Canadian Government Invests $24 Million in Cannabis and Brain Health Research

Canada’s federal government is investing $24 million to establish the Canadian Cannabis and Brain Health Consortium, aimed at better understanding how cannabis affects the brain and overall health.

Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel announced the funding Wednesday. Supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the consortium will bring together 10 research teams from across Canada to study the potential benefits and risks of cannabis use among people of different ages.

Researchers will examine cannabis’s effects on conditions and areas including epilepsy, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep, mental health, and brain development among youth and during pregnancy.

Dr. Patricia Conrod, scientific director at CIHR’s Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, said researchers will recruit more than 3,000 people of all ages. They will collect information on brain function, mental health and substance use throughout participants’ lives.

The data will also be made available to other Canadian researchers for future studies on cannabis and its health effects.

Conrod said cannabis research in Canada expanded significantly after the drug was legalized in 2018, but important gaps in knowledge remain.

The 10 research teams are being led by researchers affiliated with Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Montréal, McGill University, Dalhousie University, McMaster University, the University of Waterloo and the University of Calgary.