Abstract
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.
Highlights
The use of concentrated forms of cannabis, often referred to as “dabbing,” has become increasingly popular [1,2,3,4]
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 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
Postural Sway Balance Tasks These results extend our previous findings of a significant decrease in postural stability, across increasingly difficult balance tasks (Condition: eyes open (EO), eyes closed (EC), and head tilted backwards with eyes closed (HBEC)) as well as a significant quadratic effect of Time found only for the EC condition in a sample of flower and concentrate users
Summary
The use of concentrated forms of cannabis, often referred to as “dabbing,” has become increasingly popular [1,2,3,4]. Advances in production technology have allowed wax or resin dabs [5,6,7] to contain much greater concentrations of cannabinoids than more typical flower cannabis products These concentrates often contain high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main cannabinoid associated with psychoactive effects from cannabis. The last two decades of research demonstrate that lowpotency cannabis [i.e., up to 7% THC; [14] or 12 ng/ml plasma THC [15]] can impair executive function [16] as well as complex psychomotor performance This includes maintenance of driving speed, reaction time, joystick errors [17], and simulator driving ability [15, 18,19,20]. This study measured postural control and motor speed after the use of high potency concentrates in males and females
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