Abstract
Statewide legislation has increased public access to high-potency cannabis flower and concentrates, yet federal restrictions limit researchers’ access to relatively low-potency whole-plant cannabis. The goal of this study was to examine the acute effects of high-potency cannabis on cognition using a novel methodology. We further sought to compare cognitive effects of high-potency cannabis flower with and without cannabidiol (CBD), as well as cannabis concentrates to cannabis flower. 80 cannabis users were randomly assigned to stay sober or use their funds to purchase one of three high-potency cannabis products: (1) high-potency flower (≥ 20% THC) without CBD, (2) high-potency flower with CBD, (3) high-potency concentrates (≥ 60% THC) with CBD. Participants were observed over Zoom videoconferencing while inhaling their product or remaining sober and then were administered tests of everyday life memory (prospective, source, temporal order, and false memory) and decision making (risky choice framing, consistency in risk perception, resistance to sunk cost, and over/under confidence) over Zoom. High-potency cannabis flower with CBD impaired free recall, high-potency flower without CBD and concentrates had detrimental effects on source memory, and all three products increased susceptibility to false memories. CBD did not offset impairments and concentrates were self-titrated producing comparable intoxication and impairment as flower.
Highlights
Statewide legislation has increased public access to high-potency cannabis flower and concentrates, yet federal restrictions limit researchers’ access to relatively low-potency whole-plant cannabis
Approved researchers must use cannabis supplied by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which is presently limited to relatively low potency whole plant cannabis with typical concentrations around 6%4
Some limited evidence suggests that cannabidiol (CBD) may offset some of the detrimental effects of THC on m emory[8,9], a small body of conflicting research suggests that CBD may potentiate effects of THC10–15
Summary
Statewide legislation has increased public access to high-potency cannabis flower and concentrates, yet federal restrictions limit researchers’ access to relatively low-potency whole-plant cannabis. One previous study with humans found that blood levels of THC metabolites were significantly higher following consumption of cannabis containing both THC and CBD, relative to cannabis with equivalent levels of THC, but no CBD10. This mirrors the results of several pre-clinical studies demonstrating similar effects in r odents[11,12,13,14,15]. No previous research has investigated acute effects of cannabis on temporal order memory (i.e., the ability to remember the sequential order of past events) or prospective memory (i.e., the ability to remember to execute a task in the future, such as taking medication on time)
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