As cannabis use becomes legal in more and more states in the US, both for recreational and medical purposes, it is becoming necessary for more research into the drug. Currently in the US, 20% of the population have access to legal recreational marijuana use and 60% have access to legal medical marijuana. Unfortunately, even with such widespread access to cannabis, research if the drug has been limited due to the DEA classifying it as a Schedule I drug in the 1970s.
The University of California, Los Angeles is working to lead the research into the effects the drug has on the human body, starting with the recently formed UCLA Cannabinoid Affinity Group (CAG). This multidisciplinary group is composed of researchers from dozens of basic, translational, and clinical research departments, including:
- Brain Research Institute
- Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
- Molecular and Medical Pharmacology
- Integrated Substance Abuse Programs
- Medicine
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), provides funding to life science researchers studying drugs like cannabis. UCLA is currently receiving funding for numerous cannabis-related research projects, including:
- Researching the structural and cognitive affects cannabis use has on the brain as a user matures.
- Study outcomes of patients reducing cannabis use to asses the reduction’s impact on social and mental health, HIV risk, etc.
Along with UCLA, numerous other institutions are also expanding their reach into cannabinoid research. Institutions such as Washington University in St. Louis, University of Maryland, Icahn School of Medicine and Mount Sinai, and University of California, Riverside have current grants from the NIDA helping fund their cannabis research.
Along with cannabis, the University of California, Los Angeles is a leading institution in terms of the amount of funding it receives annually and the research it produces. In the 2017 fiscal year, the university received more than $284.1 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
With all this funding, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have the means to purchase many new lab products that will help with their studies and clinical trials. Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. produces two annual Biotechnology Vendor Showcase™Events in LA that are great opportunities to market lab products to active life science researchers at the university. These highly attended events bring active researchers together with scientific supply companies, so that the researchers can find the best and newest products and technologies to further their work.