%0 Journal Article
%T Descriptive Psychopathology of the Acute Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in Humans
%A Lukas Van Oudenhove
%A Marco Colizzi
%A Nathalie Weltens
%A Philip McGuire
%A Sagnik Bhattacharyya
%J Brain Sciences | An Open Access Journal from MDPI
%D 2019
%R https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci9040093
%X Background: Cannabis use can increase the risk of psychosis, and the acute administration of its key psychoactive ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (£¿9-THC), can induce transient psychotomimetic symptoms. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover design was used to investigate the symptomatic effects of acute intravenous administration of £¿9-THC (1.19 mg/2 mL) in 16 healthy participants (seven males) with modest previous cannabis exposure. Results: In the 20 min following acute £¿9-THC administration, symptomatic effects of at least mild severity were present in 94% of the cohort, with moderate to severe symptoms having a much lower prevalence (19%). Nearly one-third (31%) of the volunteers were still experiencing protracted mild symptomatic effects 2.5 h after exposure to £¿9-THC. Compared to the ¦¤9-THC challenge, most of the study participants did not experience any symptomatic effects following placebo administration (62%). Acute physical reactions were 2.5 times more frequent after ¦¤9-THC (31%) than placebo (12%). Male and female participants differed in terms of acute ¦¤9-THC effects, with some negative symptoms occurring more frequently in female (56% to 89%) than male participants (0% to 29%), and acute physical reactions occurring exclusively in the female gender (56%). Conclusions: These results have implications for future research, also in light of cannabis being the most widely used illicit drug. View Full-Tex
%U https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/9/4/93