Challenges 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 explains the barriers to research on the acute effects of cannabis, including the Schedule I classification of cannabis, administrative hurdles, cost, and more.

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: What would you say are some of the challenges cannabis education and research faces, and how are they being overcome?

Carrie Cuttler: The biggest challenge is the difficulty stemming from that Schedule I classification of cannabis. It's extraordinarily difficult to do any research on the acute effects of cannabis. So it's pretty hard to educate people about those effects when it's so difficult to do the research. Getting a DEA license alone can take upwards of 18 months, and before that, you need approval from the IRB or ethics board, you need approval from the FDA, and those approvals are not easy to get at all.

So that's the number one challenge, is just actually being able to do research on cannabis and its acute effects. And the other issue is that until recently, the DEA has only allowed cannabis researchers to use cannabis sourced from the National Institute of Drug Abuse drug supply, and it is notoriously low quality, low potency cannabis relative to what we have in the cannabis dispensaries being legally sold.

And the DEA did change their policies, and they started to approve other producers that produce cannabis. It's a little bit more akin to market cannabis, but the problem is that a lot of those companies don't have the R&D done to support an IND from the FDA, so you can't get cleared through the FDA to use that cannabis, and if it is cleared, then they charge an exorbitant amount for it. So I've seen companies trying to charge researchers $20,000 for what would retail for, like, $200 for very, very small amounts. So it makes it very cost prohibitive.

All these factors make it really, really difficult, which is why our study is the first approved in the State of Washington, because most people are kind of scared off by all the administrative hurdles, paperwork, logistics, and cost associated with all of it.

McEvoy: I can imagine they'd be frightened away. That's really interesting that this research is just now happening, because I know cannabis has been legal, medical and recreational, for a long time in Washington, but it still hasn’t reached the point of a lot of research.

Cuttler: No, really, the Schedule I classification is really just keeping cannabis out of the hands of scientists and not keeping it out of the hands of the consumer, because in most states there's some level of legal access to cannabis, and that is a really unfortunate situation that is not protecting public health at all.

McEvoy: Would you say if there was no Schedule I classification, would the floodgates open on research?

Cuttler: Yeah, if people could just go into legal dispensaries, purchase cannabis, and give it to people in their labs, then the floodgates would open. There'd be a ton of people doing this research.