The California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) is currently accepting research proposals for projects that will “advance public understanding of cannabis and legalization.” The agency has earmarked $20 million in funding for researchers at the state’s public universities for studies that will address “gaps in scientific knowledge” and help guide future policy decisions.
The DCC is prioritizing research that examines cannabis potency and health impacts, the health of California’s cannabis industry, monopolies and unfair competition, legacy cannabis genetics, and medicinal use of cannabis, the agency said in a press release.
Research funded under the program will be required to be publicly available at no cost.
DCC Director Nicole Elliot said officials hope the “research resulting from these grants proves beneficial not only to California policymakers but also to those across the nation and world.”
“California continues to direct millions of dollars to accelerate scientific understanding of cannabis and evaluate the impacts of legalization. Decades of federal cannabis prohibition has hindered our collective knowledge related to these issues, to the detriment of consumers, communities, our environment and more.” — Elliot in a statement
This $20 million in grants builds on the $30 million in research grants previously awarded to California academic universities in 2020. In 2020, the agency awarded 33 grants ranging from $144,949 to $2 million to fund research conducted at the University of California (UC) San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, UC San Francisco, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Davis, California State University (CSU) Humboldt, and CSU Dominguez Hills, according to the department website.
Grant proposals will be accepted from November 1 until November 30, 2022, and the winning research projects will be announced in February 2023.
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