Acute Effects of Cannabis on Cognition and Affect

Design: The investigators will address the research questions using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Cannabis Procurement, Storage, and Transport: Cannabis will be obtained from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The investigators will obtain cannabis containing 11.86% THC (barrel #1592). Our plan for dosing considers potency (grams of flower x 1000 x %THC = mg THC), so participants in the 20 mg THC condition will be administered .17g of 11.86% THC cannabis flower. The placebo will also be obtained from NIDA. Cannabis will be stored in the PI's secure cannabis storage facilities in the Veterinary and Biomedical Research (VBRB) building. A maximum of 24 hours before a scheduled testing session, an individual authorized by the DEA will transport a small amount of cannabis or placebo (corresponding to 20 mg THC) from the secure VBRB storage facilities to the psychology building, where participants will vape the cannabis. The product will be stored in the chamber of a Volcano Vaporizer in a locked room. Recruitment: A total of 92 cannabis users will be recruited from Pullman and the neighboring communities. Advertisements will be placed in local cannabis dispensaries and on social media (e.g., Facebook Free \& For Sale, Reddit, Instagram). The investigators will also email chronic cannabis users who have participated in our former cannabis studies (and have indicated willingness to be contacted with invitations for subsequent studies) to invite them to participate. These advertisements and emails will include a link to an online Qualtrics survey used to determine eligibility. This survey will be used to screen for serious psychiatric conditions (psychosis, bipolar I, panic disorder), a family history of psychosis, neurological disorders, chronic medical conditions (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, Reynaud's disease), a body mass index (BMI) exceeding 34, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, history of multiple concussions or head injury that may impact cognition, pregnancy or lactation, and history of adverse experiences with cannabis (psychosis, panic attacks), use of illicit drugs in the past 6 months, heavy alcohol use (\>4 drinks, \>4 times/week), and smoking/nicotine use. Eligible participants will need to have used cannabis at least once a week for at least one year, the participants will need to indicate that they typically inhale cannabis, and be willing to abstain from using any cannabis on the day of their scheduled testing session (minimum of 8 hours of abstinence). This survey will be used to obtain contact information from interested and eligible candidates. Ineligible participants will not be given the opportunity to enter their contact information, so sensitive information will only be collected from anonymous individuals. Eligible candidates will be contacted using the contact information provided, and the testing session will be scheduled. Participants will be instructed not to use any cannabis on the day of the testing session (from midnight onward). Consent \& Drug Screen: Participants will meet the research assistant in The Health \& Cognition (THC) lab in the Department of Psychology at WSU. After obtaining written informed consent, participants will be asked when they last ate and drank (anything but water) and when they last used cannabis. Participants who report using cannabis that day will be rescheduled and will be reminded that they must abstain from any cannabis use on the day of the testing session. To further verify abstinence from cannabis on the day of the testing session, the participants will be asked to complete a THC saliva test. The participants will then be asked to complete a 12-panel urine drug test to ensure the participants test negative for illicit drugs. Participants who test positive for illicit drugs are not eligible and will not be permitted to complete the study. Survey and Baseline Assessments: Participants who pass the drug test (test negative for illicit drugs), will be asked to put on a Muse S Athena EEG headband with assistance from the research assistant (RA). The participants will then rate how high they feel using a scale from 0 = "not high at all" to 10 = "extremely high." Next, the participants will complete standardized, valid, and reliable measures of their cannabis consumption patterns (Daily Sessions, Frequency, Age of Onset, and Quantity of Cannabis Use Inventory), motives for use (Marijuana Motives Questionnaire \[MMQ\]), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale \[CES-D\]), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory \[BAI\]), ADHD symptoms (Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale - IV), emotion regulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale \[DERS\]), affect (Daniels Five-Factor Measure of Affective Well-Being \[D-FAW\]), and demographic information. The information from this survey will be used to characterize the sample, determine covariates that should be controlled for in analyses, and examine the potential moderating effects of depression/anxiety/emotion regulation on cannabis induced changes in mood, anxiety, and affect. Drug Administration: Once the baseline assessments have been obtained, the researcher will bring the participant to the vaping room for their vaping session. This is a secluded room (none of the neighboring rooms are currently in use by people) in the basement of the building with a functioning fume hood. The researcher will position the Volcano Vaporizer pre-loaded with cannabis containing 20 mg of THC or placebo (the researcher and participant will be blind to the product) near the participant. The researcher will turn the vaporizer on and will wait until it heats up to 210 degrees Celsius. This temperature is ideal as it is not hot enough for the plant material to burn, so many of the toxins associated with smoking are not released. The researcher will set up a Zoom videoconferencing session on an iPad/computer and will text one of the principal investigators (PIs) to join the Zoom call. Importantly, this Zoom session will NOT be recorded. The RA will then go to an adjacent room and wait until the cannabis session is complete to aid with their blinding to the drug condition. Once one of the PIs joins the Zoom call, the investigators will instruct the participant to begin inhaling the vapor and exhaling into a "sploofy" carbon filter. The participants will be asked to try to inhale for a minimum of 2 seconds, and hold for 2 seconds, before exhaling into the sploofy. The PI will count the total number of puffs the participant inhales and will time the duration of their inhalations and holds. Once the participant has inhaled 30 puffs, they will be asked to exhale into the air and to look to see if there is any visible vapor. If the participants see visible vapor, they will continue to take more puffs and exhale into the sploofy. Every 5-10 puffs, the participants will exhale into the air to see if they notice any vapor. This will continue until the participants don't see any vapor. The PI will ask the participant to rate how high they feel using a scale from 0 = "not high at all" to 10 = "extremely high." The participants will also rate the level of good drug effects they are experiencing and their liking of those drug effects using similar 0 to 10 scales. The PI will text the RA when the vaping session is complete, and the RA will return, clean the mouthpiece with rubbing alcohol, put the Volcano Vaporizer away, and turn on the fume hood. The RA will then bring the participant back to the original lab room to complete the cognitive tests. Cognitive Tests: Participants will be asked to rate their affect using the D-FAW. Participants will be asked to complete cognitive tests of planning, inhibition, task switching, and working memory, including tests of prospective memory, the N-back, digit span backwards, tower test, zoo maps test, Stroop test, Go/No-Go test, an intra- and extra-dimenstional set shifting task (IDED), and verbal fluency category switching tests. Nature Video and AWE: Participants will then be brought to an adjacent room where the participants will watch a brief nature video (there are two versions of this video that will be counterbalanced). After the nature video, the participants will provide ratings of awe, their feelings of connectedness to nature, and their affect using the D-FAW. Finally, participants will be asked to rate the strength of their subjective high, good drug effects, and liking of the drug effects on an iPad. The EEG headband will then be removed. Sobering and Debriefing: Participants will then sit and play video games and/or watch TV or read until it has been a total of 4 hours since their vape session ended, and the participants report feeling completely sober. The room is equipped with couches, chairs, a TV with streaming platforms, and a video game system. Snacks (e.g., fruit snacks, granola bars, hot pockets, uncrustables, chips, chocolate bars, nuts, jerky, soda, juice, chocolate milk, water) will also be available for participants to consume while they wait. This room is equipped with a two-way mirror, and an RA will monitor participants via the window in the adjacent room to ensure the participants do not attempt to leave the lab and to monitor and record the snacks/beverages participants choose to consume and the activities the participants choose to engage in while the participants sober up. Participants will be informed that the RA is in the adjoining room, monitoring them, and that the participants can call them for assistance at any time. The RA will enter the room every 30 minutes to collect intoxication ratings. Participants will also be asked to rate how much they enjoyed each food product or beverage they consumed in the prior 30 minutes using a 0 (dislike very much) to 10 (like very much) rating scale. Participants will be debriefed after it has been a total of 4 hours have passed since their vape session ended, and they report feeling sober (give a 0 on the intoxication rating scale). Participants will then return for their second session, which will be identical to the first, except those administered 20 mg of THC in session 1 will be administered placebo in session 2, and those administered placebo in session 2 will be administered 20 mg of THC in session 2. Participants will be debriefed at the end of session 2.