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Acute Effects of Cannabis Concentrate on Motor Control and Speed: Smartphone-Based Mobile Assessment

Background: The use of cannabis concentrate is dramatically rising and sparking major safety concerns. Cannabis concentrate contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) potencies up to 90%, yet there has been little research on motor impairment after concentrate use (commonly referred to as “dabbing”). This...

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Autores principales: Hitchcock, Leah N., Tracy, Brian L., Bryan, Angela D., Hutchison, Kent E., Bidwell, L. Cinnamon
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7862106/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33551884
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.623672
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author Hitchcock, Leah N.
Tracy, Brian L.
Bryan, Angela D.
Hutchison, Kent E.
Bidwell, L. Cinnamon
author_facet Hitchcock, Leah N.
Tracy, Brian L.
Bryan, Angela D.
Hutchison, Kent E.
Bidwell, L. Cinnamon
author_sort Hitchcock, Leah N.
collection PubMed
description Background: The use of cannabis concentrate is dramatically rising and sparking major safety concerns. Cannabis concentrate contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) potencies up to 90%, yet there has been little research on motor impairment after concentrate use (commonly referred to as “dabbing”). This study measured postural control and motor speed after the use of high potency concentrates in males and females. Methods: Experienced concentrate users (N = 65, Female: 46%, 17 ± 11 days/month of concentrate use) were assessed for motor performance in a mobile laboratory before, immediately after, and 1 h after ad-libitum cannabis concentrate use. Plasma levels of THC were obtained via venipuncture at each timepoint. We used a remotely deployable motor performance battery to assess arm and leg movement speed, index finger tapping rate, and balance. The sensors on a smart device (iPod Touch) attached to the participant provided quantitative measures of movement. Results: Arm speed slowed immediately after concentrate use and remained impaired after 1 h (p < 0.001), leg speed slowed 1 h after use (p = 0.033), and balance decreased immediately after concentrate use (eyes open: p = 0.017, eyes closed: p = 0.013) but not at 1 h post-use. These effects were not different between sexes and there was no effect of concentrate use on finger tapping speed. Acute changes in THC plasma levels after use of concentrates were minimally correlated with acute changes in balance performance. Conclusions: Use of cannabis concentrates in frequent users impairs movement speed and balance similarly in men and women. The motor impairment is largely uncorrelated with the change in THC plasma levels. These results warrant further refinement of cannabis impairment testing and encourage caution related to use of cannabis concentrates in work and driving settings.
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spelling pubmed-78621062021-02-06 Acute Effects of Cannabis Concentrate on Motor Control and Speed: Smartphone-Based Mobile Assessment Hitchcock, Leah N. Tracy, Brian L. Bryan, Angela D. Hutchison, Kent E. Bidwell, L. Cinnamon Front Psychiatry Psychiatry Background: The use of cannabis concentrate is dramatically rising and sparking major safety concerns. Cannabis concentrate contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) potencies up to 90%, yet there has been little research on motor impairment after concentrate use (commonly referred to as “dabbing”). This study measured postural control and motor speed after the use of high potency concentrates in males and females. Methods: Experienced concentrate users (N = 65, Female: 46%, 17 ± 11 days/month of concentrate use) were assessed for motor performance in a mobile laboratory before, immediately after, and 1 h after ad-libitum cannabis concentrate use. Plasma levels of THC were obtained via venipuncture at each timepoint. We used a remotely deployable motor performance battery to assess arm and leg movement speed, index finger tapping rate, and balance. The sensors on a smart device (iPod Touch) attached to the participant provided quantitative measures of movement. Results: Arm speed slowed immediately after concentrate use and remained impaired after 1 h (p < 0.001), leg speed slowed 1 h after use (p = 0.033), and balance decreased immediately after concentrate use (eyes open: p = 0.017, eyes closed: p = 0.013) but not at 1 h post-use. These effects were not different between sexes and there was no effect of concentrate use on finger tapping speed. Acute changes in THC plasma levels after use of concentrates were minimally correlated with acute changes in balance performance. Conclusions: Use of cannabis concentrates in frequent users impairs movement speed and balance similarly in men and women. The motor impairment is largely uncorrelated with the change in THC plasma levels. These results warrant further refinement of cannabis impairment testing and encourage caution related to use of cannabis concentrates in work and driving settings. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-01-22 /pmc/articles/PMC7862106/ /pubmed/33551884 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.623672 Text en Copyright © 2021 Hitchcock, Tracy, Bryan, Hutchison and Bidwell. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Hitchcock, Leah N.
Tracy, Brian L.
Bryan, Angela D.
Hutchison, Kent E.
Bidwell, L. Cinnamon
Acute Effects of Cannabis Concentrate on Motor Control and Speed: Smartphone-Based Mobile Assessment
title Acute Effects of Cannabis Concentrate on Motor Control and Speed: Smartphone-Based Mobile Assessment
title_full Acute Effects of Cannabis Concentrate on Motor Control and Speed: Smartphone-Based Mobile Assessment
title_fullStr Acute Effects of Cannabis Concentrate on Motor Control and Speed: Smartphone-Based Mobile Assessment
title_full_unstemmed Acute Effects of Cannabis Concentrate on Motor Control and Speed: Smartphone-Based Mobile Assessment
title_short Acute Effects of Cannabis Concentrate on Motor Control and Speed: Smartphone-Based Mobile Assessment
title_sort acute effects of cannabis concentrate on motor control and speed: smartphone-based mobile assessment
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7862106/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33551884
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.623672
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