Evidence-based explanations of alcohol, drugs, toxicology testing, laboratory methods, interpretation, and forensic science.
Category: Forensic Toxicology
Can THC Analgesia Be Separated From Memory Effects? A Peptide Experiment in Mice
An experimental peptide preserved THC-related analgesic responses while preventing a memory-task deficit in mice. The result is a preclinical drug-development finding, not evidence that an available supplement makes cannabis use free of cognitive effects. Targeting a receptor interaction Gallo and colleagues investigated peptides designed to disrupt an interaction between cannabinoid…
Can Cannabis Users Self-Titrate Across Different Potencies? What Blood Verification Adds
Different amounts of cannabis flower did not necessarily produce different measured THC-related blood exposure in a preliminary naturalistic study. The finding supports investigating self-titration, rather than assuming product potency alone determines absorbed dose. A three-day product assignment Bidwell and colleagues enrolled 24 male cannabis users and asked them to use…
Prenatal THC and the Placenta: Why Normal Maternal Weight Did Not Exclude Fetal Effects in Rats
Normal maternal weight gain did not exclude fetal-growth and placental findings in a rat THC experiment. Different maternal and fetal endpoints can respond differently to the same exposure. The exposure and assessments The investigators administered THC or vehicle to pregnant Wistar rats during gestation. They assessed maternal food intake and…
Neonatal THC and TRKB: Why Transcript Changes Are Not Proof of Permanent Brain Injury
A neonatal mouse experiment found altered neurotrophic signaling markers after THC exposure, but it did not establish permanent human brain injury. RNA measurements, protein markers, and later behavior are different levels of evidence. Age, dose, and timing define the model Philippot and colleagues administered THC to male mice on postnatal…
THC and MDMA Together: Why EEG Changes Cannot Be Reduced to Simple Addition
THC and MDMA produced EEG changes that differed from the sum of their separate effects. The direction of the interaction depended on the frequency band, so the study cannot be summarized as one drug uniformly amplifying or cancelling the other. What was compared? Lansbergen and colleagues reported two controlled crossover…
Why a Sheep THC Half-Life Cannot Set a Human Cannabis Detection Window
THC persisted in sheep plasma long after a high oral dose, but the resulting half-life cannot be used as a human cannabis clock. Ruminant physiology, dose, and study design all define the meaning of the measurement. The plasma experiment Stevens and colleagues characterized THC pharmacokinetics in eight Merino ewes after…
Do THC-Altered Gene Pathways in Fish Demonstrate Human Neurological Disease?
THC exposure altered gene expression in adult medaka fish, but enrichment of a disease-related pathway is not a diagnosis of that disease. This distinction is essential when interpreting transcriptomic cannabis research. An aquatic exposure model Vassall and colleagues exposed male and female medaka to THC in water for 21 days,…
Does Vaporizing THC Avoid Its Acute Cardiovascular Effects? A Human Comparison
Vaporization did not eliminate the acute heart-rate and blood-pressure effects observed with THC-dominant cannabis. A small human comparison found those responses after both smoking and vaporization, while other cardiovascular endpoints required more cautious interpretation. Three exposure conditions Cheung and colleagues studied 22 young, healthy cannabis users before and after smoked…
THC, Alcohol, and Aging Heart Mitochondria: Why Laboratory Respiration Is Not a Human Risk Percentage
THC and ethanol impaired respiration in isolated rat heart mitochondria, with greater vulnerability in older preparations. The result concerns cellular energy machinery, rather than a measured probability of a heart attack after human cannabis use. What was actually exposed? Charles and colleagues isolated cardiac mitochondria from young and old male…
Can Metabolomics Distinguish Cannabis Use History From Acute Intoxication?
Blood metabolomic patterns may help distinguish use history from acute cannabis effects, but an exploratory classification result is not a validated impairment test. A controlled human study investigated those two questions separately. Baseline differences came before intoxication Madrid-Gambin and colleagues studied 35 occasional and chronic cannabis users under cannabis and…
Why Reference Standards Matter When Identifying THC Glucuronides
A mass-spectrometric signal can support a metabolite hypothesis without fully establishing its chemical identity. Research on 11-hydroxy-THC glucuronides shows how a synthesized reference standard strengthens one identification while leaving another provisional. The chemical question The investigators studied phase-II metabolism using pooled human liver S9 fractions and authentic urine and serum…
Do HHC Metabolites Always Prove HHC Consumption? A THC Metabolism Study
Some HHC-related metabolites may arise from THC metabolism, so their detection does not invariably establish separate HHC consumption. Research combining forensic whole-blood samples with human liver experiments provides a specific reason to examine the pathway. Two complementary forms of evidence Falck Jørgensen and colleagues tested whole blood from 308 forensic…
