Journal article
Edible cannabis use on simulated driving performance
Traffic injury prevention
11/12/2025
DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2025.2574271
PMCID: PMC12967284
PMID: 41223382
Abstract
Objective: To assess driving performance after consuming edible cannabis using a driving simulator, examining frequency of use, THC dose, and rural versus urban settings.
Methods: Adults in Denver, Colorado (N = 88), between 25 and 55 years old, were recruited from November 2023 to July 2024 and assigned to groups based on past 90-day cannabis use: daily (N = 29), occasional (N = 30), or no recent use (i.e., comparison group; N = 29). This within-subjects study compared driving performance (i.e., speed, lane departures per minute, and standard deviation of lateral placement (SDLP)) using a validated driving simulator (miniSim (TM)) at baseline and two post-consumption tests (52 and 119 min). Linear mixed models were used to evaluate performance.
Results: Daily-use group drove slower than the occasional-use group (decrease in average speed from pretest of 2.49 mph (urban, p < 0.01 post-1); 1.80 mph (p = 0.02 post-2)) and the comparison group (decrease in average speed from pretest of 2.70 mph (urban, p < 0.01 post-1); 2.68 mph (urban, p < 0.01 post-2)). Lane departures increased in the occasional-use group from 0.17 at pretest to 0.47 in post-1 and 0.40 in post-2 (p < 0.01). Their rural SDLP increased: post-1 (29.37 cm, p < 0.01), post-2 (29.81 cm, p < 0.01), versus pretest (25.45 cm). This group had significantly greater change in lane departures than both the comparison group (0.26, p < 0.01) and daily-use group (0.34, p < 0.01) in post-1. In post-2, the change remained greater than the daily-use group (0.20, p = 0.02).
Conclusion: Our study found significant changes in driving performance following edible cannabis use, including findings related to effect duration, use frequency, and road settings. The occasional-use group showed greater impairment than daily-use group, suggesting tolerance contributes to outcomes beyond THC concentration alone.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Edible cannabis use on simulated driving performance
- Creators
- Nae Y. Won - Johns Hopkins UniversitySarah Bird - Colorado School of Public HealthJulia Wrobel - Emory UniversityTimothy Brown - Safer SimAshley Brooks-Russell - University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Traffic injury prevention
- DOI
- 10.1080/15389588.2025.2574271
- PMID
- 41223382
- PMCID
- PMC12967284
- NLM abbreviation
- Traffic Inj Prev
- ISSN
- 1538-9588
- eISSN
- 1538-957X
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- Rollins School of Public Health National Institute on Drug Abuse; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) R01 DA049800 / National Institutes of Health; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 11/12/2025
- Academic Unit
- Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics; Driving Safety Research Institute; Industrial and Systems Engineering; Injury Prevention Research Center
- Record Identifier
- 9985035031702771
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