The Cannabis Analytics, Safety and Health Initiative aims to improve cannabis safety, testing and public understanding through research focused on science and health. The initiative has grown in recent years, including five faculty members from multidisciplinary backgrounds and varying research focuses. Maxwell Leung, the initiative director and professor in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, said growing student interest and new research breakthroughs played a key role in the expansion of the initiative.
"The work that my lab has been doing has gained a lot of traction in the scientific community and also among the general public," Leung said. "We discovered a new category of contaminant, Fusarium mycotoxin, that has not been reported in the literature in cannabis before."
Thomas Cahill, an initiative member and professor in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, said despite the highly toxic Fusarium mold's likely presence in cannabis plants and its potential health implications, it is not widely regulated or tested for. Cahill said his research for the initiative focuses on testing cannabis product samples for fungal toxins and pesticide residue to find gaps in safety and advocate for potential changes.
"Let's focus our efforts and resources to what would help the safety of cannabis use the most," Cahill said. "To find limitations and issues with cannabis use and see how we can direct resources or advise testing schemes to get the most bang for the buck."
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