The THC Cardiovascular Review Selected Measurements Near Two Hours Rather Than Every Peak
The cardiovascular meta-analysis generally selected acute measurements near two hours after THC. Its pooled results did not represent the maximum effect or the entire time course in every study.
The time rule was explicit
The methods state that two-hour post-drug values were used when available, with the closest assessment used otherwise. The authors selected this period because it was commonly reported and overlapped the broad oral peak-plasma interval. For chronic studies, they used measurements at the end of the study.
A standardized assessment has tradeoffs
Selecting a common time helps organize studies that used different schedules. It can also miss earlier or later physiological changes. The closest available value may occur at a different point in the response, especially when routes and doses differ. The pooled comparison should therefore not be relabeled as each participant’s peak response.
The rule does not establish recovery
A measurement near two hours cannot determine when an effect began, resolved or recurred after another dose. Nor does an end-of-study value describe every adaptation during a chronic regimen. These are limits on what the selected data represent, rather than evidence that unmeasured effects occurred. A careful citation states the extraction rule alongside the pooled result when timing is central to a clinical or forensic claim.
Related analysis: the study’s broader findings and limitations.
