Cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug, which makes it difficult to study in the United States. Because of these restrictions, researchers still don’t fully understand how cannabis affects the body.
The Department of Cannabis Control Academic Research Grants Program is funded by cannabis tax revenue with the goal of expanding knowledge about cannabis and the impacts of legalization. We support studies on public health, criminal justice and public safety, economic impacts, environmental impacts, and the cannabis industry.
Learn how to apply for a cannabis research grant.
What we’re studying
If you require an ADA compliant version of the reports, please send a request to outreach@cannabis.ca.gov.
2025
California State University, Long Beach
- Impacts of Housing and Community-Based Education on Cannabis Use
San Diego State University
- Pesticide and Allergen Exposure Among Cannabis Workers: An Occupational Health Study
University of California, Berkeley
- Agricultural Exceptionalism: A Comparison of Cannabis, Hemp, and Specialty Crop Regulatory Regimes
- Assessing the Environmental Benefits of Cannabis Licensure
- Cannabis Crop Yields: Survey & Remote Sensing
University of California, Davis
- Effects of additives and contaminants on the public health implications of cannabis vaping
- Pathways to Partnership with the Tribal Cannabis Market
- School educational approaches to prevent and reduce youth cannabis use
University of California, Irvine
- Cannabis-use in Older adults: Prevalence & Provider Education Initiative (COPPE)
University of California, Los Angeles
- Cannabinoid Therapeutics: Synthesis, Binding, Safety, and Computations
- Characterization of Naturally Occurring Organoleptic Compounds for Inhalable Cannabis Regulation
- Characterizing unregulated cannabis markets in California post-legalization: a drug checking, ethnographic, and policy study
- Immediate and long-term cardiovascular effects of smoked and oral cannabis: A controlled human drug-administration study
University of California, Riverside
- Licit and Illicit Cannabis Sources: Predictors, Consequences, and Regulatory Implications
University of California, San Diego
- Cannabis Use and Product Selection Among Older Adults
- Effects of Cannabis Regulatory Policies on Young Adults in an In Vivo Simulated Dispensary
- Evaluating the Impact of Cannabis Vape Packaging and Health Warning Regulations on Young Adults
- From Community to Counter: Cannabis Retailer Training and Policy Translation in San Diego
- Impact of Marketing of Licensed and Unlicensed Cannabis on Consumer Preferences and Safety
- Price and Tax Trends and Their Effects on Cannabis Sales: Evidence from Multi-State Retail Scanner Data
University of California, San Francisco
- Cannabinoids and the brain: Focused investigations of therapeutic application and early-life risk
- Clinical pharmacology of commercially available THC-infused beverages
2022
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
- Legacy Cannabis Genetics: People and Their Plants, a Community-Driven Study
- Status: In progress
Amount: $2,699,168
- Local Regulations, Market Power, and the Evolution of the CA Cannabis Industry
- Status: Completed
Amount: $444,643
University of California, Berkeley
- Hmong diasporas and cannabis: medicinal use, criminal justice consequences, and farm structure across licensed and unlicensed geographies
- Status: In progress
Amount: $630,130
- Licensed and Unlicensed Cultivation Across Ban and Permit Jurisdictions: Predictors of Growth and Total Production Estimates
- Status: Completed
Amount: $1,042,321
- Indoor Cannabis Cultivation
- Licensed Cultivation and Supply Chain Dynamics
- Mapping & Assessing Unlicensed Cannabis Cultivation
- Patterns and Drivers of Unlicensed Cannabis Cultivation Since Legalization
- Remote Sensing Cannabis Cultivation in Four Northern California Centers of Production with Faster-RCNN Object Detection
- Understanding Investment, Operating Pressures, and Anti-Competitive Characteristics in the Cannabis Industry
- Status: In progress
Amount: $855,434
University of California, Davis
- Chemistry, toxicology, and brain disposition of cannabinoids, novel cannabinoids, and mixtures in electronic cigarettes
- Status: In progress
Amount: $856,881
University of California, Irvine
- A translational study on the short- and long-term effects of high-dose THC
- Status: In progress
Amount: $2,000,000
University of California, Los Angeles
- Assessing the Health of California’s Cannabis Industry
- Status: In progress
Amount: $1,679,972
- Cannabis use for medicinal purposes among clinical populations in California: Population estimates of prevalence, frequency, quantity and reasons for use
- Status: In progress
Amount: $1,849,962
- Evaluation of Synthetic and Semi-Synthetic Cannabinoids
- Status: In progress
Amount: $2,000,000
- Interactions between delta-9-THC and CBD: A controlled human drug-administration study probing a harm reduction strategy
- Status: In progress
Amount: $1,662,744
- The adverse effects of inhaled cannabis concentrates (dabs) compared to smoked cannabis: A controlled human drug-administration study of cannabis potency
- Status: In progress
Amount: $1,832,997
- The State of Medical Cannabis in California
- Status: Completed
Amount: $437,465
University of California, San Diego
- Longitudinal Associations of Cannabis Use and Mental Health Among Adolescents
- Status: In progress
Amount: $270,417
- Longitudinal Outcomes related to Cannabis Potency and Toxicological Analysis and Cognitive, Brain, and Psychiatric Functioning in Young Adults Cannabis Users
- Status: In progress
Amount: $676,735
University of California, San Francisco
- Impacts of THC potency of cannabis concentrates and THC metabolism on cognitive impairment in young adults
- Status: In progress
Amount: $904,052
2020
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
- Cannabis Business Entrepreneurs and Jobs
- Status: Completed
Amount: $464,997
- The Economic Impact of Cannabis Legalization in Rural Northern California
- Status: Completed
Amount: $183,015
California State University, Dominguez Hills
- Cannabis Industry in South Bay, Los Angeles
- Status: In progress
Amount: $1,866,311
University of California, Berkeley
- Assessing Environmental Impacts of Cannabis-related Noise and Light Disturbance to Inform Management of California Wildlife
- Status: Completed
Amount: $489,762
- Cannabis and Wildfire: Current Conditions, Future Threats, and Solutions for Farmers
- Status: Completed
Amount: $319,091
- Cannabis Bans, Local Control, and the Effects and Efficacy of Proposition 64
- Status: Completed
Amount: $328,916
- Cannabis Water-Use Impacts to Streamflow and Temperatures in Salmon-Bearing Streams
- Status: Completed
Amount: $314,417
- Examining Tribal Sovereignty over Cannabis Permitting on Native Ancestral Lands
- Status: Completed
Amount: $465,902
- Local Regulation of Cannabis in California
- Status: Completed
Amount: $1,827,596
- The Effect of Local Cannabis Regulation on Property Prices
- Status: Completed
Amount: $270,269
- Transformation of Unregulated Cannabis Cultivation Under Proposition 64
- Status: Completed
Amount: $658,306
University of California, Davis
- California Cannabis Workers: Perceptions, Beliefs, and Knowledge of Occupational Health and Industry Hazards
- Status: Completed
Amount: $144,949
- California cannabis cultivation and processing workers: A qualitative analysis of physiological exposures and health effects
- Experiences of structural violence and wage theft among immigrant workers in the California cannabis industry
- Stress, Mental Health, and Coping Among Workers in the Northern California Cannabis Industry: A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis
- Cannabis Industry: Assessment of the Location, Structure, Function, and Demographics of Licensed Cannabis, Focusing on Geographical Price Differences, and the Differential Impacts of Local Prop-64-Related Regulations on the Competitiveness of Licensed Business
- Status: Completed
Amount: $726,816
- Cannabis Market Prices in the Licensed and Unlicensed Markets and the Economic Impacts of Current and Alternative Cannabis Tax Structures and Tax Rates on the Private and Public Sectors in California, Including Government Administrative Costs and Revenues
- Status: Completed
Amount: $655,564
- Environmental Impacts of Cannabis Cultivation in California As Affected by the Farm Economics of Licensed and Unlicensed Cannabis Production, Including Effects of Testing Regulations and Compliance with the Criminal Prohibition of Unlicensed Cannabis Production
- Status: Completed
Amount: $562,240
- Understanding the Impact of Cannabis Use in Early Psychosis
- Status: Completed
Amount: $1,034,730
University of California, Irvine
- Exploring Cannabis Policies and Practices that Influence Adolescent Use: Evolution of Local Cannabis Law, Products, Sales and Marketing
- Status: Completed
Amount: $1,351,556
- Age-Gating and Marketing Differences Between Storefront and Non-Storefront Cannabis Retailers
- Cannabis Vape Product Sales in California Following CDC’s Initial Advisory About Lung Injuries
- Young adult retail purchases of cannabis, product category preferences and sales trends in California 2018-21: Differences compared with older adults
University of California, Los Angeles
- A Demographic Analysis of the California Licensed Cannabis Industry and Consumer Market
-
Status: Completed
Amount: $781,707
- Assessing the Feasibility and Consequences of Implementing a Cannabis Potency Tax in California
- Status: In progress
Amount: $1,082,815
- Assessing the Impact of Proposition 64 on Cannabis Use, Maladaptive Cannabis Use, Cannabis Use Disorder Treatment, and Public Health
-
Status: Completed
Amount: $896,794
- Impact of Cannabis Potency on The Properties, Composition, and Toxicity of Inhaled and Second-Hand Smoke
- Status: In progress
Amount: $1,429,001
- Study of Employment Conditions and Equity in California’s Cannabis Industry
-
Status: In progress
Amount: $1,048,857
- The Impact of Cannabis Marketing on California’s Youth: Neuro-Behavioral Studies for Informing Policy
-
Status: In progress
Amount: $758,517
- Understanding the Impact of Cannabis Marketing on Cannabis Use Disparities Among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth
-
Status: Completed
Amount: $414,183
- Changes in sexual identity and substance use during young adulthood
- Prevalence of Nicotine and Tobacco Product Use by Sexual Identity, Gender Identity, and Sex Assigned at Birth Among Emerging Adult Tobacco Users in California, United States
- Sociodemographic differences in young adults’ recall of tobacco and cannabis marketing online and in television/film
University of California, San Diego
- Evaluating Risks and Benefits of Cannabis Use by Older Adults: A Pilot Study
-
Status: In progress
Amount: $235,039
- Evaluating the Impacts of Packaging and Labeling on Cannabis Edible Use Among Youth
-
Status: Completed
Amount: $987,738
- The Public Health Impact of Cannabis Legalization in California: A Comprehensive Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis by Age, Gender, Race/Ethnicity and Regions
- Status: Completed
Amount: $1,321,833
- Cannabis Use in California Following Legalization of Recreational Use
- Knowledge and attitudes toward recreational cannabis legalization among California
residents: a population-matched questionnaire about Proposition 64 - Medicinal and combined medicinal/recreational cannabis use in California following the
passage of Proposition 64 - The Impact of Adult Cannabis Use Legalization in California: A Qualitative Review of
Subject Matter Expert Opinions on Proposition 64
- The Role of Cannabidiol in Anandamide-Related Improvement in
Alexithymia and Health Outcomes - Status: In progress
Amount: $887,101
University of California, San Francisco
- California Cannabis Poisonings Under Proposition 64
- Status: Completed
Amount: $962,540
- Associations of Local Cannabis Control Policies With Harmful Cannabis Exposures Reported to
the California Poison Control System - Changes in California cannabis exposures following recreational legalization and the
COVID-19 pandemic - Reported exposures to derived cannabis products in California before and after the 2018
federal reclassification of hemp
- Associations of Local Cannabis Control Policies With Harmful Cannabis Exposures Reported to
- Comprehensive Analysis of Developmental Cannabis Exposure on Brain, Immune, and Sensory Systems
- Status: Completed
Amount: $2,000,000
- Effects of Chronic Cannabis Use on Endothelial Function
- Status: Completed
Amount: $1,384,466
- Public Health Impacts of State Policies Mandating Point-of-Sale Warning Signs Regarding Cannabis Use During Pregnancy
- Status: Completed
Amount: $1,038,782
- The LEAF Study: Lung Effects and Function Associated with Cannabis Use
- Status: Completed
Amount: $1,067,483
University of California, Santa Barbara
- Surface Water Emissions from Cannabis Cultivation Sites: Quantity, Quality, Toxicity, and Relationships to Farmer’s Practices
- Status: Completed
Amount: $1,999,191
