Cannabis Intoxication

New research published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence provides evidence that a new scale that incorporates contemporary young adult language to measure the effects of cannabis is a viable alternative to standard assessments of intoxication.

Many previous studies examining cannabis use have simply asked the participants to indicate “How high do you feel?” on a sliding scale. But the authors of the new research noted that such a scale might not adequately differentiate between various levels of effects and might not be in line with the common language used among young adults.

“Research on cannabis is growing pretty rapidly, however, the field is still working on some pretty foundational issues about how to measure the effects of consuming cannabis consistently as well as in a way that reflects the experiences of people who are using it,” said study author Renee Cloutier, a scientific director for the Program Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Pittsburgh.

“Without this step, researchers are limited in their ability to generate knowledge that is reliable, generalizable, and easy to communicate back to the people who are most invested in it (i.e., people who use/purchase cannabis). The downstream consequence is that we lack a robust evidence base for creating an informed and empowered consumer base or policy makers who want to develop evidence-based cannabis policies.”

Researchers have developed a new sliding scale for cannabis effects that includes four anchors: relaxed, calm/chill, high, and stoned/baked.

To further evaluate the new scale, Cloutier and her colleagues conducted a 14-day daily diary study with 161 young adults. Each day, participants were asked if they had used cannabis. If they had, they were additionally asked to report the mode of administration (bong, vape, pipe, edible, etc.) and to rate their subjective intoxication using both an older scale and the newly developed scale.  READ MORE...