Cannabis Impaired Driving with Tom Marcotte, PhD

In Episode 1, Dr. Tom Marcotte discusses a significant study on the acute effects of cannabis on driving impairment, detailing the methodology, findings, and implications for public safety and law enforcement. The conversation explores how THC levels affect driving performance, the perception of impairment among users, and the challenges of conducting cannabis research in a regulated environment. Future research directions and participant recruitment for upcoming studies are also highlighted.

Tom Marcotte Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and Co-Director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, which has conducted clinical trials of cannabis for almost 20 years, and has an active, ongoing portfolio exploring the effects of cannabinoids (plant-based, synthetic) in various medical/psychiatric conditions. He is the principal investigator on studies addressing the effects that cannabis (including commercially-available products) has on driving performance, as well as methods for detecting cannabis-related driving impairment. He previously was the principal investigator on an NIH-funded take-home study of cannabis for the treatment of pain, and a co-investigator on cannabis studies addressing pain, as well spasticity in multiple sclerosis. He has been the PI on numerous HIV studies over the years, including projects aimed at examining antiretroviral treatment initiation in India, the development of brief screening tools for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), and studies examining the impact of HAND on real-world functioning. Dr. Marcotte has developed techniques for assessing the most complex of everyday tasks, driving an automobile, and examined the types of deficits that may predispose an individual to impaired driving abilities. Dr. Marcotte previously served as the Center Manager of the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center (1996-2018), and Co-Director of CHARTER (a national multi-site study of the CNS impact of treatments for HIV). He co-edited the book Neuropsychology of Everyday Functioning (currently in its 2nd edition) and has been on the editorial boards of Neuropsychology and the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.