There is limited knowledge on the effects of THC in adolescents vs adults. One recent report compared responses to vaporized cannabis in heavy adolescent vs adult cannabis users and found that the adolescents were less sensitive to the drug on most measures. However, their findings were complicated by several factors: i) the study used vaporized cannabis, which may have other constituents and does not offer full control of the dose, ii) the participants were heavy users, making it difficult to determine the influence of prior drug exposure, and iii) the participants were not drug-free at the time of testing. Prior exposure to THC can lead to tolerance, and adolescents and adults may differ in the rate at which they develop tolerance, consistent with changes in CB1R receptor function. Our study will compare adolescent (here, aged 18 to 20) and adult (here, aged 30 to 40) responses to THC in relatively light cannabis users who are drug-free at the time of testing.
