CMCR Co-Director Tom Marcotte, PhD, and his research on cannabis-related impairment are featured in a recent BBC article exploring what drug testing can—and cannot—tell us about a pilot’s fitness to fly.
The article follows reports that an Air India pilot may have tested positive for cannabis after a flight that experienced a sudden loss of altitude. While the reported result has not been officially confirmed, the incident has renewed questions about how cannabis use, THC detection, and impairment should be interpreted in safety-sensitive settings.
Research reviewed in the article shows that cannabis can affect attention, motor control, and performance on complex tasks. At the same time, Dr. Marcotte notes that THC can remain detectable long after acute impairment has subsided, and blood THC concentrations do not reliably indicate whether someone was impaired at a specific point in time. This makes cannabis testing substantially more complicated than alcohol testing.
The article highlights the need to distinguish between cannabis exposure, actual impairment, and whether impairment contributed to an incident.
Read the full BBC article here.