CSU’s Institute of Cannabis Research: 10 years of scientific study lights way | Subscriber Content
What is “scromiting?”
How does CBD ingestion affect pregnant mice?
What does combining marijuana and alcohol do to the body?
How does cannabis help people who have epileptic seizures or autism?
As Colorado recognized on Jan. 1 the 10-year milestone of becoming the first state to sell regulated recreational marijuana, the nation’s first cannabis research center also marks a decade of examining positive and negative effects of the substance.
The multimillion-dollar, state-funded work of The Institute of Cannabis Research at Colorado State University in Pueblo is important and necessary because the weed of today is not the weed of last century or even of earlier this century, said biology professor Jeffrey Smith, the institute’s strategic partnership and outreach specialist.
Levels of THC, the most potent psychotropic chemical in the marijuana plant, have more than tripled, Smith said, from around 4% to upward of 17%, as the industry has developed sophisticated genetic breeding.
And new products such as concentrates can contain 95% THC content, he said.
“In the 1970s and 1980s, we thought marijuana just makes you silly, and you sit around and eat. The marijuana of today bears little resemblance to even 10 or 15 years ago,” Smith said. “This has entirely different health consequences, and we need to do more research because it’s so impactful on people’s health and well-being.”
The nonpartisan institute was founded in 2014 in Pueblo County, and in 2019 state lawmakers passed a bill establishing the role and mission of the institute, a governing board and other aspects of operation. Taxes collected on marijuana sales statewide fund the work. This year’s budget of $3.8 million, up from $2.8 million in previous recent years, represents a nominal cut of last fiscal year’s $282 million marijuana tax pie.
Benefits previously reported were based on studies of products with low levels of THC, Smith said. The high levels have brought about previously unheard of cannabis-use conditions.
Cases of cannabinoid hyperemesis disorder caused by heavy, chronic marijuana use are being seen in emergency rooms across the nation, Smith said, often producing what’s called “scromiting” — screaming and vomiting at the same time. Episodes of the cyclical, persistent vomiting can last for three days.
“There’s been a rapid explosion from never having seen it to seeing it a lot in the ER,” he said. “It’s a result of way too much THC being in people’s systems.”
UCHealth began getting cases after recreational marijuana sales started, with emergency visits related to marijuana tripling in the subsequent five years, the hospital system reported. UCHealth Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs continues to see patients with the condition in the emergency department, said a spokesperson.
The statewide hospital system warned this year that people who use marijuana may need up to 10 times more anesthesia during surgery than non-users to remain in a sleeplike state during the operation and should be honest with doctors about their marijuana consumption.
Another concern based on research funded by the institute is that incidents of suicide among teens and military veterans have mirrored the increase in THC in marijuana products, Smith said.
Many researchers have documented the link between cannabis use and violent behavior toward others and themselves, he said.
While lower levels of THC were thought to be non-addictive, more potent strains create “a highly addictive drug,” as psychiatrists have determined, Smith said. Identifying which brain cells are involved in such addictive qualities is a current research project.
Also under examination is this: Institute-funded research at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora shows that when female mice are fed CBD, short for cannabidiol, a compound found in marijuana that does not impair the mind, their babies are born with diabetes and stress disorders, Smith said.
“That suggests a great deal of caution for pregnant mothers who might be considering CBD for nausea,” he said. “The data is clear that CBD consumption during pregnancy with mice is very harmful to their offspring.”
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Using mice for research is an advanced step in the process, just below human trials, Smith said. In that case, he said, researchers would not ask pregnant women to use CBD but would do an observational study of women who previously had consumed CBD while pregnant and quantify the results.
Impaired driving is another topic researchers are studying. “What we’re finding is drug driving when mixed with alcohol affects the alcohol intoxication, which creates a totally different impairment spectrum and challenges for determining that for law enforcement,” Smith said.
Research also is being conducted on potential benefits of marijuana as a medicine, as it inhibits both the neurological and immune systems.
“That means marijuana consumption is very poor for people’s ability to learn and remember,” Smith said. “On the other hand, for people who have too much brain activity, like epilepsy, marijuana can decrease that epileptic activity.”
Marijuana has federal Food and Drug Administration approval for treating epilepsy as an alternative to the past practice of removing parts of the brains of children who were having 15 to 20 seizures a day, he said.
Cannabis also can reduce symptoms of immune system diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and can suppress pain signals in the brain.
Ongoing studies include pinpointing what heavy metals are present when marijuana is vaped, the effects of CBD on children with autism and the relationship of cannabis to gut health.
Treatment with CBD extract has shown “some early promise for treatment of behavioral difficulties in autism,” Nicole Tartaglia, a professor in developmental pediatrics at the CU Anschutz campus, writes on the institute’s website about the research she’s conducting with Children’s Hospital Colorado. Children with autism spectrum disorder often struggle with irritability, anxiety, attention deficits, aggressive behavior or self-harm.
While state law requires certain levels of testing for contaminates in marijuana products, Smith said it’s a narrow category, and the institute’s research digs deeper.
“We’re advancing the frontier,” he said, “with research aimed at improving human health and the quality of life.”
The institute has 20 research projects underway at any given time, working with accepted proposals from top researchers at the University of Colorado campuses in Colorado Springs, Boulder and Aurora, CSU in Fort Collins and Pueblo and others.
The institute also oversees studies on the economy of hemp, the fiber of the cannabis plant that’s extracted from the stem and used to make rope, strong fabrics, paper and other items.
Colorado’s marijuana industry peaked in 2021, according to state sales and use statistics, which show declining sales of both medical and recreational cannabis, decreased prices on products and fewer new licenses.
It’s clear the industry is on a downward trajectory, Smith said, therefore development of new hemp products is imperative.
“Hemp is a cash crop of immense value, and Colorado grows more hemp than any other state,” Smith said. “We’re looking for useful applications in using the fibers found in hemp for making stronger and better building materials and erosion-control materials that are biodegradable, for example.”
Since marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, some barriers to research apply, Smith said.
“I can’t propose a research project to buy gummies and feed them to people and see how they behave,” he said. “We have a hard stop in looking at real products that are federally illegal.”
The institute is an unbiased, objective scientific research center, and its findings — such as showing that CBD is harmful to children in the womb — likely will guide future regulation in Colorado, Smith said.
“Right now, the regulation for consumption is very loose in Colorado; people can basically buy it and use it,” he said. “We are not a mouthpiece for industry or against industry. We’re here to evaluate scientifically the various attributes of cannabis as it exists in Colorado right now.”
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