Scripps given $4M grant to study effects of marijuana

By: North County Times wire service - | Saturday, March 15, 2008 12:58 AM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO -- The effects of chronic marijuana use will be studied by the Scripps Research Institute under a $4 million grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the institute announced today.

The grant will fund the formation of a Translational Center on the Clinical Neurobiology of Cannabis Addiction, touted as the first facility to study the neurobiology of marijuana dependence, according to Scripps.

"This is important information," said Barbara Mason, an investigator with Scripps. "People are deciding every day whether to use or not to use marijuana, for medical purposes or otherwise, and there is little scientific information to advise this decision."

According to Scripps, the goal of the research is to help develop new approaches toward the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of marijuana addiction.