University of Kentucky would open cannabis research center with $4M in state cash

A bill establishing the Kentucky Center for Cannabis Research at the University of Kentucky to advance study of cannabis use for medical treatment received tentative approval Tuesday from a legislative committee.

The proposed center would allow UK to become a leader in United States on the topic, officials said, conducting research that would include clinical studies and trials; pharmaceutical development; analysis of potential risks or side effects; and reviews of other research.

House Bill 463, sponsored by State Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, and approved by the House Education Committee in the General Assembly, now goes to the full House of Representatives.

Moser told lawmakers that the proposed cannabis research center would establish Kentucky as a national leader.

“It’s important that cannabis be researched for its effectiveness as a medication and that physicians understand how to dose and prescribe it,” Moser said. “It’s critical researchers and prescribers know what the indications are, ... and most of all, that patients get what they think they are getting.”

UK already has a strong relationship with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is approved by the National Institutes of Health to conduct cannabis research, according to Moser.

The bill was revised Tuesday by the House Education committee to seek less state money than originally requested. The legislation currently says that UK would get up to $2 million in fiscal 2020-2021 and up to an additional $2 million in fiscal 2021-2022 as seed money to open the center, Moser told the Herald-Leader. However, if the center received any outside grants or funds during the next two years, those amounts would reduce what was requested of the General Assembly.

The General Assembly ideally would not have to provide additional money after 2022, Moser said. The center would convene several experts and would likely receive significant funding from outside sources.

Research would show how best to prescribe marijuana

Establishing the center specifically for cannabis research would enable Kentucky to conduct safe and structured research to provide the information necessary to potentially treat patients, she said. The bill does not take a position either way on legalization of marijuana, Moser said, it just puts a structure in place for research.

Shanna Babalonis, a researcher in the UK College of Medicine and Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, told lawmakers Tuesday that she is one of the only researchers in the country conducting controlled cannabis research. One of her current projects gives humans marijuana to smoke to study various issues.

UK researchers are currently trying to determine marijuana’s effects on driving via driving simulators. The research will provide some of the first data to emerge on that topic, Babalonis said. Researchers are also looking at the interactions between cannabis and opioids to see if cannabis increases or decreases the chances of an opioid overdose or increases craving for opioids.

The proposed center, Babalonis said, could spur more research.

Bart Hardin, UK’s director of Government Relations, said various campus colleges, from agriculture to medicine to pharmacy and the sciences, would be involved in the center. Other colleges and universities in Kentucky conducting research also could be involved, Moser said.

UK would establish an internal advisory board to oversee activities; employ a director and staff; and accept grants and donations, the legislation said. The center could also award research funds to other Kentucky entities. The center would have to report its activities and spending to the state and to the public.

In late February, the Kentucky House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed House Bill 136 that would legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky. The bill is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 1:31 PM.