The Effects of Problematic Alcohol Use In Combination with Acute Cannabis Use on Cognition

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/rn301306t

Abstract

As the legalization of marijuana spreads across the United States, there is a pressing need to develop a more in-depth understanding of cannabis and its effects. With this increased legalization, other substances are likely to be used in conjunction with cannabis, namely alcohol (1,2). The present study analyzes the presence of problematic alcohol use combined with acute cannabis use and its resulting cognitive effects. Participants were grouped based on their drinking habits which were defined using the AUDIT; those with a score equal to or greater than 8 were defined as heavy drinkers. The light drinker group consisted of an equal number of participants matched for gender, ethnicity, and education but had an AUDIT score of less than 8. After baseline assessments, participants consumed their randomly assigned cannabis product and outcome measures were gathered with the use of a mobile laboratory. There was found to be a significant main effect of time of delayed recall between light drinkers and heavy drinkers for both delayed correct verbal recall and delayed verbal recall errors. There was also a positive correlation between total drinking days and total correct recall on the ISLT. Overall, heavy drinking did not show to be correlated with cognitive impairment. Further research should attempt to measure the effects of a larger sample with a history of chronic alcohol users coupled with acute cannabis use.

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