AUTHOR=Theunissen Eef Lien , Kuypers Kim Paula Colette , Mason Natasha Leigh , Ramaekers Johannes Gerardus TITLE=A Comparison of Acute Neurocognitive and Psychotomimetic Effects of a Synthetic Cannabinoid and Natural Cannabis at Psychotropic Dose Equivalence JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.891811 DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2022.891811 ISSN=1664-0640 ABSTRACT=

Due to differences in potency, efficacy, and affinity for CB1 receptors, similarities and differences in psychoactive effect profiles of natural cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) cannot reliably be derived from equipotent dose comparisons. Instead, the current study proposes to compare the intrinsic psychoactive effects of natural cannabis (THC) and an SC, JWH-018, at psychotropic dose equivalence. Participants from two placebo-controlled studies were matched for their levels of subjective high to compare neurocognitive and psychotomimetic effects of THC and JWH-018. At equal subjective intoxication levels, both drugs impaired psychomotor, divided attention, and impulse control, with no significant difference between the two drugs. Both drugs also caused significant psychotomimetic effects, but dissociative effects were considerably more pronounced for JWH-018 than THC. We conclude that psychotropic dose equivalence provides a uniform approach for comparing the neurocognitive and psychotomimetic profiles of CB1 agonists, which can also be applied to other drug classes.