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Zamarripa CA, Spindle TR, Panlilio LV, Strickland JC, Feldman JD, Novak MD, Epstein DH, Dunn KE, McCurdy CR, Sharma A, Kuntz MA, Mukhopadhyay S, Raju KSR, Rogers JM, Smith KE. Effects of kratom on driving: Results from a cross-sectional survey, ecological momentary assessment, and pilot simulated driving Study. TRAFFIC INJURY PREVENTION 2024; 25:594-603. [PMID: 38497810 PMCID: PMC11149710 DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2024.2327827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Despite widespread kratom use, there is a lack of knowledge regarding its effects on driving. We evaluated the self-reported driving behaviors of kratom consumers and assessed their simulated-driving performance after self-administering kratom products. METHODS We present results from: 1) a remote, national study of US adults who regularly use kratom, and 2) an in-person substudy from which we re-recruited participants. In the national study (N = 357), participants completed a detailed survey and a 15-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) that monitored naturalistic kratom use. For the remote study, outcomes were self-reported general and risky driving behaviors, perceived impairment, and driving confidence following kratom administration. For the in-person substudy, 10 adults consumed their typical kratom products and their driving performance on a high-fidelity driving simulator pre- and post-kratom administration was evaluated. RESULTS Over 90% of participants surveyed self-reported driving under the influence of kratom. Most reported low rates of risky driving behavior and expressed high confidence in their driving ability after taking kratom. This was consistent with EMA findings: participants reported feeling confident in their driving ability and perceived little impairment within 15-180 min after using kratom. In the in-person substudy, there were no significant changes in simulated driving performance after taking kratom. CONCLUSIONS Using kratom before driving appears routine, however, self-reported and simulated driving findings suggest kratom effects at self-selected doses among regular kratom consumers do not produce significant changes in subjective and objective measures of driving impairment. Research is needed to objectively characterize kratom's impact on driving in regular and infrequent consumers.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Austin Zamarripa
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Tory R Spindle
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Leigh V Panlilio
- Real-World, Assessment, Prediction, Treatment Unit, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Justin C Strickland
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Jeffrey D Feldman
- Real-World, Assessment, Prediction, Treatment Unit, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Matthew D Novak
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - David H Epstein
- Real-World, Assessment, Prediction, Treatment Unit, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Kelly E Dunn
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Christopher R McCurdy
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Abhisheak Sharma
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Michelle A Kuntz
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Sushobhan Mukhopadhyay
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Kanumuri Siva Rama Raju
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Jeffrey M Rogers
- San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Kirsten E Smith
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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Favretto D, Visentin C, Aprile A, Terranova C, Cinquetti A. Driving under the influence of cannabis: A 5-year retrospective Italian study. Forensic Sci Int 2023; 353:111854. [PMID: 37922577 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Revised: 09/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Cannabis consumption is associated with driving impairment and increased crash risk, endangering road safety. Toxicological analyses play a fundamental role in detecting a recent consumption of psychoactive substances. The aim of this study was to examine the concentration of cannabinoids in blood samples of driving-under-the-influence (DUI) offenders in order to investigate whether delayed sample collection affects the toxicological assessment of the offenders. MATERIALS AND METHODS An observational retrospective study was performed using anonymized toxicological data referring to cannabis-related DUI offenders involved in road traffic accidents (RTA) or apprehended by the police from 1 January 2017-31 December 2021 archived at Legal Medicine and Toxicology Department of the University Hospital of Padova, Italy. RESULTS In a total sample of 318 drivers, 143 blood samples tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and metabolites 11-hydroxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-THC) and 11-nor-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THC-COOH), and 173 blood samples were positive for THC-COOH with THC negative. In the first group, the mean concentrations of THC and THC-COOH were 4.05 ng/mL and 28.29 ng/mL, respectively. In THC-negative cases, the mean THC-COOH concentration was 7.3 ng/mL. The time elapsed between the event and sample collection varied from 15 min to 7 h (mean 2 h 29 min). The average estimated time elapsed after consumption of cannabinoids was 3 h 7 min (Model I) and 2 h 36 min (Model II). CONCLUSIONS The present research discussed the main difficulties in the toxicological evaluation of drivers under the influence of Cannabis. Issues related to the time between RTA and sample collection, the laws and legal limits in force in various Countries were presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donata Favretto
- Legal Medicine and Toxicology, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University Hospital of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy.
| | | | - Anna Aprile
- Legal Medicine and Toxicology, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University Hospital of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy
| | - Claudio Terranova
- Legal Medicine and Toxicology, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University Hospital of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy
| | - Alessandro Cinquetti
- Legal Medicine and Toxicology, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University Hospital of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy
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Zamarripa CA, Novak MD, Weerts EM, Vandrey R, Spindle TR. The effects of oral and vaporized cannabis alone, and in combination with alcohol, on driving performance using the STISIM driving simulator: A two-part, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover clinical laboratory protocol. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:964749. [PMID: 36147331 PMCID: PMC9486093 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.964749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The legalization of cannabis for medicinal and non-medicinal purposes, and the corresponding increase in diversity of cannabis products, has resulted an urgent need for cannabis regulatory science. Among the most pressing needs is research related to impairment due to cannabis exposure, especially on driving performance. The present project was designed to evaluate the impact of oral and vaporized cannabis, when administered alone or in combination with alcohol, on simulated driving performance (STISIM driving simulator), cognitive/psychomotor ability, and field sobriety performance. Healthy adults will complete two, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover clinical laboratory studies, one with oral cannabis (16 men/16 women) and the second with vaporized cannabis (16 men/16 women). In each study, participants will complete seven experimental sessions during which acute doses of placebo or high Δ9-THC cannabis containing 0, 10, or 25 mg Δ9-THC will be administered both alone and in combination with placebo or alcohol-containing beverages (target breath alcohol concentrations, BAC, of 0.0% or 0.05%). A positive control session (i.e., alcohol at target BAC of 0.08% with placebo cannabis) will also be completed. Simulated driving performance tests (available for download; see Methods), field sobriety assessments, subjective drug effect questionnaires, a mobile device impairment test (DRUID app), and collection of whole blood specimens will be completed repeatedly during each session. Linear mixed models will be used to test for differences across experimental conditions and a priori planned comparisons will be used to determine differences between conditions of interest (e.g., cannabis alone vs cannabis with alcohol). This research is designed to extend prior studies of cannabis and alcohol on driving performance by using oral and vaporized routes of cannabis administration. By increasing understanding of impairment associated with co-use of alcohol and these novel forms of cannabis, this research could inform impairment detection standards for cannabis and alcohol and have important implications for law enforcement, public policy decisions regarding accessibility of these substances, and education of the general population who may use cannabis and/or alcohol. Lastly, this manuscript provides interested researchers with access to the simulated driving scenarios and data extraction tools developed for this study as a means of facilitating future cross-study comparisons, which is important given the heterogeneity in methods used across laboratories in prior research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Tory R. Spindle
- Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
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Wickens CM, Wright M, Mann RE, Brands B, Di Ciano P, Stoduto G, Fares A, Matheson J, George TP, Rehm J, Shuper PA, Sproule B, Samohkvalov A, Huestis MA, Le Foll B. Separate and combined effects of alcohol and cannabis on mood, subjective experience, cognition and psychomotor performance: A randomized trial. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2022; 118:110570. [PMID: 35551928 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2022.110570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Co-use of alcohol and cannabis is associated with increased frequency and intensity of use and related problems. This study examined acute effects of alcohol and cannabis on mood, subjective experience, cognition, and psychomotor performance. Twenty-eight healthy cannabis users aged 19-29 years with recent history of binge drinking completed this within-subjects, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial. Participants received: placebo alcohol and placebo cannabis (<0.1% THC); alcohol (target breath alcohol content [BrAC] 80 mg/dL) and placebo cannabis; placebo alcohol and active cannabis (12.5% THC); and active alcohol and cannabis over four sessions. Profile of Mood States (POMS), Addiction Research Centre Inventory (ARCI), verbal free recall (VFR), Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Continuous Performance Test (CPT), and grooved pegboard (GPB) task were administered before and approximately 75 min after drinking alcohol (1 h after smoking cannabis ad libitum). Significant effects of condition were found for the POMS (Tension-Anxiety, Confusion) and ARCI (MBG, LSD, PCAG, Euphoria, Sedation), predominantly with greater increases emerging after cannabis or alcohol-cannabis combined relative to placebo. Significant effects were found for VFR (immediate total and delayed recall, percent retained), DSST (trials attempted, trials correct, reaction time), and GPB (non-dominant hand) predominantly with greater declines in performance after alcohol and alcohol-cannabis combined relative to placebo and/or cannabis. Cannabis appeared to affect mood and subjective experience, with minimal impact on cognitive performance. Alcohol appeared to impair cognitive and psychomotor performance, with minimal impact on mood and subjective experience. Acute effects of alcohol and cannabis combined were additive at most.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine M Wickens
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
| | - Madison Wright
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Robert E Mann
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Bruna Brands
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Controlled Substances and Cannabis Directorate, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Patricia Di Ciano
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Gina Stoduto
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrew Fares
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Justin Matheson
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Translational Addiction Research Laboratory, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Tony P George
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Addictions Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jürgen Rehm
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russian Federation; Klinische Psychologie & Psychotherapie, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Paul A Shuper
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Beth Sproule
- Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Pharmacy Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andriy Samohkvalov
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Addictions Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Marilyn A Huestis
- Institute of Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Bernard Le Foll
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Translational Addiction Research Laboratory, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Klinische Psychologie & Psychotherapie, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Miller R, Brown T, Wrobel J, Kosnett MJ, Brooks-Russell A. Influence of cannabis use history on the impact of acute cannabis smoking on simulated driving performance during a distraction task. TRAFFIC INJURY PREVENTION 2022; 23:S1-S7. [PMID: 35686998 PMCID: PMC10108575 DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2022.2072492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Objective: This research explores the driving performance of people who use cannabis daily or occasionally during distraction tasks performed following acute cannabis use.Methods: Healthy adults aged 25 to 45 years with different cannabis usage histories were recruited to participate in a within-subjects controlled experiment using a car-based driving simulator. Participants were classified as having daily use (n = 31), occasional use (1 or 2 times per week; n = 24), or no-use (n = 30). Participants completed a practice drive followed by four 5-10 minute driving scenarios during the baseline period. Participants then smoked self-procured cannabis flower ad libitum for up to 15 minutes. Thirty minutes later, they completed four additional 5-10 minute scenarios. Scenarios were paired according to difficulty and randomized across the baseline and post-use periods. Each scenario contained between 0 and 3 repetitions of a distraction task where the participant was prompted by an audio message to select an app from a 4 × 5 grid displayed on a mounted tablet, a step that would require briefly looking away from the roadway. Measures of driving performance (lane departures, standard deviation of lateral position) were assessed during the five-second period following the audio trigger and analyzed using generalized linear mixed models.Results: Those with a pattern of occasional use were significantly more likely to experience a lane departure during distraction periods after acute cannabis use relative to baseline (OR = 3.71, p = 0.04, CI = 1.04, 13.17), while those with daily use did not exhibit a similar increase (OR = 1.56, p = 0.43, CI = 0.52, 4.64). Changes in departure risk were significantly greater for the occasional use group compared to no-use (p = 0.02), but not for the daily use group compared to no-use (p = 0.18). However, following acute use, those who use daily exhibited decreases in speed relative to baseline in comparison to the changes observed in the no-use group (p = 0.02), while differences between occasional and no-use did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.052). Differences in standard deviation of lateral position were not statistically significant, likely due to the short duration of tasks.Conclusions: These results find the largest potential safety concerns associated with a pattern of occasional use, who displayed an increase in lane departures after acute cannabis smoking. Those in the daily use group decreased their speed, which may be interpreted as compensation for drug effects. Further research is needed to understand the effects during longer and more complex secondary tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Miller
- Department of Mathematics, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio
| | - Tim Brown
- National Advance Driving Simulator, University of Iowa
| | - Julia Wrobel
- Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado
| | - Michael J. Kosnett
- Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado
- Department of Medicine, CU School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado
| | - Ashley Brooks-Russell
- Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado
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