Evidence mapPaperPMID 42579005Full record

ArticlePsychopharmacology2026

Investigating sex differences in the acute effects of smoked cannabis: a potency-ranging, controlled administration, human laboratory experiment.

Madison Wright, Justin Matheson, Adam Zaweel, Christine M Wickens, Patricia Di Ciano, Beth Sproule, Bernard Le Foll, Bruna Brands

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Article in Psychopharmacology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Madison WrightInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada.
Justin MathesonInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada.
Adam ZaweelInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada.
Christine M WickensInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada.
Patricia Di CianoInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada.
Beth SprouleInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada.
Bernard Le FollInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada. Bernard.LeFoll@camh.ca.
Bruna BrandsInstitute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleSex differences in the effects of cannabis have been demonstrated in animals, though the human evidence is more equivocal. In particular, more work is needed to better understand interactions between sex and dose in determining acute pharmacological effects of cannabis, especially at higher potencies of Δ

objectivesSex differences were examined following a range of potencies of smoked cannabis (0%/0 mg, 6.25%/47 mg, 12.5%/94 mg, 22.0%/165 mg THC).

methodsThirty-five adults (18 females; 17 males) who used cannabis 1-5 days/week participated in a within-subject, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, and counterbalanced human laboratory experiment. Analyses compared peak change from baseline scores between females and males for smoking topography, blood and oral fluid THC and metabolites concentrations, vital signs, pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships, subjective effects, mood, and cognition.

resultsFemales and males smoked similar amounts in each condition, yet females spent significantly more time smoking across all conditions. While both sexes achieved similar blood THC concentrations, females had significantly lower oral fluid THC concentrations. Aside from differences in the onset of some peak subjective effects, minimal evidence of sex differences was found in other outcomes, as well as in pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships.

conclusionsOur findings indicate inconsistent sex differences in the acute effects of smoked cannabis across a range of potencies. While previous research has examined the influences of sex on the effects of THC, to our knowledge this was the first study to evaluate sex differences testing a large range of smoked cannabis potencies (up to 22%/165 mg THC) under placebo-controlled laboratory conditions.

Indexed as

Blood cannabinoid concentrationsCannabisCognitionOral fluid cannabinoid concentrationsPharmacodynamicsPharmacokineticsSex differencesSubjective effectsTHCΔ9-tetrahydrocannabinol

Identifiers

PMID42579005

What Socratic holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.