Washington State University Cannabis Center Formally Designated as Research Center

Washington State University’s Center for Cannabis Policy, Research and Outreach (CCPRO) was officially approved by the university’s Faculty Senate and Board of Regents last month, formalizing its designation as a research center.

Michael McDonell, CCPRO director and professor at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, said the “center status recognizes [WSU’s] researchers’ outstanding, multi-disciplinary scholarship on cannabis.”

“It also brings together under one center work on everything from research focused on the impact of cannabis on development to scholarship on cannabis and public safety, as well as our growing hemp research. … “We’re seeing some of these barriers to research being lifted in a stepwise way. It will help us work to keep up with the cannabis industry to provide the citizens of Washington with the information they need to make informed decisions about their health and cannabis.” – McDonnell in a statement

WSU said that over the last six years its researchers have engaged in 50 projects with nearly $10 million in funding. The university said there are nearly 100 scientists working on cannabis-related projects. Recent projects, WSU said, include behavioral and biological predictor study of problematic cannabis use which was awarded a $400,000 National Institute on Drug Abuse grant.

WSU researchers are also conducting a hemp seed trial near the WSU Prosser Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center facility.

The center has also partnered with Oregon State University and California Davis on hemp germplasm studies and the Puyallup Tribe on a study on the use of cannabis for pain management.