Dude, am I stoned? An app that tests memory, attention and reaction 鈥� traits that are often impaired by cannabis use 鈥� aims to answer that question by giving people a measurement of how well (or badly) they performed.
Cannabis is now legal in a small but growing number of countries. Researchers at the University of Chicago made the app in the hope that it will make cannabis use safer, helping those who take it understand how the drug is affecting them. 鈥淥ne of our long-term goals is for the app to improve the safety of cannabis use by making individual users more aware of their impairment,鈥� says team leader Harriet de Wit.
Still in its trial period, the app 鈥� called Am I Stoned 鈥� is also designed to collect data from users, which the team thinks will contribute to the overall scientific understanding of how cannabis affects people. For example, there is some evidence that moderate cannabis聽might聽reverse brain aging in the elderly.
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The system was tested on 24 non-daily cannabis users who consumed a capsule containing either a placebo or 7.5 or 15 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient in cannabis that intoxicates users. Participants then completed a range of tests designed to detect impairment on a computer and on a smartphone to test their motor skills and behaviour. 鈥淭he effects of THC on performance may be subtle, so we need highly sensitive tasks to detect impairments,鈥� says team member Elisa Pabon.
The team is presenting the results of an initial trial at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics annual meeting in San Diego this week. Once they have improved the app鈥檚 sensitivity, the researcher will consider releasing it to the public.
