High-Potency Cannabis and Titration of Dosage Among Experienced Users

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"Although experienced young adult cannabis users with a preference for stronger joints titrated their THC exposure to some extent by inhaling less smoke, in general more potent cannabis was used in higher dosages leading to a higher THC exposure compared to users preferring lower potency cannabis. None the less, in our population of frequent cannabis users, total THC exposure was only a weak predictor of dependence severity, and did not remain significant after adjustment for baseline dependence severity. However, cannabis smoking behaviours predicted cannabis dependence severity independently of baseline THC exposure and baseline cannabis dependence severity. As the amount of explained variance was low, due possibly to the multifactorial aetiology of dependence, future studies should include other predictors, such as genetic variations, early traumatic experiences and — most importantly — time-dependent variables representing the dynamic nature of personal and dependence development. Meanwhile, smoking variables, such as smoking topography and completely finishing high-dose/high-potent joints in one smoking session, may be helpful to identify people at risk of escalating cannabis dependence severity."


Peggy van der Pol, Nienke Liebregts, Tibor Brunt, Jan van Amsterdam, Ron de Graaf, Dirk J. Korf, Wim van den Brink & Margriet van Laar, "Cross-sectional and prospective relation of cannabis potency, dosing and smoking behaviour with cannabis dependence: an ecological study," Addiction, March 16, 2014, doi:10.1111/add.12508.

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