Tory R. Spindle, PhD

Dr. Tory Spindle obtained his PhD in Experimental Health Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Broadly, Dr. Spindle utilizes human laboratory studies to characterize the behavioral pharmacology of cannabis and nicotine/tobacco products. His cannabis research seeks to understand how factors such as route of administration (oral, vaped, smoked, topical), dose, product formulation/chemical composition profile, and user factors (e.g., puffing topography, sex, tolerance) impacts the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of cannabis. Another emphasis of his work is on characterizing cognitive, psychomotor, and driving impairment associated with cannabis, when used alone and in combination with alcohol. Overall, Dr. Spindle’s cannabis work is intended to inform policy decisions involving cannabis such as product standards and accessibility, dosing guidelines, and procedures for detecting cannabis impairment. His nicotine/tobacco research seeks to characterize the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of novel products such as oral nicotine pouches and electronic cigarettes in order to inform FDA regulation of these products. Because the overarching goal of his research is to inform public policies and regulatory actions for cannabis and nicotine/tobacco products, his work can be best described as “regulatory science.”