Developing a Mobile Method to Measure THC-induced Impairment

Study Summary

Marijuana use, for both recreational and therapeutic purposes, is becoming increasingly common as states remove restrictions on use. The increased use raises new concern about the safety of this drug, including its ability to impair basic cognitive and psychomotor tasks, and whether the users are aware of their impairment. We propose to design a simple performance test that users can use in the field, using a cell phone, to assess their level of impairment relative to their own drug-free state. In this preliminary study, we will compare participants' simple task performance after a known dose of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), or placebo, administered under double-blind conditions. In our app the participants will be asked to gauge their own perceived level of impairment (as determined by self-ratings and judgments of impairment) as well as their actual impairment (as gauged by the app), providing important feedback and training about their ability to detect impairment.

Primary Outcome

In this reaction time task, the user is asked to shake the device in response to a visual clue on the device's screen. The user makes three attempts, in which he or she must shake or move the device with an acceleration that is greater than the value of the thresholdAcceleration property within the given time. The task finishes when the user successfully completes the attempts as instructed in the task. Data collected by this task is in the form of ORKReactionTimeResult objects. Each of these ob

Conditions Studied

Interventions

• DRUG Placebo
• DRUG Dronabinol

Study Locations (1)