Top federal health officials say marijuana research is “rife with hurdles,” including its continued ban under federal law. pain.

Helene Langevin, director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (NCCIH), said in a blog post Tuesday that much of the federally funded research on marijuana to date has focused “only on the potential harms of THC. I’m guessing,” he said.

She argued that it was important to gain a more holistic scientific understanding of the potential benefits and harms of plants and their constituents.

With that purpose in mind, the NCCIH, which is affiliated with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently issued a “Request for Information” (RFI), soliciting feedback from the scientific community and seeking further information on cannabis and its ingredients. health effects. ”

In my recent message, I emphasize the need to do more research into potential clinical uses. #cannabis Identify products and barriers to conducting this research. Please consider responding to requests for information on this topic. https://t.co/HglC86Xz6N #Director’s message

— Helene M. Langevin, MD (@NCCIH_Director) August 30, 2022

As Langevin pointed out, a major barrier hampering cannabis research is the fact that it is still a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

“Some researchers may not know how to navigate the process of securing a Schedule 1 license,” she said, while others wondered “what constitutes a ‘dose’ or mode of administration.” It may be hampered by the lack of widely accepted measures for

“Therefore, a critical step in successfully generating more scientific evidence for potential clinical uses of cannabis products is to identify barriers to conducting research, and then develop approaches that help overcome them. “The RFI response we received was to facilitate rigorous research and to develop an understanding of the research infrastructure needed to identify areas of interest in this area.” It helps spread the

Other top federal health officials likewise say that the current legal status of Schedule I drugs like marijuana discourages scientists from going through the cumbersome registration process required to obtain drugs for research. I am aware that Even the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) says he personally avoids studying Schedule I substances because of the bureaucratic challenges.

“While the comments received in response to this RFI will help guide future directions, NCCIH is currently working to advance research in this area,” said Langevin, noting that her department We recently added to post and promote a Notice of Special Interest (NOSI). Mechanistic studies of minor cannabinoids such as CBG, CBN and delta-8 THC”.

“Together, and especially given the potential role of cannabinoids in pain management, these actions are timely,” the director said. Advancing research that could yield new and potentially safer tools to meet the needs of people suffering from chronic pain addresses the root of the problem. It’s an essential step above.”

Langevin said he believes NCCIH’s “ongoing work in cannabinoid research is a natural extension of a broader effort to advance the scientific understanding of human health as a whole.”

In her latest message, @NCCIH_ Director We are announcing a new information request calling for insights and perspectives to identify barriers to #cannabis Research and approaches that help overcome these barriers. https://t.co/G2nGPQrASX#Director’s message

— NIH NCCIH (@NIH_NCCIH) August 30, 2022

But doing so means taking a more evolved approach to marijuana research. This also encourages research into a wide range of therapeutic possibilities, rather than focusing almost exclusively on the potential harms of THC, as has historically been the case in the United States. Ingredients of marijuana.

“Our commitment to whole-person research does not focus on a single body part, system, or intervention, but broadens our horizons to better appreciate the interrelationships between each of these. Most research on cannabinoids to date has focused on the potential harm of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), resulting in 110 other cannabinoids and 120 terpenes in plants. However, it is largely unknown that they interact with multiple bodily systems.Gaining new insights into their properties, used together or singly, and potential therapeutic applications is a new direction for whole-person research. It will open up your sexuality.”

“The time has come to chart a path that could lead to new understandings and reveal potential new applications for these complex compounds,” concluded Langevin. We would appreciate it if you could share them in response to the RFIs to help inform our direction.”

The NIH first posted an NCCIH-led RFI on barriers to cannabis research earlier last month, but a spokesperson told Marijuana Moment that it was published prematurely, so it has temporarily removed it until it is republished Monday. did.

Eight NIH constituencies, including NCCIH, are partnering on this new initiative.

“Cannabis has been used medicinally for over 3,000 years,” the reposted notice said. “Recently, there has been increasing interest from health care providers and the general public in the potential medicinal properties of cannabis-related products.”

While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves cannabinoid-based treatments for certain conditions, the NCCIH said most states have adopted medical cannabis programs for patients with a range of conditions. “In many cases, scientific research is insufficient to support the treatment,” he said. In these states, the benefit of its intended use”.

“As a result, there is a need to strengthen the scientific evidence underlying the clinical effects and potential harm of cannabis products for specific diseases and conditions,” he said. reported barriers to

The agency has reported a lack of state and federal regulatory experience with marijuana research, “unexpected costs and effort” to obtain a research license, and “availability and access to appropriate cannabis and cannabis products/ingredients.” I gave an example of a research barrier. Including specific strains — and inadequate measurement tools for analyzing the effects of cannabis use.

The memo on access to “appropriate cannabis” says that for decades, scientists licensed to study marijuana by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could only obtain the product from government-run cannabis farms. It seems to refer to the fact that there was not. at the University of Mississippi.

The DEA recently approved additional manufacturers. It’s a point the White House touted Monday as an example of the Biden administration doing something with its cannabis policy, with NIDA actively seeking new contractors to supply cannabis for research.

Still, many believe that scientists should also be allowed to obtain marijuana from state-licensed retailers so that researchers’ research more accurately reflects products used in the commercial market. It claims to be

“NIH is exploring the potential to better understand these issues and develop strategies to overcome them,” said RFI. “To that end, the NIH is seeking input from the research community on these and additional barriers, scientific concerns, and needs related to therapeutic cannabis or cannabinoid research.”

“The NIH has received requests from researchers conducting or interested in conducting research on cannabis, the phytochemical constituents of cannabinoids, and related compounds (synthetic compounds, terpenes, etc.) to identify barriers associated with therapeutic cannabis or cannabinoid research. , scientific interests, and needs, such information would be useful to NIH as it seeks to address research infrastructure needs and identify areas of interest in this area. ”

For this request, the NIH said it had six main areas of interest. 2) the existing “preferred” scientific base for such research; 3) research barriers such as marijuana’s Schedule I status. 4) NIH activities that “help expand the field” of medical cannabis research. 5) Resources necessary to conduct research, including access to various “marijuana varieties, strains, chemotypes of ingredients, or specific cannabinoids.” 6) access to regulatory, clinical and scientific information on plants and their constituents;

Stakeholders must respond to the RFI by October 15th.

Agencies involved in this latest Notice of Research Barriers include: NCCIH, NIDA, National Eye Institute (NEI), National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Alcohol Institute of Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Dental and Craniofacial Institute (NIDCR), National Cancer Institute (NCI).

President Joe Biden signed into law a massive infrastructure bill last year that includes provisions aimed at allowing researchers to study the actual marijuana that consumers are buying from the state’s legal dispensaries. . But rather than giving scientists immediate access to a product, the law presents a much longer-term plan for looking at the problem and potentially making it happen in the future. .

Meanwhile, NIDA provided $1.5 million in funding in June to help researchers develop a medical marijuana registry to track everything from how patients obtain and consume cannabis to their health status. announced plans to

The agency has also expressed interest in funding research on the various models of cannabis regulation being implemented in states across the country.

Separately, a bipartisan duo of congressmen recently introduced a bill that would set the federal marijuana research agenda and create a designation for universities to conduct cannabis research with federal funding.Rep. Scott Peters (Democrat-California) and Rep. Dave Joyce (Republican-Ohio)’s bill is titled “Develop and Nationalize Crucial Cannabis Research Act,” or DANK Cannabis Research Act.

The bill’s introduction came the same week the U.S. House of Representatives held another vote to approve another bipartisan marijuana research bill. It also aims to expedite and simplify the process of obtaining approval to study the risks and benefits of marijuana.

The bill, which would not allow researchers to study pharmaceutical cannabis, is expected to be taken up quickly in the Senate before it could be sent to the president’s desk.

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