Men who use cannabis occasionally may feel stronger effects from the drug than women with similar use habits, new research suggests.
The UCLA Health study, published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, included 44 healthy adults between the ages of 21 and 55, evenly split between men and women. Researchers divided participants based on whether they used cannabis frequently or occasionally.
Each participant took part in three separate sessions: smoking cannabis with no THC, a lower amount of THC or a higher amount. They did not know which one they were receiving at the time.
Among those who used cannabis occasionally, men reported feeling more high, sedated and impaired than women with similar use habits, according to the study.
The men also reported more unpleasant effects, including anxiety, and their heart rate rose significantly after using active cannabis.
Blood THC levels alone did not appear to explain the difference.
Men and women who used cannabis occasionally had similar peak THC levels, even though the men reported stronger effects, researchers found.
The pattern was different among people who used cannabis more often. Men and women in the frequent-use group generally responded similarly to active cannabis.
Frequent users were also more likely than occasional users to say they liked the effects, wanted to use cannabis again and chose to take more during the study, regardless of gender.
The findings challenge some previous research suggesting women may be more sensitive to the effects of cannabis.
“Much of what we thought we knew about sex differences in cannabis effects came from animal research and from human studies that pooled data from different trials,” Dr. Ziva Cooper, the study’s principal investigator and director of the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids, said in a press release.
“When we designed a study to look at sex and frequency of use at the same time, and controlled for hormones, the picture changed,” she added.
The researchers controlled for menstrual cycle timing among the women in the study, who were not using hormonal birth control.
The findings suggest that a person’s cannabis habits may be important when considering how men and women respond to the drug.
“Sex and cannabis use history can both shape how someone experiences the effects of cannabis,” lead author Dr. Stephanie Lake, a researcher at the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids, said in the release.
“Studying both together is key to understanding who is most at risk of higher-risk, unpleasant or beneficial experiences from cannabis.”
There were several limitations to the findings, the researchers acknowledged.
The study was small, with just 44 participants, and several of the findings involving occasional male users came from exploratory analyses, meaning they need to be confirmed in larger studies.
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The cannabis used in the experiment contained 4% or 10% THC, which researchers noted is weaker than many cannabis products sold today, where THC levels are commonly 20% or higher.
Researchers said larger studies are needed to better understand whether men and women develop tolerance to cannabis differently and how those differences could affect the risk of cannabis use disorder.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.
