Newmeyer Matthew N, Swortwood Madeleine J, Abulseoud Osama A, Huestis Marilyn A
Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, United States; Program in Toxicology, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, United States; Department of Forensic Science, College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, United States.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2017 Jun 1;175:67-76. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.02.003. Epub 2017 Mar 29.
Although smoking is the most common cannabis administration route, vaporization and consumption of cannabis edibles are common. Few studies directly compare cannabis' subjective and physiological effects following multiple administration routes.
Subjective and physiological effects, and expired carbon monoxide (CO) were evaluated in frequent and occasional cannabis users following placebo (0.001% Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC]), smoked, vaporized, and oral cannabis (6.9% THC, ∼54mg).
Participants' subjective ratings were significantly elevated compared to placebo after smoking and vaporization, while only occasional smokers' ratings were significantly elevated compared to placebo after oral dosing. Frequent smokers' maximum ratings were significantly different between inhaled and oral routes, while no differences in occasional smokers' maximum ratings between active routes were observed. Additionally, heart rate increases above baseline 0.5h after smoking (mean 12.2bpm) and vaporization (10.7bpm), and at 1.5h (13.0bpm) and 3h (10.2bpm) after oral dosing were significantly greater than changes after placebo, with no differences between frequent and occasional smokers. Finally, smoking produced significantly increased expired CO concentrations 0.25-6h post-dose compared to vaporization.
All participants had significant elevations in subjective effects after smoking and vaporization, but only occasional smokers after oral cannabis, indicating partial tolerance to subjective effects with frequent exposure. There were no differences in occasional smokers' maximum subjective ratings across the three active administration routes. Vaporized cannabis is an attractive alternative for medicinal administrations over smoking or oral routes; effects occur quickly and doses can be titrated with minimal CO exposure. These results have strong implications for safety and abuse liability assessments.
尽管吸烟是最常见的大麻使用途径，但大麻的汽化和食用也很普遍。很少有研究直接比较多种使用途径后大麻的主观和生理效应。
在经常和偶尔使用大麻的人群中，对安慰剂（0.001%Δ-四氢大麻酚[THC]）、吸烟、汽化和口服大麻（6.9%THC，约54毫克）后的主观和生理效应以及呼出一氧化碳（CO）进行了评估。
与安慰剂相比，吸烟和汽化后参与者的主观评分显著升高，而口服给药后只有偶尔吸烟者的评分与安慰剂相比显著升高。经常吸烟者吸入和口服途径的最高评分有显著差异，而偶尔吸烟者在不同活性途径之间的最高评分没有差异。此外，吸烟后0.5小时（平均12.2次/分钟）和汽化后（10.7次/分钟）以及口服给药后1.5小时（13.0次/分钟）和3小时（10.2次/分钟）心率高于基线的增加显著大于安慰剂后的变化，经常和偶尔吸烟者之间没有差异。最后，与汽化相比，吸烟后0.25-6小时呼出的CO浓度显著增加。
所有参与者在吸烟和汽化后主观效应都有显著升高，但口服大麻后只有偶尔吸烟者有此现象，这表明频繁接触会对主观效应产生部分耐受性。偶尔吸烟者在三种活性给药途径中的最高主观评分没有差异。与吸烟或口服途径相比，汽化大麻是药物给药的一个有吸引力的替代选择；效果出现迅速，且剂量可在最小程度接触CO的情况下进行滴定。这些结果对安全性和滥用可能性评估有重要意义。
