Past Research Studies

Since its institution in 2016, the Institute of Cannabis Research has endeavored to conduct and/or fund cannabis related research across a variety of disciplines and to publicly disseminate research results. Completed research studies from previous years include the Pueblo County Cannabis Impact Study from 2017 that examined the impact of local legalization of recreational cannabis within Pueblo County and multiple state and county funded projects in FY18, FY19, FY20, and FY21.

The economic downturn caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic affected the ability of many institutions to continue conducting research and the available funding for research was reduced for FY21. This reduction resulted in a delay of the funding of new research projects through an RFA for FY22, though funding possibilities returned to the ICR in FY22. In spite of this reduction and the inability to fund new projects, the ICR continued to carry out a set of six multi-year projects for PIs Drs. Sanghyuck Park, Annette Gabaldón, Brian Vanden Heuvel, Barbara Brett-Green, and Eun Soo Kim that had been reviewed and awarded prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In FY20, the ICR supported 15 research projects across the disciplines of biology, chemistry, agronomy, physiology, psychology, marketing, engineering, and computer information science. Funded projects included several multi-year projects, and projects that seek to develop partnerships with individuals and institutions outside of Colorado State University Pueblo such as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dr. Libby Stuyt, Dr. Eun Soo Kim, and Dr. Kyungho Lee.

In FY19, the ICR proposed a new research vision in order to receive insights into fundamental cannabis biology and cannabinoids chemistry to address intrinsic questions of why Cannabis plants produce the secondary metabolites, how they exploit the molecules for their survival, and what evolutionary benefits they provide. The ICR research team launched a genomic structure consortium for comparative genomics of help varieties to better understand genomic structures and genetic regulations underlying cannabinoids biosynthesis and agronomically important traits. The ICR also lead a variety of research projects to explore a new agricultural/therapeutic use of cannabidiol (CBD) using an invertebrate model organism. Research initiatives were carried out in FY19 through eight supported research projects.

In FY18, the ICR received assistance from state, county, and national entities to support research for cannabis related topics across 22 studies. The Pueblo County Cannabis Impact Study, commissioned by Pueblo County, took place in FY18 and provided the opportunity to research cannabis subject areas including social and economic impacts, water and power usage impacts, and optimal buffer zones between sites that grow low THC (hemp) and high THC (legally approved recreational or medical) cannabis.