10:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M - SYMPOSIUM: DRIVING IMPAIRMENT CAUSED BY THE USE OF CANNABIS AND OTHER DRUGS: RECENT EVIDENCE FROM HUMAN LABORATORY STUDIES: Grand Ballroom II

• Published in: Drug and alcohol dependence 2024-07, Vol.260
• Main Authors: Spindle, Tory, Zamarripa, Carlos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0376-8716
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.110800

The global expansion of cannabis legalization for medical and “recreational” purposes has created an urgent need for research on cannabis-induced driving impairment. Controlled studies demonstrate that cannabis can impair driving performance and epidemiological evidence shows that: 1) driving under the influence of cannabis is increasing, and 2) cannabis-positive drivers have an increased crash risk. However, there are currently no validated methods to detect cannabis-impaired drivers and novel approaches are sorely needed. Further, many novel cannabis products (e.g., edibles) have emerged that remain understudied. Finally, given the heterogeneity in cannabis users, there is a need to characterize impairment among different groups (e.g., medical vs recreational users) and to evaluate individual differences in impairment. This symposium includes four presentations describing data from human laboratory studies featuring sophisticated driving simulators. Dr. Austin Zamarripa will present a study evaluating the individual and interactive effects of cannabis edibles and alcohol on driving performance. Dr. Thomas Arkell will present research on the effects of real-world medical cannabis use on driving/cognitive performance. Dr. Jan Ramaekers will present data showing neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in cannabis-induced impairment. Lastly, Dr. Amie Hayley will describe a novel impairment-detection approach (Driver Monitoring Systems, DMS) that evaluates fitness to drive using eye-tracking; the effectiveness of DMS at detecting drug/alcohol-induced impairment and future applications of this technology will be discussed. Dr. Tory Spindle will synthesize findings from these studies and facilitate an interactive discussion, with an emphasis on U.S. and global policy implications and possible future directions in the driving impairment field.