A study by University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers found that men who occasionally consume cannabis have stronger reactions than women with similar consumption habits, even though the amount of THC in their blood was about the same.
The analysis by researchers at the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids included 44 healthy adults, split evenly by sex and by whether they consumed cannabis weekly or daily. In three separate sessions, each participant smoked placebo, lower-THC, and higher-THC cannabis without knowing which they had received. Women in the study were not using hormonal birth control and were tested during the same phase of their menstrual cycle.
The researchers found that men who occasionally consumed cannabis reported feeling more high, sedated, and impaired than the participating women, and had more unpleasant effects such as anxiety. The heart rates of men also rose significantly after smoking THC-rich cannabis, while the women’s heart rates did not.
Both women and men who consumed cannabis frequently responded in similar ways and, regardless of sex, individuals who consumed cannabis frequently also exhibited addictive behaviors compared to those who consumed cannabis occasionally.
In a statement, Dr. Ziva Cooper, the study’s principal investigator and director of the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids, said that “Much of what we thought we knew about sex differences in cannabis effects came from animal research and from human studies that pooled data from different trials.”
“When we designed a study to look at sex and frequency of use at the same time, and controlled for hormones, the picture changed. As more women use cannabis, including for women’s health conditions, we need evidence from studies designed to include them.” — Cooper in a press release
Dr. Stephanie Lake, a researcher at the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids and the study’s lead author, added that “Sex and cannabis use history can both shape how someone experiences the effects of cannabis.”
“And studying both together is key to understanding who is most at risk of higher-risk, unpleasant, or beneficial experiences from cannabis,” Lake said in a statement.
The researchers note that the sample was modest. And that the THC concentrations tested were low – the highest was 10% – compared to most of the products on the market.
The study, “Sex- and frequency-dependent acute pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of smoked cannabis: a randomized controlled trial,” was published October 29 in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
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