Since medical cannabis became available to Utah patients in 2020, its use has grown rapidly. Cannabis-based medicines have shown promise for several difficult-to-treat conditions, including chronic pain and PTSD. But much remains unknown about the risks and benefits of medical cannabis. And with almost 90,000 Utahns carrying an active medical cannabis card, research is urgently needed to understand the full health, social, and even environmental impacts of these medications.
Enter the Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR), founded in 2023 and based at the University of Utah. The CMCR is a statewide organization that unites researchers, doctors, and community members to address the most pressing current unknowns in medical cannabis research.
“Our program is intended to be a true medical program driven by science and research,” says Jerry Cochran, PhD, interim director of CMCR. “We’re creating opportunities to come together and share science and research so we can make an impact across Utah and nationally.”
One such opportunity occurred on January 21st at the CMCR’s second annual retreat, where experts from across the state presented new discoveries and began new partnerships.
From farm to pharmacy
Some of the day’s speakers focused on the cannabis plant itself, from sequencing the cannabis genome and finding the genes that produce active compounds to investigating the ecological and microbial factors that influence the quality and safety of the end product.
Others considered how cannabis affects the body in both the short- and long-term. Some showed that how long cannabis’s active compounds persist in the bloodstream strongly depends on the method of use, while others demonstrated that cannabis use is associated with increased physical activity and lower rates of obesity.
Researchers also discussed the social side of medical cannabis, showing how differences in medical cannabis policies affect access to medications and offering recommendations for how standardized product labeling—and restrictions on packaging that could appeal to minors—could help people find the medicines that would benefit them while reducing unsafe use.
Seed grants sprout new discoveries
The CMCR funds seed grants to start exciting new projects in medical cannabis research. One year in, the 2024 seed grants are already bearing fruit, researchers shared.
- Joseph Rower, PhD, associate director of the Center for Human Toxicology in the College of Pharmacy (COP) at the University of Utah, is researching why cannabis use during adolescence has sex-specific effects on brain function, including decreased cognitive function.
- Guangzhen Wu, PhD, assistant professor of sociology at the U, has found that cannabis legalization is not sufficient to reduce racial disparities in incarceration rates.
- Misty Smith, PhD, research assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology in COP, has found that CBD (the main non-psychoactive “active ingredient” in cannabis) synergizes with existing seizure medications to improve seizure treatment in animal trials.
- Jixun Zhan, PhD, professor of biological engineering at Utah State University, is genetically engineering yeast to produce useful cannabis compounds that are rare in the plant itself.
A unique feature of the symposium was the broad spectrum of people it brought together: patients, researchers, students, and medical cannabis providers were all in attendance. “By bringing in researchers across the various fields within the space and opening our symposium to the public, we can cultivate and promote big-picture thinking,” says Valerie Ahanonu, senior program manager for CMCR.
To encourage new collaborations, part of the day was set aside for table discussions on topics such as pharmacology and toxicology, plant cultivation, and policy and health services. Providers worked together to troubleshoot new clinical trials for rare syndromes, researchers discussed the relative risks and benefits of cannabis products with different concentrations of active compounds, and industry representatives shared the understudied symptoms that their customers seek medications for.
Ahanonu adds that these productive discussions may continue long after the symposium. “We hope this leads to more informed, efficient conversations across our program’s stakeholders and advances the sharing of research within our state,” she says.
“The topic is really exciting—you have basic researchers, policy researchers, industry representatives, and pharmacists, all in the same room,” says Bridget Hughes, PhD, senior director of research program development for U of U Health. “Getting people to have these conversations is so important.”