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Evaluation of cannabinoid stability in authentic oral fluid (OF) is critical, as most OF stability studies employed fortified or synthetic OF. Participants (n = 16) smoked a 6.8% delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cigarette, and baseline concentrations of THC, 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC (THCCOOH), cannabidiol (CBD), and cannabinol (CBN) were determined within 24 h in 16 separate pooled samples (collected 1 h before to 10.5 or 13 h after smoking). OF was collected with the StatSure Saliva Sampler™ and Oral-Eze® devices. Oral-Eze samples were re-analyzed after room temperature (RT) storage for 1 week, and for both devices after 4 °C for 1 and 4 weeks, and -20 °C for 4 and 24 weeks. Concentrations ±20% from initial concentrations were considered stable. With the StatSure device, all cannabinoids were within 80-120% median %baseline for all storage conditions. Individual THC, CBD, CBN and THCCOOH pool concentrations were stable in 100%, 100%, 80-94% and >85%, respectively, across storage conditions. With the Oral-Eze device, at RT or refrigerated storage (for 1 and 4 weeks), THC, CBD and THCCOOH were stable in 94-100%, 78-89%, and 93-100% of samples, respectively, while CBN concentrations were 53-79% stable. However, after 24 weeks at -20 °C, stability decreased, especially for CBD, with a median of 56% stability. Overall, the collection devices' elution/stabilizing buffers provided good stability for OF cannabinoids, with the exception of the more labile CBN. To ensure OF cannabinoid concentration accuracy, these data suggest analysis within 4 weeks at 4 °C storage for Oral-Eze collection and within 4 weeks at 4 °C or 24 weeks at -20 °C for StatSure collection. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA., (Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.)

Background: Oral Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is effective for attenuating cannabis withdrawal and may benefit treatment of cannabis use disorders. Oral fluid (OF) cannabinoid testing, increasing in forensic and workplace settings, could be valuable for monitoring during cannabis treatment., Methods: Eleven cannabis smokers resided on a closed research unit for 51 days and received daily 0, 30, 60, and 120 mg of oral THC in divided doses for 5 days. There was a 5-puff smoked cannabis challenge on the fifth day. Each medication session was separated by 9 days of ad libitum cannabis smoking. OF was collected the evening before and throughout oral THC sessions and analyzed by 2-dimensional GC-MS for THC, cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC), and 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC (THCCOOH)., Results: During all oral THC administrations, THC OF concentrations decreased to ≤ 78.2, 33.2, and 1.4 μg/L by 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively. CBN also decreased over time, with concentrations 10-fold lower than THC, with none detected beyond 69 h. CBD and 11-OH-THC were rarely detected, only within 19 and 1.6 h after smoking, respectively. THCCOOH OF concentrations were dose dependent and increased over time during 120-mg THC dosing. After cannabis smoking, THC, CBN, and THCCOOH concentrations showed a significant dose effect and decreased significantly over time., Conclusions: Oral THC dosing significantly affected OF THCCOOH but minimally contributed to THC OF concentrations; prior ad libitum smoking was the primary source of THC, CBD, and CBN. Higher cannabinoid concentrations following active oral THC administrations vs placebo suggest a compensatory effect of THC tolerance on smoking topography.

Oral fluid (OF) is an alternative biological matrix for monitoring cannabis intake in drug testing, and drugged driving (DUID) programs, but OF cannabinoid test interpretation is challenging. Controlled cannabinoid administration studies provide a scientific database for interpreting cannabinoid OF tests. We compared differences in OF cannabinoid concentrations from 19 h before to 30 h after smoking a 6.8% THC cigarette in chronic frequent and occasional cannabis smokers. OF was collected with the Statsure Saliva Sampler™ OF device. 2D-GC-MS was used to quantify cannabinoids in 357 OF specimens; 65 had inadequate OF volume within 3 h after smoking. All OF specimens were THC-positive for up to 13.5 h after smoking, without significant differences between frequent and occasional smokers over 30 h. Cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabinol (CBN) had short median last detection times (2.5-4 h for CBD and 6-8 h for CBN) in both groups. THCCOOH was detected in 25 and 212 occasional and frequent smokers' OF samples, respectively. THCCOOH provided longer detection windows than THC in all frequent smokers. As THCCOOH is not present in cannabis smoke, its presence in OF minimizes the potential for false positive results from passive environmental smoke exposure, and can identify oral THC ingestion, while OF THC cannot. THC ≥ 1 μg/L, in addition to CBD ≥ 1 μg/L or CBN ≥ 1 μg/L suggested recent cannabis intake (≤13.5 h), important for DUID cases, whereas THC ≥ 1 μg/L or THC ≥ 2 μg/L cutoffs had longer detection windows (≥30 h), important for workplace testing. THCCOOH windows of detection for chronic, frequent cannabis smokers extended beyond 30 h, while they were shorter (0-24 h) for occasional cannabis smokers.