As rapidly as the cannabis industry in Colorado and across the United States is expanding, scientists’ data-based knowledge of pot’s effects has not been keeping pace. Researchers at the University of Colorado are looking for help from the public in correcting that imbalance.
A fundraising drive is underway to raise $42,000 to add a second CUChange Mobile Pharmacology Lab. That would double the fleet of vehicles being utilized in pioneering research being done by the CU’s Institute of Cognitive Science to better understand the potentially harmful or beneficial effects of various strains of marijuana used by both medical patients and recreational users.
The website through which people can make donations to the cause, colorado.edu/crowdfunding, on Friday showed that just four contributors had pitched in $2,780 toward the overall goal targeted in the three-month campaign, in which a little over two months remain.
The cannabis industry is a billion dollar-plus business just in Colorado, and that number quickly balloons at the national level, with a projection that in California alone it is a $7 billion economic engine.
Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the exact effects of cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol on human physiology, including the impacts of high-potency THC and the suitability for treating conditions such as pain and anxiety.
“We need to move the needle,” said Cinnamon Bidwell, an assistant professor at the Institute of Cognitive Science. “We need to provide data so that people can make informed decisions. The risks are there, the benefits are there, and right now scientists have not contributed to much of the conversation because of barriers to research.
“We found a way around it, in that we can actually contribute meaningful data. And in order to do so quickly and effectively, we need another van.”
‘Huge public health issue’
Because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, the grants under which Bidwell and her team are operating — about $9.35 million in state and federal dollars — do not permit marijuana users to come into their university lab to ingest it. Instead, the mobile lab goes to the home of study subjects. The study participant will undergo a series of tests in the vehicle — a Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter van outfitting as a phlebotomy and assessment station — go back in their homes and use the drug, then come right back out and undergo additional tests.
“The official name for the van is the Mobile Pharmacology and Phlebotomy Lab, because the underlying blood data is very critical,” Bidwell said. “We do blood draws that tell us cannabinoid exposure across about 12 different compounds that are in the plant that get into the blood. That allows us to measure what the person is really exposed to.”
Bidwell’s partners in the study are Kent Hutchison, a CU professor of psychology and neuroscience, and Angela Bryan, also a professor of social psychology and neuroscience at the university.
Asked his pitch to would-be contributors to the project, Hutchison said, “People broadly understand this is a huge public health issue and there is not enough research. Their doctor has nothing to tell them about why they might want to use cannabis instead of opiates. That’s a problem.
“There are federal prohibitions, and one way around it is people stepping up and helping to fund this research. Cannabis is very much a public-driven thing. All the changes in the legal landscape are driven by people standing up and saying they don’t think this is right.”
‘A unique Boulder thing’
It was just after the first of the year that Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Obama-era policy that paved the way for legalized marijuana to flourish in states across the country, and it’s still not entirely clear what the implications of a changed federal posture will be in the long term.
“I guess in many ways it’s not a concern for us, with our research,” Hutchison said. “What we’re doing is consistent with current federal laws.
“However,” he added, “I think it’s a bit of a concern, more generally. The message he is sending is designed to damper things across the board, including research. It doesn’t affect us specifically, but if you are the legal counsel at CU, it’s going to make you pause before you loosen up a little more on the research side of things. It could put a damper on everything, even if it’s indirect. That could still happen to us. Our whole program is based around, we are completely consistent with federal law.”
One thing the researchers are not having any problem with is finding study subjects. That’s why they need another van.
“We literally have people waiting to help us answer these critical public health questions and now we have grant funding to actually run the studies,” Bidwell said. “But we have more grants in place, and more research projects in place than one van can support. The idea is to support another van.”
Most study subjects live in Boulder, and some elsewhere in the county. Researchers haven’t had to tap pot users outside the immediate area.
“We don’t have to. We have many participants close.” Bidwell said.
“It’s kind of a unique Boulder thing.”
Charlie Brennan: 303-473-1327, brennanc@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/chasbrennan
