Medical Marijuana Does Not Impact Driving Abilities When Used As Prescribed, New Study Asserts

A new study conducted by scientists at Swinburne University of Technology’s Centre for Human Psychopharmacology concluded that medical marijuana when used as prescribed has an insignificant impact on simulated driving performance.

The semi-naturalistic research published in a peer-reviewed Journal of Psychopharmacology issued by SAGE Publications had 40 adult participants -22 males and 18 females aged between 23 and 80 years. All volunteers were prescribed medical cannabis containing THC for conditions such as sleep disorders, chronic pain, inflammation, gastrointestinal, movement and respiratory issues.

The scientists evaluated participants’ driving abilities using the Forum8 driving simulator at three different time points – before cannabis consumption, 2.5 hours after and then 5 hours after self-administration. Each driving test consisted of a 20-highway scenario; participants were tasked to keep a steady lateral position in the left lane and maintain a constant speed of 100km per hour.

The results suggested that medical marijuana when used as prescribed "has a negligible impact on simulated driving performance. Despite the absence of observable driving impairment within the present scenario, patients had detectable concentrations of THC in their oral fluid for a duration of up to 6 h," the paper reads.

Booke Manning, the paper's lead author highlighted the importance of the study. "Our main finding was the absence of impairment on a simulated highway driving task," she said, per Medical Express. "We noted that patients consuming their medication as prescribed drove with slightly greater consistency in highway driving speed and reported a decrease in the perceived effort required to drive."

Manning concluded by stressing the study’s limitations, such as its small sample size. "It’s crucial to highlight that this study, while revealing, involved a relatively small sample size and its results apply specifically to patients undergoing stable, long-term medical cannabis treatment for refractory conditions."

Medical Marijuana & Cognitive Performance

Last year, scientists at Swinburne University published another study examining cannabis’s impact on neurocognitive performance in which they concluded that medical marijuana prescribed for chronic conditions does not negatively impact cognitive function.

"We already know that non-medical cannabis can impact memory and attention. However, our findings show that patients prescribed medical cannabis by a doctor don't experience the same effects," said Dr. Thomas Arkell, the lead researcher.

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