Short-term effects of cannabis consumption on cognitive performance in medical cannabis patients

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Abstract

This observational study examined the acute cognitive effects of cannabis. We hypothesized that cognitive performance would be negatively affected by acute cannabis intoxication. Twenty-two medical cannabis patients from Southwestern Ontario completed the study. The majority (n = 13) were male. Mean age was 36.0 years, and mean level of education was 13.7 years. Participants were administered the same brief neurocognitive battery three times during a six-hour period: at baseline (“Baseline”), once after they consumed a 20% THC cannabis product (“THC”), and once again several hours later (“Recovery”). The average self-reported level of cannabis intoxication prior to the second assessment (i.e., during THC) was 5.1 out of 10. Contrary to expectations, performance on neuropsychological tests remained stable or even improved during the acute intoxication stage (THC; d: .49−.65, medium effect), and continued to increase during Recovery (d: .45−.77, medium-large effect). Interestingly, the failure rate on performance validity indicators increased during THC. Contrary to our hypothesis, there was no psychometric evidence for a decline in cognitive ability following THC intoxication. There are several possible explanations for this finding but, in the absence of a control group, no definitive conclusion can be reached at this time.