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The impacts of potency, warning messages, and price on preferences for Cannabis flower products.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Recreational cannabis has been legalized in 11 states and Washington DC in the US. However, little is known about individual preferences for legal cannabis products. This study estimated the impacts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), warning messages, and price on preferences for cannabis flowers. METHODS:A cross-sectional online survey with discrete choice experiments was implemented in October 2017. A sample of 2400 adults aged 21 years or older were recruited from 6 US states with recreational cannabis legalization, consisting of 1200 past-year nonusers and 1200 past-year users. Each respondent was randomly assigned to 12 discrete choice scenarios, each asking them to choose from an opt-out option and 3 cannabis flower products with varying levels in THC, CBD, warning messages, and price. The impacts of product attributes on individual choices were analyzed with nested logit regressions. RESULTS:Both cannabis nonusers and users preferred higher CBD and lower price. Users also preferred higher THC. The results on warning messages were mixed: graphic warning on drugged driving and text warning message had positive impacts on nonusers' and users' preferences for cannabis flowers, respectively, whereas FDA disapproval disclaimer had negative impacts on nonusers' preferences. Heterogeneities in preferences were revealed among nonusers by former use status and among users by reason of use. Particularly, medical cannabis users were not as responsive to THC as recreational cannabis users or dual users were. Regarding relative importance of the attributes, all respondents but medical cannabis users perceived price as the most important attribute (relative importance 51-64%), whereas medical cannabis users perceived CBD as the most important attribute (relative importance 47%). CONCLUSION:The findings indicated that product characteristics may have influences on US adults' choices of legal cannabis flower products and may deserve consideration for cannabis regulatory framework.

SUBMITTER: Shi Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6893125 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The impacts of potency, warning messages, and price on preferences for Cannabis flower products.

Shi Yuyan Y Cao Ying Y Shang Ce C Pacula Rosalie Liccardo RL

The International journal on drug policy 20190802

<h4>Background</h4>Recreational cannabis has been legalized in 11 states and Washington DC in the US. However, little is known about individual preferences for legal cannabis products. This study estimated the impacts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), warning messages, and price on preferences for cannabis flowers.<h4>Methods</h4>A cross-sectional online survey with discrete choice experiments was implemented in October 2017. A sample of 2400 adults aged 21 years or older were re ...[more]

PMID: 31382201

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Project description:Background and aimsThe U.S. legal cannabis market is saturated with products containing high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), with no distinction between medical and recreational programs. This omnipresence of potent cannabis products seems to be driven by the recreational realm, where cannabis with the highest THC content is prized. This prevalence of highly potent cannabis is conveyed to medical programs, which places consumers (patients) at higher risk for over consumption and cannabis use disorder. Thus, understanding what factors influence the market that patients face in medical cannabis programs could shed light on the risks of legal cannabis. The supply and demand dynamic of the US for-profit cannabis market could explain the current market composition; therefore, we postulate that a financial gain could influence the perpetuation of the prevalence of high THC products in legal cannabis dispensaries. We investigate whether THC content in popular cannabis products correlates with higher prices and assess whether some attributes (type of product, chemovars, or presence of cannabidiol (CBD) affect the association of THC with price.MethodsWe focus on the world's largest cannabis market, California. We randomly selected dispensaries across the state, screened for a web presence and product menu, determined the most prevalent product type, and collected THC and CBD concentration, price, and other product attributes.ResultsWe observed that herbal products were more common, they had THC concentrations greater than 10%, and THC concentrations positively correlated with price. This correlation existed in flower and preroll presentations, all chemovar, and independently of the level of CBD. CBD did not correlate with price; however, the presence of CBD diminished the THC and price correlation particularly in products with high THC (>15%).ConclusionsOverall, highly potent herbal cannabis products (>15% THC) are the majority of products offered and more expensive regardless of product type or chemovar in California dispensaries, suggesting that a financial gain contributes to the current market composition. Efforts to limit the availability of highly potent THC products and educate consumers about potential harms are needed.

Project description:BackgroundTen U.S. states, Canada, and Uruguay have passed laws to legalize the production and sale of cannabis for non-medical purposes. Available research has documented rapidly falling prices and changing product mixes, but many details are not well understood: particularly, the popularity, prices, and product characteristics of different cannabis edibles and extract-based products - each offering different ways to consume cannabis, with unclear health consequences.MethodsThis paper analyzes data from Washington's recreational cannabis market, which has recorded over 110 million retail item-transactions from July 2014 to October 2017. Previous research on price and product trends has focused mostly on herbal cannabis, which accounts for the majority, but a decreasing share, of sales. This paper applies advanced text-analytic methods to provide new insights, including (A) estimating potency data for edibles and (B) identifying extract sub-types. Patterns and trends are described, across product types, regarding THC and CBD profiles and price per THC.ResultsExtracts accounted for 28.5% of sales in October 2017. Of extracts categorized to subtype, nearly half were identified as "dabs", and another half "cartridges". In October 2017, price per 10 mg THC was roughly $3 among edibles, 70 cents among extract cartridges, and 30-40 cents for other flower and other extracts; solid concentrates offered the lowest priced THC among extract products. Price declines continue but have slowed. High-CBD chemovars are becoming more common, but still are almost non-existent in flower marijuana and rare (1% of sales) among extract products.ConclusionAs Washington's recreational cannabis market has developed over three and a half years, trends identified in that market may serve as an early indication of potential issues in other states. Legislators and regulators in other jurisdictions with commercial non-medical cannabis markets may wish to establish policies responsive to these trends in product popularity, price, and potency.

Project description:Background: Recently increased access to cannabis products in the United States has been associated with increased rates of driving after cannabis use. Although numerous studies indicate that cannabis impairs psychomotor and neurocognitive functions that can affect driving ability, the determination of cannabis-impaired driving risk is complicated by the extent to which frequent cannabis users develop tolerance to THC's subjective, cognitive, and psychomotor effects, and by the fact that there is no validated behavioral or biological marker of recent cannabis use or cannabis-related impairment. This study examined the psychomotor impairment-related effects experienced by frequent cannabis users in Colorado after naturalistic consumption of smoked cannabis, both immediately and 1 h postuse. Results were then validated in a smaller replication sample from Washington state. Methods: In the primary Colorado study, participants (n=70) used the DRUID® mobile app, a brief measure of psychomotor and cognitive domains that are sensitive to the effects of cannabis. First, participants used DRUID to establish a sober baseline impairment score. During a second appointment, they used DRUID at three time points: preuse, immediately after acutely using cannabis, and 1 h postuse. In the Washington replication sample, participants (n=39) used DRUID before acute cannabis consumption and then every half hour for 2.5 h. Results: In both studies, peak DRUID impairment effects were seen immediately after cannabis use, with recovery of performance at 1 h postuse. Specifically, significant quadratic effects of time emerged for both studies (Colorado study: (β=-0.935, SE=0.204, p<0.001); Washington study: β=3.0299, SE=1.3085, p<0.01). Domain-specific effects were tested in the larger Colorado study and were observed for reaction time within a complex divided attention task and a postural-stability balance task. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that psychomotor impairment emerges immediately after acute cannabis use even in regular users, but decreases significantly 1 h postuse. These results underscore the potential utility of the DRUID app for assessing acute cannabis-related psychomotor impairment. Further research is needed to explore whether the DRUID app and/or the specific psychomotor functions it assesses might serve as a tool for measuring cannabis-related driving impairment. Clinical trials registration number for the Colorado Study: NCT03522103.

Dataset Information

The impacts of potency, warning messages, and price on preferences for Cannabis flower products.

Publications

The impacts of potency, warning messages, and price on preferences for Cannabis flower products.

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