Dutch research says pot smoking doesn't affect work

~Zen~ · Nov 19, 2010

The Netherlands is actively researching all things cannabis related, especially with an eye on health concerns. This is good, as there is little research being done world-wide to determine the efficacy and safety of our favorite plant.

Researchers have now conducted a study on performance of tasks by users of cannabis compared with alcohol users. The results are quite clear - alcohol impairs your judgment and degrades your ability to do simple tasks. Cannabis users on the other hand are still capable of performing tasks and using proper judgment.

The Netherlands: Experienced marijuana consumers become tolerant to the substance's impairing potential on psychomotor skills, according to clinical trial data published online in the journal Psychopharmacology.

Investigators at Maastricht University in The Netherlands and Goethe University in Germany assessed the neurocognitive effects of cannabis and alcohol in 21 experienced marijuana consumers (defined as smoking more than four days per week.) Subjects completed various driving simulator performance tests, including measures of perceptual motor control (critical tracking test), dual task processing (divided-attention task), motor inhibition (stop-signal task), and cognition (Tower of London).

Researchers determined that alcohol dosing significantly impaired subjects' critical tracking, divided attention, and stop-signal performance. By contrast, investigators reported that smoking THC cigarettes "generally did not affect task performance."

"THC did not affect performance of heavy cannabis users in the critical tracking task, the stop-signal task, and the Tower of London," authors wrote. "These tasks have previously been shown to be very sensitive to the impairing potential of THC when administered to infrequent cannabis (users). The lack of THC on these tasks basically confirms the previous notions that heavy cannabis users can develop tolerance to behaviorally impairing effects of THC."

Authors did report that subjects' performance on the divided-attention task was affected by both THC and alcohol, and their combination.

Investigators further reported that heavy marijuana use did not produce cross-tolerance to the impairing potential of alcohol alone or the synergistic effects of alcohol and cannabis when used concurrently.

A previously published study from July also found that experienced cannabis consumers overall performance accuracy on episodic memory and working memory tasks was not significantly altered by marijuana. Researchers in that study concluded: "This pattern of effects is consistent with results previously reported by other researchers studying the acute effects of marijuana on cognitive performance of regular users. ... The observation that frequent users' response accuracy is not altered after marijuana smoking to the same extent it is for infrequent users ... suggests that near-daily marijuana smokers may have developed tolerance to some marijuana-related behavioral effects."
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Full text of the study, "Tolerance and cross-tolerance to neurocognitive effects of THC and alcohol in heavy cannabis users," appears online in the journal Psychopharmacology.

jmt · Nov 19, 2010

"Dutch research says pot smoking doesn't affect work "

the articles about driving.

Asmodean · Nov 19, 2010

Depends on the kind of work and when you smoked. It doesn't have to affect work but it certainly can of course.

The_Man_On_The_Hill · Nov 19, 2010

Cannabis User are ultimately more aware tolerable than alcohol users. Who'da thunk it ?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21049267

idioticnumbskull · Nov 19, 2010

Depends on the person. Some people can focus on their work better and get more done when their high. Other people zone out and become lethargic.

Noelle · Nov 21, 2010

In regard to cannibus intake...There's another study that apparently says that it does impair driving.
I think it's safer to participate blazing at home. If there is ever a law legalizing it (outside of medicinal use - I'm in CA.) it's just better to do so at home.
Of course we all know it really is much more mellow a buzz then alcohol that can oft times make people belligerant and that it is a major interference with judgement.

Asmodean · Nov 21, 2010

On most people it certainly does impair driving.

skip · Nov 21, 2010

Noelle said:

In regard to cannibus intake...There's another study that apparently says that it does impair driving.
I think it's safer to participate blazing at home. If there is ever a law legalizing it (outside of medicinal use - I'm in CA.) it's just better to do so at home.
Of course we all know it really is much more mellow a buzz then alcohol that can oft times make people belligerant and that it is a major interference with judgement.
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While I agree ppl shouldn't drive after ingesting a lot of cannabis, the study you mention is outdated, and superseded by newer, more controlled studies that show the impairment is minimal unless the driver also ingests alcohol.

All studies have consistently shown that smoking under the influence of cannabis makes drivers far more careful (they drive slower) and far less likely to take risks than those who consume alcohol, and even than those who take nothing.

But of course a lot depends upon dosage. In fact, most cannabis users KNOW when they can't drive, whereas, drunks always think they can drive. This makes a big difference in the # of accidents under the influence. All accident stats that include cannabis don't usually reveal other drugs or alcohol that were also consumed by the drivers. So it's too easy to blame cannabis for the effects of other drugs. There is some synergy when combining drugs and everyone should be careful.

Another thing to consider. Really stoned people don't usually want to go anywhere... That's almost the definition of being stoned...

Asmodean · Nov 21, 2010

I've experienced several stoned drivers and they generally did not slow down at all. I myself get far too easily confused when I'm stoned behind the wheel so I never do it anymore.

skip · Nov 21, 2010

A more recent study (2009):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19340636

Cannabis and alcohol acutely impair several driving-related skills in a dose-related fashion, but the effects of cannabis vary more between individuals than they do with alcohol because of tolerance, differences in smoking technique, and different absorptions of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana. Detrimental effects of cannabis use vary in a dose-related fashion, and are more pronounced with highly automatic driving functions than with more complex tasks that require conscious control, whereas alcohol produces an opposite pattern of impairment. Because of both this and an increased awareness that they are impaired, marijuana smokers tend to compensate effectively while driving by utilizing a variety of behavioral strategies. Combining marijuana with alcohol eliminates the ability to use such strategies effectively, however, and results in impairment even at doses which would be insignificant were they of either drug alone. Epidemiological studies have been inconclusive regarding whether cannabis use causes an increased risk of accidents; in contrast, unanimity exists that alcohol use increases crash risk.
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psychedelicg1rl · Nov 21, 2010

this thread has been very educational!! I know I can not drive while stoned, bc I tend to smoke a lot, and it makes me very forgetful. I might forget to turn on my signal lights, or something weird.
but I have met many people that drive while stoned, and are super careful drivers.

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Dutch research says pot smoking doesn't affect work

~Zen~ California Tripper Administrator

jmt Ezekiel 25:17

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