The amount of THC in a person\u2019s system after consuming marijuana is not an accurate predictor of impairment, a federally funded study has determined.<\/p>\n
The research, backed by a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), involved 20 people who either ate or vaporized cannabis with varying levels of THC. They were then tested with basic field sobriety and cognitive tests.<\/p>\n
While the groups that received doses higher than 5mg of THC were all \u201cnegatively impacted\u201d and experienced observable psychomotor impairment, the RTI International researchers found that \u201cTHC levels in biofluids were not reliable indicators of marijuana intoxication for their study participants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nResearchers investigated how marijuana affects skills required for safe driving and found that biofluid levels of THC did not correlate with field sobriety test performance or marijuana intoxication, regardless of how the cannabis was ingested. Read more: https:\/\/t.co\/Aqkfvplv9P<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/1mWehGKCHQ<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Natl Inst of Justice (@OJPNIJ) June 3, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\n\u201cResearchers investigated how marijuana affects skills required for safe driving and found that biofluid levels of THC did not correlate with field sobriety test performance or marijuana intoxication, regardless of how the cannabis was ingested.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
That raises questions about \u201cper se\u201d laws that are in place in several states, barring people from driving if they have more than a certain amount of THC in their blood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese important findings come as no surprise,\u201d NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. \u201cDespite a handful of states imposing per se THC thresholds as part of their traffic safety laws, there exists no science demonstrating that these arbitrary limits are reliable predictors of either recent cannabis exposure or impairment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study, which was published last year and promoted by NIJ in a tweet on Thursday, also found that various tests, including standing on one leg, balancing and walking and turning, \u201cwere not sensitive to cannabis intoxication for any of the study participants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the tests, participants\u2019 blood, urine and oral fluid were collected and then sent to forensic laboratories.<\/p>\n
\u201cResults from the toxicology tests showed that the levels of all three targeted cannabis components (THC, cannabidiol, and cannabinol) in blood, urine, and oral fluid did not correlate with cognitive or psychomotor impairment measures for oral or vaporized cannabis administration,\u201d NIJ said<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of their study participants had significantly decreased cognitive and psychomotor functioning even when their blood, urine, and oral fluid contained low levels of THC,\u201d the federal agency continued. \u201cThe researchers also observed that standardized field sobriety tests commonly used to detect driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol were not effective in detecting marijuana intoxication.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, THC does lead to impairment\u2014but the concentration of that compound in bodily fluids does not accurately correlate with the extent to which a person is impaired. And in low doses, it seems some people are not negatively impacted, at least with respect to the standard tests that the researchers utilized.<\/p>\n
Late last year, a different study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association<\/a> found that low levels of CBD do not appear to have a significant impact on driving, and low-level THC consumption has an impact that is \u201cmodest in magnitude and similar to that seen in drivers with a 0.05%\u201d blood alcohol concentration.<\/p>\n
A a congressional research body also released a report in 2019<\/a> that found that evidence about cannabis\u2019s ability to impair driving is currently inconclusive.<\/p>\n
Researchers have found on several occasions that\u00a0traffic fatalities do not increase after a state legalizes marijuana<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Of course, that doesn\u2019t change the fact that both opponents and supporters of legalization generally caution against driving under the influence.<\/p>\n
\nMississippi Lawmakers Hold Medical Marijuana Hearing After Court Overturns Voter-Approved Law<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
The post Testing People For Marijuana Impairment Based On THC Levels Is \u2018Not Reliable,\u2019 Federally Funded Study Finds<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\nRead More: Testing People For Marijuana Impairment Based On THC Levels Is \u2018Not Reliable,\u2019 Federally Funded Study Finds<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The amount of THC in a person\u2019s system after consuming marijuana is not an accurate predictor of impairment, a federally funded study has determined. The research, backed by a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), involved 20 people who either ate or vaporized cannabis with varying levels ofContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15462],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48088"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48088"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48089,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48088\/revisions\/48089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}