The U.S. government will spend $3 million to find out if cannabis can relieve pain, but none of the money will be used to study the part of the plant that gets people high.
Nine research grants announced Thursday are for work on CBD, the trendy ingredient showing up in cosmetics and foods, and hundreds of less familiar chemicals. THC research was excluded.
The federal government still considers cannabis an illegal drug, but more than 30 states allow its use for a range of medical problems, some without good evidence.
The science is strongest for chronic pain, the most common reason people give when they enroll in state-approved medical cannabis programs. But little is known about which parts of cannabis are helpful and whether the intoxicating effects of THC can be avoided.
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