An Exploration of Heart Rate Response and Blood Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) Levels to Commercially Available Cannabis Edibles by Dose
Sarah A Limbacher, Sarah Bird, Julia Wrobel, Sparsh Jain, Ashley Brooks-Russell
Research Square June 11, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9762624/v1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 59 |
| Population | Adults who consented to use cannabis edibles during a study visit, categorized as daily users (29 of the last 30 days) or occasional users (at least once monthly but no more than three times weekly) |
| Intervention | Commercially available edible cannabis |
| Dose | at least 5 mg of cannabis edibles |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key findings | Heart rate fell slightly but statistically significantly after edible cannabis use, a change the authors describe as not clinically significant, across daily and occasional users and most dose groups. The 10-20 mg group at the second timepoint showed an approximately 5 bpm increase, also described as non-clinically significant. The authors suggest edible cannabis does not affect heart rate like inhaled cannabis and produces no robust cardiovascular response. |
Abstract
Abstract
Introduction: Studies have shown that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) consumption can acutely increase heart rate (HR) regardless of the percent concentration of the product consumed, mode of consumption (e.g. flower, edibles, concentrate), and tolerance. Prior studies have found that the magnitude of this effect is slightly larger in inhaled products, however few purposeful studies on HR response to commercially available edible cannabis have been done. Materials & Methods Participants (N = 59) were consented and asked to use at least 5mg of cannabis edibles during their study visit. Participants were enrolled into one of two cannabis use categories based on self-reported frequency of their cannabis use. Participants who use any cannabis product daily (defined for study purposes as 29 days of the last 30) and occasionally (participants who use cannabis at least one time per month but no more than three times per week). Venous blood samples were taken at baseline and after edible consumption, from an intravenous line at an average of 43 (post 1), 89 (post 2) and 178 minutes (post 3) post cannabis use. Participants were seated for all HR collection which occurred at baseline and an average of 39 (post 1), 84 (post 2), and 163 (post3) minutes after the participant’s end of cannabis consumption. Medications and medical conditions that suppress HR or induce elevated HR were identified and controlled for in this analysis.
Results: Overall, we observed a statistically significant but small non-clinically significant decrease in HR after consumption of cannabis edible. This was observed across participants in the occasional and daily groups, and across a range of doses. This decrease was only statistically significant in certain dose groups. This finding is excepted by the 10-20mg edible group at the post 2 timepoint (expected peak drug effect), where we observed a non-clinically significant (~ 5bpm) increase in HR.
Discussion: This analysis suggests that edible cannabis does not have the same impact on HR as inhaled cannabis products. This analysis also suggests that commercially available edible cannabis does not produce a robust cardiovascular response when used naturalistically.