A Multidisciplinary Approach to Cannabis Research: Interview with Carrie Cuttler, PhD

In our Higher Education: Research Initiatives That Deepen Our Understanding of Cannabis supplement, Cannabis Science and Technology interviewed Carrie Cuttler, PhD, Co-Director of the Center for Cannabis Policy Research and Outreach (CCPRO) at Washington State University.

In this video clip, Dr. Cuttler shares the goals and projects of the CCPRO, as well as the impacts of the cannabis research seminar series.

Check out our interactive supplement to read the full expert interviews, including an interview with Reginald Gaudino, PhD, Director of the Cannabis Research Institute, Discovery Partners Institute.

Transcription

Erin McEvoy: Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us. We're here today with Carrie Cutler, the co-director of the Center for Cannabis Policy Research and Outreach at Washington State University. She is also an associate professor with the Department of Psychology, and thank you so much for joining us today, Carrie, we're excited to hear more.

Carrie Cuttler: Thanks for having me.

McEvoy: Could you tell us more about the Center for Cannabis Policy Research and Outreach at WSU in terms of the four themes, various goals, and some of the research projects currently being conducted?

Cuttler: Yes, thank you. So the CCPRO was established by Washington State University to support cannabis research at our institution, so we really provide practical support, guidance, as well as grants to investigators at WSU to support cannabis research. Our center receives funds through Initiative 502. Basically, we get a small percentage of the excise tax dollars from the sales of legal cannabis in our state, and we distribute those funds through various grant competitions, including a faculty seed grant competition, we have a graduate student summer research grant competition, and we also provide some financial support to students to share their research at cannabis conferences. So as you indicated, there are four themes. These are health and well-being, public policy and safety, agricultural research and economics, just to broadly support all the various research activities that are happening surrounding cannabis.

So with respect to health and well-being, WSU faculty conduct translational science as well as basic science related to the impact of cannabis on health. This ranges from animal studies on the impact of cannabis on brain development, impact of THC and CBD on pain, impacts of cannabis on mental health and stress, and even prevention of problematic cannabis use.

With respect to public policy and safety, we have researchers doing research on roadside detection, workplace safety, and cannabis use impacts of decriminalization on crime and the justice system.

With respect to agricultural research, we have faculty who are doing ag research on industrial hemp that's grown for CBD textiles, food, fiber in compliance with state and federal law, as well as looking at strong crop production and pest management practices.

And then with respect to economics, we have faculty conducting research on issues related to the cannabis industry: taxation, banking, economic impacts, cannabis, workplace issues, and so forth.

McEvoy: Wow, that's a huge variety of topics, and covers a lot there, but all very significant.

Cuttler: We have a lot of cannabis researchers at WSU, in part because cannabis is legal in our state, and so it really it falls on us, especially as a land grant institution, to make sure that we are on top of the science of cannabis.

McEvoy: So what does the cannabis research seminar series entail?

Cuttler: This is one seminar series. It's sponsored through the CCPRO. It's a monthly seminar series that we sponsor, and it's a graduate student named Jeremy Boutin and who really runs the seminar series and helps to get speakers to give monthly seminars on cannabis research at WSU. It's usually grad students and faculty who are doing the research, they present their findings to other people at WSU who are interested in learning more about the cannabis science that's happening. So it's just an outlet for some of our findings and a way for us to get together, chat, network, and potentially find collaborations within the system as well.

McEvoy: Nice. Those are super important as well. Collaborations, especially in this industry, are crucial.

Cuttler: Yes, absolutely.