The current classification of marijuana in the United States has made it difficult for research to be done on its medicinal benefits, but this is changing as more states and countries move toward legalization. A research team led by Dr. Jeffrey Chen at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) will conduct an in-depth review of how cannabis’ ability to treat pain.
“The public consumption of cannabis has already far outpaced our scientific understanding,” said Dr. Chen, the lead on the University’s study. “We really desperately need to catch up.” The program was designed by Edythe London, a UCLA professor of psychiatry and pharmacology and will look specifically at patients who use opioid painkillers such as oxycodone or Vicodone for pain relief.
Chen noted that the program has already secured funding from UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, private donors as well as from federal and state sources. The next step is for the research team to convince the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that this is a worthy assignment that should move forward.
The project comes at a pivotal moment as North America struggles with opioid overdoses at an epidemic level. Canada saw at least 6,965 fatal overdoses between 2016 and 2017. “We’re not trying to do pro-cannabis research or anti-cannabis research,” Chen said. “We’re just trying to do good science.”
As Canada ramps up toward its October 17 legalization date, Canadian organizations such as the B.C. Centre on Substance Abuse based out of The University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria and other private organization are putting their efforts into cannabis-related research.
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