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Behavioral pharmacokinetics of marijuana

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Abstract

Male volunteer subjects smoked one marijuana cigarette containing 100, 200, or 250 μg/kg Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and were tested on three perceptual-motor performance measures related to driving. Performance was measured and blood samples were collected for 24 h after smoking. The covariation between phamacodynamics of performance and pharmacokinetics of THC in plasma was investigated for decrement in performance as the response to smoking a single marijuana cigarette. A significant linear correlation was found between tracking errors under divided attention and THC plasma levels over 5–25 ng/ml for approximately 2 h after smoking. A sigmoid relation was found between critical tracking breakpoint and log THC plasma levels over 2–25 ng/ml for approximately 7 h after smoking.

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Barnett, G., Licko, V. & Thompson, T. Behavioral pharmacokinetics of marijuana. Psychopharmacology 85, 51–56 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427321

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427321

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