MGC Pharma has claimed its CBD-dominant CannEpil drug is safe for “post-treatment driving activities” following a clinical trial carried out with Swinburne University of Technology.
The randomised, double blind placebo controlled study saw 31 adults complete a 40-minute drive, 90 minutes after being administered CannEpil or a placebo.
The trial, which used a driving simulator, assessed deviation of lateral position, standard deviation of speed and steering variability.
Data found drivers who had taken the 1ml oral dose of 20:1 CannEpil, which is used in the treatment for epilepsy, did not display any erratic driving behaviour and no increase in sedation.
“Oral doses… did not impair overall vehicle weaving, standard deviation of lateral position was not significantly altered and standard deviation of speed was not increased within 20 minutes’ drive,” MGC said.
However, despite concluding CannEpil was safe for post-treatment driving, the Cannvalate-sponsored trial also noted that participants did report increased sedation three to six hours after administration.
MGC Pharma company secretary David Lim said: “As with all things of this nature, there are windows when it would be safe to drive, and a window when it would be unsafe to drive due to the effects of taking the drug, in this case THC.
“The announcement doesn’t say that CannEpil doesn’t affect driving performance. However, there is a time after taking CannEpil when driving performance didn’t appear to be affected.
“The purpose of this study, among other things, was to help determine what these ‘windows’ actually were.”
Participants’ mood was also analysed through the Profile of Mood States, with the ‘contentedness’ of CannEpil motorists significantly increased following the driving task.
MGC Pharma said it hoped that standardised assessment of performance decrements “will inform policy guidelines concerning responsible use of medicinal cannabis products”.
