FDA Funds Cannabis Study; NIDA Confirms 5 Entities Seek $25M Contract To Supply Research Weed

The FDA is renewing a contract with Waterloo University to conduct a marijuana study, reported Cannabis Wire. Since 2019, the FDA and the University have been conducting International Cannabis Policy Study (ICPS), which surveys thousands of people across the U.S. and Canada. The study analyzes marijuana consumption trends and the impact of cannabis policies at the national and state levels.

The FDA claims this is the biggest survey of its kind and is often used by the governments of Canada, Australia and some U.S. states. Questions are constructed so that the data is collected on various details, such as:

• Marijuana use trends, including patterns and prevalence
• Motivations to consume it
• Adverse effects
• Exposure to cannabis advertising
• The effectiveness of marijuana products labels and warnings
• Cannabis use and operation of motor vehicles habits
• Popular marijuana product forms

The news comes on the heels of Republican congressman and cannabis opponent Andy Harris who accused the agency of failing to regulate CBD and causing “controversies” by “disrupting public confidence” in the agency.

In January, the FDA announced it will not regulate CBD as a food and dietary supplement ingredient.

“Today we are announcing that after careful review, the FDA has concluded that a new regulatory pathway for CBD is needed that balances individuals’ desire for access to CBD products with the regulatory oversight needed to manage risks,” deputy commissioner Janet Woodcock stated at the time, adding the FDA will work with Congress to create "safeguards and oversight to manage and minimize risks related to CBD products."

NIDA And Cannabis For Research Suppliers

Meanwhile, the outlet recently reported that the University of Mississippi has once again earned a contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to supply marijuana to researchers.

In January 2022, the DWEA finally authorized two cannabis companies to harvest marijuana for research purposes, ending a five-decade federal monopoly. Up until then, a farm functioning as part of the University of Mississippi was the only legal source of federal research cannabis since 1968, despite lawsuits and years of complaints that Ole Miss's cannabis product was not high enough quality to be properly used for important research.

Though the DEA began asking for applications for additional cannabis cultivators under President Obama and later the Trump administration, it had not approved any of them in January 2022. Groff North America Hemplex and the Biopharmaceutical Research Company (BRC), the two companies to officially obtain DEA approval, began growing and harvesting marijuana last year.

NIDA recently confirmed to Cannabis Wire that currently, five entities are bidding for the $25 million contract. 

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by IRA_EVVA on Shutterstock and Zebulon Rogerson on Wikimedia Commons