Assessment of the acute psychoactive effects of naturalistic cannabis use : a validation of the naturalistic cannabis administration protocol (NCAP)

Concerns about the impact of acute cannabis use on cognition are significant and widespread. Following legalization in 2018, Canadian federal health messaging emphasized the cognitive impacts of cannabis use and extrapolated from research that was conducted in a laboratory-based setting. These settings have long been recognized as producing measurable changes in physiology (e.g., white coat hypertension), emotionality (e.g., increased anxiety), and cognition (e.g., decreased cognitive performance). Drug use is particularly sensitive to the contextual cues present in lab-based studies. Moreover, among people who use drugs, these settings are often associated with higher levels of perceived stigma. Taken together, these factors question the generalizability of extant findings on cannabis and cognition. This apparent disconnect mandates the development of new research paradigms. The Naturalistic Cannabis Administration Protocol (NCAP) is an attempt to develop a more ecologically valid methodology to study acute effects of cannabis. In the present study, participants (N = 28; M age = 21.82, SD = 2.26) self-administered cannabis via inhalation and underwent a cognitive assessment via video conference. Within-subject assessment of cognitive function during a no-cannabis control versus directly following cannabis use revealed no differences in immediate verbal recall (F(1, 27) = .28, p = .60), delayed verbal memory (F(1, 27) = 2.73, p = .11), working memory and attention (F(1, 27) = .60, p = .45), processing speed (F(1, 27) = .88, p = .36), or verbal fluency (F(1, 27) = 1.62, p = .22). Results demonstrated support for the feasibility and acceptability of the NCAP in a sample of adult cannabis users. When given an option, participants predicted that they would prefer the at-home administration of cannabis over a lab-based administration. Findings suggest that when cannabis is used by regular cannabis users in a naturalistic setting cognitive function is equivalent to their no-cannabis baseline.Arts and Social Sciences, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)Psychology, Department of (Okanagan)Graduat