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Kinetic study of smoking marijuana

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Abstract

Six subjects each smoked a 1% marijuana cigarette and 2 hr later smoked a second one. Plasma levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol were measured for 9 hr with a radioimmunoassay. Heart rate and self-reported “high” were measured for 2 hr after each cigarette. All three measures showed a rapid increase after the start of smoking with Cmax occurring before the end of smoking. There was a strong correlation between decrease in heart rate and plasma levels from 10 min after smoking until 120 min. All pharmacodynamic response measures returned to baseline values within approximately 2 hr.

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Barnett, G., Chiang, C.W.N., Perez-Reyes, M. et al. Kinetic study of smoking marijuana. Journal of Pharmacokinetics and Biopharmaceutics 10, 495–506 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01059033

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01059033

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