Why a Cannabis Sedation Rating and a Cognitive Test Can Tell Different Stories
Feeling sedated is a report about a person’s experience. Completing a cognitive task measures performance under a particular test protocol. An open-label study by Arkell and colleagues recorded both after 40 patients took a prescribed dose of medical cannabis during a laboratory visit.
The tests sampled different parts of the session
People who vaporized flower reported stronger feelings of sedation and intoxication than people who used oral oils. The groups used different products and doses, so their ratings cannot isolate an effect of route. At the cognitive assessments, the researchers reported improvement on two tasks and no statistically significant changes on the remaining measures.
The test battery and subjective ratings were also collected on different schedules. A result taken three hours after dosing describes performance at that point. The design included no placebo condition, so repeated exposure to the tasks is one possible contributor to improvement. The findings illustrate why testimony about observed or reported sedation and test results should be interpreted in light of the timing and purpose of each observation.
