Category: Forensic Toxicology
Prescribed THC and Trail Making: Why Stable Attention Scores Do Not Settle Cognitive Effects
Medicinal cannabis patients can show stable scores on several attention measures while performing worse on a mental-flexibility task. A two-study research program highlights why an expert should identify the particular function measured rather than label a whole battery “normal” or “impaired.” Two groups and two exposure windows Stefanidis and colleagues…
CBD/THC for Chemotherapy Neuropathy: Why the Primary and Secondary Analyses Matter
A randomized trial did not find a between-group benefit in its primary analysis of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy; a secondary analysis suggested improvement in sensory symptoms. Reporting only the favorable secondary result would overstate the evidence. Who was studied? Weiss and colleagues conducted a 12-week double-blind, placebo-controlled human trial of oral…
THC and Hazard Perception: Why Feeling Worse Did Not Predict Test Performance
Medicinal cannabis users did not show a significant decline on a video hazard-perception test after oral THC, yet their own ratings did not accurately track their performance. This separates a measured driving-related skill from confidence about that skill. The study’s actual comparison Mieran and colleagues assessed 41 medicinal cannabis users…
Does Alpha-Pinene Prevent THC-Related Memory Impairment? A Controlled Human Test
In a controlled human experiment, inhaled alpha-pinene did not prevent THC-related memory impairment. That finding directly tests one proposed “entourage effect,” while leaving questions about other constituents, formulations, and outcomes open. What was compared? Kumar and colleagues studied 19 adults across six double-blind sessions in randomized order. Conditions included placebo,…
Delta-8 Vaping and Airway Cells: Why Heating Changes the Exposure Question
The liquid in a cannabis vape and the aerosol produced by heating it are not necessarily the same chemical exposure. A study of delta-8 THC products identified an oxidation product that increased after vaping and produced different airway-cell responses from delta-8 THC alone. Product chemistry and cell experiments Love and…
Cannabis Oils in Dogs: Why Normal Breathing Does Not Mean No THC Effects
In a small canine study, THC-containing oils affected temperature and cardiac measurements without producing significant changes in the measured respiratory outcomes. A normal result in one physiological system therefore did not establish an absence of drug effects elsewhere. What the investigators measured Rutjanavate and colleagues studied six male Beagles in…
A Child’s Positive Cannabinoid Urine Result Does Not Identify the Exposure Route
A positive cannabinoid result in a child’s urine does not, by itself, identify whether exposure came from smoke, a product, or another route. It also does not establish that THC caused a particular behavioral or cognitive finding. The Healthy Start study makes the definition of “exposure” especially important. How the…
Prenatal THC and Adolescent Rat Memory: Interpreting Behavior Alongside mRNA
A prenatal THC experiment found later memory-related differences in male rat offspring, alongside changes in hippocampal mRNA. The behavioral and molecular findings strengthen a developmental research question, but they do not constitute a diagnosis or individualized prognosis for a human child. What was studied Castelli and colleagues exposed Wistar rats…
What High-Dose Oral THC Toxicity in Sheep Can—and Cannot—Show
High-dose THC caused substantial adverse effects in sheep, but the experiment does not establish a toxic human dose or a human impairment threshold. Veterinary toxicology findings need to remain attached to the species, administration schedule, and measured outcomes. The exposure was specific and substantial Stevens and colleagues described eight Merino…
THC and Liver Toxicity: Why Computer Predictions and Cell Results Are Not Patient Diagnoses
Computer-predicted pathways and altered gene expression in cultured cells can suggest a toxicity mechanism without establishing liver injury in a patient. A 2025 THC study illustrates the difference between mechanistic investigation and clinical causal diagnosis. The evidence came from several research layers Zou and colleagues combined network toxicology, pathway analysis,…
Does THC Slow Brain Aging? Separating Mouse Metabolism From Human Benefit
Tissue-specific metabolic changes in mice are not proof that THC slows aging in people. A study of long-term low-dose THC and mTOR signaling is mechanistically interesting precisely because the responses differed between brain and peripheral tissues. What the study investigated Bilkei-Gorzo and colleagues examined mTOR activity, metabolites, and synaptic proteins…
Why THC Can Be Rewarding or Aversive: Limits of a Brain-Circuit Study
THC produced different behavioral effects in different rat brain regions, with different opioid-receptor mechanisms. This provides a biological explanation for variability in experimental responses, but it cannot predict whether a particular human experienced pleasure, distress, or dependence from one exposure. What was manipulated Norris and colleagues combined behavioral pharmacology with…
