CBD May Magnify Effects of THC in Edibles, Johns Hopkins Study Suggests

according to study Published on February 13 JAMA network openwhen THC was combined with edible CBD, they produced significantly stronger subjective drug effects, greater impairment of cognitive and psychomotor performance.

The study supports what Harvard professor Dr. Lester Grinspoon and many others have been saying all along. That said, combining CBD and THC creates a stronger effect that is part of what is often called the entourage or ensemble effect.

Findings indicate that CBD in edibles may inhibit the metabolism or breakdown of THC, resulting in stronger and longer-lasting effects. .

Researchers will observe 18 adults, 11 men and 7 women, from January 2021 to March 2022 at the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. bottom.

Study volunteers participated in three infused brownie-eating sessions, spaced over a week apart. In each session, participants ate 20 mg THC, 20 mg THC and 640 mg CBD, or, as a placebo, a brownie containing no he THC nor he CBD. Neither the participants nor the researchers knew in advance what was in the brownies they ate as a double-blind study.

Participants also received a drug cocktail consisting of five cytochrome (CYP) probe drugs: 100 mg caffeine, 25 mg losartan, 20 mg omeprazole, 30 mg dextromethorphan, and 2 mg midazolam 30 minutes after eating the brownie. Given.

The researchers found that the maximum amount of THC measured in the participants’ blood samples was approximately Twice Even though the dose of THC in each brownie was the same (20mg), after consuming the brownie with the CBD-dominant extract (which contains 640mg of CBD), the results were as low as after eating the THC-only brownie. it was high.

Researchers have found that edible foods are metabolized very differently than other delivery methods.

“The fact that THC and CBD were administered orally was crucial to this study and played a large role in the behavioral effects and drug interactions we observed,” said study author Austin Zamaripa. says Dr. According to the quote of news medical.

“Overall, we found stronger subjective drug effects and greater cognitive impairment. [thinking] and psychomotor [moving] There is a greater increase in performance and heart rate when the same dose of THC is given in a high CBD cannabis extract compared to a high THC extract without CBD.

To allow comparison, blood samples were taken from study participants with vital signs before each session to measure cognitive and psychomotor performance. The participant provided blood and urine samples at her 12-hour intervals at regular intervals and then again about 24 hours after eating the dose.

Self-reported effects were measured using the Drug Effects Questionnaire (DEQ), a standardized tool used to measure aspects of subjective experience after being administered a psychotropic drug (in this case, cannabis). Measured.

Using the DEQ system, participants rated the subjective effects from edible foods on a scale of 0 to 100. 0 is “not affected at all” and 100 is “extremely affected”.

Participants reported that taking high doses of CBD orally significantly increased overall drug effects.

“We have demonstrated that with relatively high oral doses of CBD [640 mg] There may be significant metabolic interactions between THC and CBD that tend to make THC’s effects stronger and longer lasting, reflecting increased unwanted adverse effects. psychiatry Senior author in behavioral sciences and research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

This study differs from previous findings.a study Published in the journal November 2022 neuropsychology We tried to determine if CBD mitigated the negative effects of THC, but this could be considered a hindrance. However, they found that CBD does not necessarily show evidence to reduce adverse side effects.

The researchers said future studies are needed to better understand the effects of CBD and THC dosage.