When Californians voted in 2016 to legalize cannabis for adult use, they also voted for the expansion of cannabis research across the state, home to some of the nation’s top universities. Proposition 64 stipulated that a specific amount of cannabis tax revenue would be set aside each year, until 2029, for public universities “to research and evaluate the implementation and effect of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act.”
On November 13, California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control announced its first major grant disbursement, totalling $29,950,494, for research focused on “public health, criminal justice and public safety, economic, environmental impacts, and the cannabis industry.”
“The research conducted through these public university grants will provide critical information for evaluating our legal cannabis system and its impacts,” Bureau of Cannabis Control Chief Lori Ajax said in the announcement. “This research will be a valuable tool to inform future cannabis policy in California.”
Here are the universities funded, the amount, and the research topics:
UC Los Angeles: $6.4 million
• Impact of Cannabis Potency on The Properties, Composition, and Toxicity of Inhaled and Second-Hand Smoke
• Assessing the Feasibility and Consequences of Implementing a Cannabis Potency Tax in California
• Study of Employment Conditions and Equity in California’s Cannabis Industry
• Assessing the Impact of Proposition 64 on Cannabis Use, Maladaptive Cannabis Use, Cannabis Use Disorder Treatment, and Public Health
• A Demographic Analysis of the California Licensed Cannabis Industry and Consumer Market
• The Impact of Cannabis Marketing on California’s Youth: Neuro-Behavioral Studies for Informing Policy
• Understanding the Impact of Cannabis Marketing on Cannabis Use Disparities Among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth
UC San Francisco: $6.4 million
• Comprehensive Analysis of Developmental Cannabis Exposure on Brain, Immune, and Sensory Systems
• Effects of Chronic Cannabis Use on Endothelial Function
• The LEAF Study: Lung Effects and Function Associated with Cannabis Use
• Public Health Impacts of State Policies Mandating Point-ofSale Warning Sign Regarding Cannabis Use During Pregnancy
• California Cannabis Poisonings Under Proposition 64
UC Berkeley: $4.67 million
• Local Regulation of Cannabis in California
• Transformation of Unregulated Cannabis Cultivation Under Proposition 64
• Assessing Environmental Impacts of Cannabis-Related Noise and Light Disturbance to Inform Management of California Wildlife
• Examining Tribal Sovereignty Over Cannabis Permitting on Native Ancestral Lands
• Cultivation Bans, Local Control, and the Effects and Efficacy of Proposition 64
• Cannabis and Wildfire: Current Conditions, Future Threats, and Solutions for Farmers
• Cannabis Water-Use Impacts to Streamflow and Temperature in Salmon-Bearing Streams
• The Effect of Local Cannabis Regulation on Property Prices
UC San Diego: $3.4 million
• The Public Health Impact of Cannabis Legalization in California: A Comprehensive Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis by Age, Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Regions
• Evaluating the Impacts of Packaging and Labeling on Cannabis Edible Use among Youth
• The Role of Cannabidiol in Anandamide-Related Improvement in Alexithymia and Health Outcomes
• Evaluating Risks and Benefits of Cannabis Use by Older Adults: A Pilot Study
UC Davis: $3 million
• Understanding the Impact of Cannabis Use in Early Psychosis
• Cannabis Industry: Assessment of the Location, Structure, Function, and Demographics of Licensed Cannabis, Focusing on Geographical Price Differences, and Differential Impacts of Local Prop-64 Related Regulations on the Competitiveness of Licensed Businesses
• Economic Impacts: Market Prices for Licensed and Unlicensed Cannabis and the Effects of the Current and Alternate Cannabis Tax Structures and Tax Rates on the Private and Public Sectors in California, Including Government Administrative Costs and Revenues
• Environmental Impacts of Cannabis Cultivation in California As Affected by the Farm Economics of Licensed and Unlicensed Cannabis Production, Including Effects of Testing Regulations and Compliance with the Criminal Prohibition of Unlicensed Cannabis
• California Cannabis Workers: Perceptions, Beliefs, and Knowledge of Occupational Health and Industry Hazards
UC Santa Barbara: $2 million
• Surface Water Emissions from Cannabis Cultivation Sites: Quantity, Quality, Toxicity, and Relationships to Farmers’ Practices
CSU Dominguez Hills: $1.87 million
• Cannabis Industry in South Bay Los Angeles
UC Irvine: $1.35 million
• Exploring Cannabis Policies and Practices That Influence Adolescent Use: Evolution of Local Cannabis Law, Products, Sales, and Marketing
CSU Humboldt: $650,000
• Cannabis Business Entrepreneurs and Jobs
• The Economic Impact of Cannabis Legalization in Rural Northern California
