California Department Of Cannabis Control Awards $20M Toward Marijuana Research Grants

The California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) awarded $20 million in research grants to 16 academic institutions. The funds will support scientific research on the impact of cannabis on the mental health of young people, novel cannabinoids like Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC, and a first-of-its-kind study  of California’s legacy cannabis genetics, intended to preserve the history, value, and diversity of the communities that steward them.

“It is the Department’s aspiration that these studies will advance the body of scientific research, further our understanding of cannabis, and aid to the continued development and refinement of the legal framework,” said Rasha Salama, chief deputy director at DCC. “These studies will provide valuable insights on topics of interest to California’s consumers, businesses, and policymakers and the Department looks forward to sharing them once they are completed.”

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego will build on an existing federally funded project to provide California-specific data on the impact of cannabinoids on mental and physical health during adolescence. A team at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo will study how differences in local regulation can impact market power, create unfair competitive practices, and impact the growth of the California cannabis market, said the DCC in a press release. 

Several projects will examine the impacts of cannabis potency on human health. A collaboration between the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of California Irvine will conduct the first double-blind, placebo-controlled, federally compliant, drug-administration study evaluating the intoxicating effects of inhaled cannabis plants compared to inhaled concentrates. It is expected to establish a clinically significant threshold to define high and low THC concentrations.

Of the 98 proposals submitted for consideration, 16 proposals were awarded $19,942,918 in funding based on their strong scientific methodology, their ability to provide useful information for policymaking, their advancement of public understanding of cannabis, and their potential to generate foundational research that will support exponential future knowledge.

Photo: Benzinga edit, Pixabay by Erin Hinterland, Mohamed Hassan and Surfwiz17