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thc levels alone not a reliable test for cannabis impairment
2 minute read
thc has long been the focus of impairment rules and discussions. /
james park for national post
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by: maria loreto, the fresh toast
a recent study suggests the amount of thc in someone’s system is not an accurate predictor of impairment.
the study, conducted with the support of the national institute of justice, involved 20 participants in the u.s. they were asked to consume cannabis through edibles or vapes, all with different levels of thc. afterward, the subjects were tested with common field sobriety tests and asked to complete cognitive tasks.
according to the study’s results, the amount of thc wasn’t a reliable indicator when discussing a person’s impairment. this is important since it questions many of the rules revolving around cannabis use, particularly with respect to impairment when driving.
“these important findings come as no surprise,” says paul armentano, deputy director of the national organization for the reform of marijuana laws (norml). “despite 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.”
researchers gathered blood, urine and oral samples from participants who had ingested thc. the data didn’t correlate with the cognitive tasks and field sobriety tests in which the participants took part. some individuals had low levels of thc and performed poorly on these tasks and vice versa.
thc has long been the focus of impairment rules and discussions. now that more u.s. states are legalizing the plant for recreational use, this is a problem, since it may result in the arrests of people who aren’t actually impaired. currently available drug tests are only able to determine whether someone ingested cannabis or not.
driving under the influence should be monitored since it could result in dangerous situations. that said, it’s also important to avoid creating a problem when one may not exist.
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the freshtoast.com, a u.s. lifestyle site that contributes lifestyle content and, with their partnership with 600,000 physicians via skipta, medical marijuana information to the growthop.
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