The purpose of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research is to coordinate rigorous scientific studies to assess the safety and efficacy of cannabis and cannabis compounds for treating medical conditions.
2017 National Academies Report
CMCR Legislative Report
2000 IOM Report
Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that affects an estimated 1 in 68 children in the United States, yet treatment options are limited. Could cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis, hold clues for developing effective therapies? Thanks to a major gift from the Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation, researchers at the University of California San Diego will embark on a multidisciplinary study to investigate the potential of cannabidiol as a treatment for severe autism. The award was given in partnership with and based on recommendations the Noorda Foundation received from the Wholistic Research and Education Foundation.
The $4.7 million gift to the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) at UC San Diego School of Medicine is the largest private gift to date for medicinal cannabis research in the United States. The funding will support translational research to investigate whether medicinal cannabinoid therapies can alleviate symptoms in children with severe autism—and if so, how. The groundbreaking study spans clinical, basic science, advanced mathematics and genetic techniques across the same cohort of patients, offering a comprehensive and systematic exploration of CBD efficacy on autism.
Click here for more information about the study
Pamela Jayne, San Diego CityBeat, June 12, 2018
A $4.7 million grant provided by The Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation, in partnership with the Wholistic Research and Education Foundation, will allow researchers at the UC San Diego (UCSD) Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research to conduct a multidisciplinary study of the effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on autism.
Researchers believe that CBD may affect the central nervous system in a way that could be relevant to autism, including correcting imbalances in certain neurotransmitters, enhancing activity of endocannabinoids (neurotransmitters that modulate mood, memory and a variety of cognitive processes), modifying neural network signaling and protecting against neuro-inflammation. The three goals of the study are to determine if CBD is safe and tolerable and whether it helps with the symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), whether and how CBD alters neurotransmitters and/or improves brain connectivity, and whether biomarkers of neuro-inflammation, also associated with ASD, are altered by CBD.
Mike Scutari, Inside Philanthropy, June 6, 2018
The North American cannabis industry took in approximately $9 billion in sales in 2017, according to Tom Adams, managing director of BDS Analytics.
This figure—calculated before California opened its huge retail market—is equivalent to the entire snack bar industry. Looking ahead, analysts predict the North American market to grow to $47.3 billion within a decade.
The takeaway here is pretty clear. Private investors, businesses and select state legislatures are all-in on legal cannabis. But where does philanthropy fit in?
It's an important question to ask after UC San Diego received $4.7 million for medical cannabis research from the Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation. The funding will support the "first-of-its-kind, multi-disciplinary research on autism spectrum disorders" at the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC San Diego School of Medicine (UCSD).
Daniel Victor, New York Times, May 30, 2018
The pharmaceuticals weren’t working. The 15-year-old boy was having several seizures per day, and his parents were concerned his life was in danger.
So Suzeanna and Matthew Brill, of Macon, Ga., decided in February to let their son try smoking marijuana — and his seizures stopped for 71 days, they say.
But Georgia is not among the states that have legalized medical marijuana, and the Brills’ decision led to the boy, David, being taken away from his parents, who face possible fines and jail time after being charged with reckless conduct for giving him the drug.
Igor Grant, MD
Presentation before the Medical Board of California
(April 2018)
Thomas Marcotte, PhD
Presentation before the Canadian House of Commons
(September 2017)
Igor Grant, MD
UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds: Medicinal Cannabis
(July 2017)
Barth Wilsey, MD
Marijuana and Cannabinoids: A Neuroscience Research Summit;
Bethesda, MD (March 2016)
THE PSYCHIATRIC AND NEUROCOGNITIVE EFFECTS OF CANNABIS
Igor Grant, MD, FRCP(C) American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting
McGill University Health Centre - Research Institute
(February 2015)