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Marijuana users may face driving danger that standard tests can miss
New York Post • • business
Key Points:
- A new study published in JAMA Network Open found that consuming cannabis edibles significantly impairs driving performance and reaction times, even when blood THC levels remain below legal limits.
- Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto tested 40 regular cannabis users with varying doses of THC gummies and observed notable driving impairments at two and five hours post-consumption.
- Participants consuming 10- and 20-milligram THC gummies showed greater lane variability, slower reaction times, and inconsistent speed control, despite blood THC concentrations staying below the common 5 ng/mL legal threshold.
- The study highlights that edible cannabis is absorbed more slowly than smoked cannabis, causing impairment without corresponding high blood THC levels, which complicates law enforcement's ability to detect impairment through standard roadside blood tests.
- Limitations include the use of driving simulators instead of real roads and the focus on regular cannabis users, leaving uncertainty about effects on occasional users; impairment effects largely dissipated after 24 hours.
