Separate and combined effects of alcohol and cannabis on mood, subjective experience, cognition and psychomotor performance: A randomized trial.
Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry May 1, 2022 C. Wickens, Madison Wright, R. Mann et al.
In healthy young adults who use both alcohol and cannabis, the two drugs produce largely separate effects: cannabis primarily alters mood and subjective experience, while alcohol impairs cognitive and psychomotor performance. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 28 participants aged 19–29, those who received active cannabis (12.5% THC) showed greater increases in tension-anxiety, confusion, euphoria, and sedation compared to placebo, but minimal changes in cognition. Alcohol (target breath alcohol content 80 mg/dL) caused declines in verbal recall, digit-symbol substitution, and fine motor speed, with little effect on mood. Combining the two drugs produced additive effects, not synergistic.