UC Irvine is a giant circle. It’s one of the first facts that freshmen are told when they’re given their introductory campus tour. Now as an alumnus and member of the school’s staff, I walk half of that giant circle almost every day in the course of conducting my job on campus. Sometimes, clubs advertising at tables are scattered around the circle, drawing in interested students and staff with games and small presentations. 

But on this particular day, I am drawn to a big blue table that I have never seen before throughout the five years I’ve walked this road. The tablecloth reads: UCI Center for the Study of Cannabis.

Irvine’s views on cannabis have not always been as receptive as they are currently; even now, Irvine’s city ordinances make it one of the most stringent on cultivating, selling and distributing marijuana. This is why I was surprised to come across a stand in broad daylight on campus even mentioning cannabis, let alone advocating for its study. Like many millenials, I grew up in that weird span of time where you heard roughly half of all people condemning cannabis a la War on Drugs-era enforcement, and the other half touting its supposed medicinal properties as justifying the conversation surrounding its legality. 

UC Irvine has always been a trailblazer in unique research initiatives, though. Home of the world’s first-ever center dedicated to the study of neurobiology and memory — the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM) — the school has adopted a philosophy of championing unorthodox research protocols with vision. 

Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Center for the Study of Cannabis (CSC), which describes itself on its website as a “multidisciplinary research center,” is staffed with many of the same personnel that compose their CNLM fellows; neurobiologists, clinical law professors, medical doctors and psychologists all with a vested interest in the use of cannabis in producing positive change in society. Led by neuroscientist and UCI professor Dr. Daniele Piomelli and clinical professor of law Dr. Robert Solomon, the center has begun a massive undertaking of changing perceptions of cannabis both in the community and in research. 

Clinical research with cannabis is strictly controlled, and there are many obstacles to getting approved as a site. To receive approval from the government for a clinical study with cannabis requires principal investigators to submit detailed documentation to the Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Association and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. They each have a designated purpose: the FDA approves the investigator’s Investigational New Drug application, the DEA enforces licensure for the study site and its leaders, and the NIDA provides the marijuana for investigators to use. 

That is why it’s a great sign that the CSC has already made significant headway in spearheading new and exciting ideas about cannabis in research. Just this past year, the CSC was awarded a sizable $9-million grant from the NIDA to study the long-term impact of adolescent cannabis use on the developing brain; collaborating with experts in various fields of science, the team’s project looks to be an ambitious undertaking, one of the first of its kind in a community like Irvine.

Their mission has already started making waves on campus. Neurobiology research staff and cognitive science alumnus Myra Larson is delighted to see clinical research focusing on unconventional ideas. “I think it’s great to have an organized center conduct that kind of research,” she says. “Hopefully it will translate into less panacea-type marketing for the public as we understand more about cannabis and its pharmacological applications.” 

The panacea-type marketing she is referring to should be familiar to many readers who have ever Googled the potential health effects of cannabis on the body: from “budtenders” that emphatically advocate for cannabis in pain management and stress relief to vendors with more outlandish claims, like using cannabis for the treatment of pharmacologically-resistant diseases or learning disabilities. 

With centers like the CSC that are taking a more hyper-focused look at the clinical applications of marijuana, the hope is that medically sound claims will be elucidated, bogus uses debunked and the applications of marijuana become less of a shot in the dark. It is through educating the public that institutions like the CSC can succeed in changing beliefs about cannabis’ role in society and medicine.

As part of this education, Dr. Solomon teaches law students about cannabis law in a course titled, “The Law of Cannabis,” and his message appears to have been well-received. I asked UC Irvine law student Ashleigh Dennis, who has taken his course, how teaching cannabis law in Irvine is even possible given cannabis’ overall lukewarm reception in the community.

“I think professors here are more comfortable talking about cannabis compared to other schools,” she types. “[Dr. Solomon’s] class was novel in that we were pushed to think outside the box and how to solve legal challenges facing the cannabis industry instead of just identifying problems.” 

Irvine is no stranger to the legal problems that characterize cannabis sales and distribution in the community; the city is one of the few in Orange County that has regulations limiting civilian access to storefront marijuana, as well as placing restrictions on its delivery within city limits. The disparity between its partially legal status in certain states versus its ban at the federal level are only some of the challenges students of Dr. Solomon’s may have to face in their careers as lawyers.

Regardless of the continued challenges presented the city, state and federal oversight, CSC’s place at UC Irvine is well-founded and a sign of changing times. As early as five years ago, the thought of cannabis receiving serious focus in Irvine’s already-booming research network seemed unlikely.

Now, we’re seeing physicians and scientists joining together to tackle the research questions that have plagued marijuana since it became legal by way of Proposition 64. Through asking the tough questions and proposing novel ideas, Dr. Piomelli and Dr. Solomon’s team are a group that Irvine residents should watch closely.

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