Psychoactivity

"Psychoactivity" denotes any measurable effect of a substance on central nervous system function — including mood, cognition, perception, or behavior — whether or not it produces intoxication. All phytocannabinoids that cross the blood-brain barrier are psychoactive in this broad sense: THC is psychoactive and intoxicating; CBD is psychoactive (altering anxiety, sleep, seizure activity) but generally not intoxicating at typical doses (Iffland & Grotenhermen 2017 Cannabis Cannabinoid Res). Popular media often conflate "psychoactive" with "intoxicating," which is inaccurate. NASEM (2017) distinguishes psychoactive effects (any CNS-mediated change) from acute intoxication (functional alteration sufficient to impair task performance or induce perceptual change). This distinction matters clinically and legally: a pediatric CBD patient on Epidiolex receives a psychoactive drug without intoxicating effects. Cross-reference Intoxication, Impairment. Citations: Iffland K, Grotenhermen F. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2017;2:139-154; NASEM 2017; Pertwee RG (ed). Handbook of Cannabis. 2014.