Descriptive Psychopathology of the Acute Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in Humans

Abstract

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 Δ9-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 Δ9-THC (31%) than placebo (12%). Male and female participants differed in terms of acute Δ9-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.