported frequency of use (life‐time, past year, past month or regular use) and there is no information on the THC content of the product(s) consumed 6.
This lack of information on THC content probably contributes to discrepancies among investigators, with some reporting adverse effects even after single cannabis exposure 7 and others showing no differences with regular exposures during adolescence 8. The Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study will prospectively investigate close to 12 000 children as they transition from childhood into adulthood with a variety of measures, including brain imaging, neurocognitive and behavioral tests, educational achievement and patterns of drug use 9. This study and others like it would benefit enormously from a standardized measure of THC, as would pre‐clinical studies aiming to mimic clinical exposures ...
Keywords: Cannabis impaired driving
Language: en |