The U.S. government intends on spending $3 million on research for CBD; none of the money will be spent on the THC counterpart which gets you high.

Nine research grants have been approved that research CBD in everything from food to beauty products, along with some other lesser known chemicals, but THC was specifically excluded from the funding. Many find this to be an incomplete analysis of marijuana and pain management, as it is still unclear exactly what part of the plant may be helpful in pain management. This also inhibits the ability to discover whether pain can be managed without the intoxicating effects of THC.

“The science is lagging behind the public use and interest. We’re doing our best to catch up here,” said Dr. David Shurtleff, deputy director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, which is funding the projects.

Shurtleff says that THC’s potential for addiction and abuse makes it an unsuitable candidate for analysis for pain management, even though many other pain drugs have the potential for addiction and abuse. In fact, the opioid addiction crisis is one of the main reasons that many people list for using marijuana as a pain management alternative.

Human testing will only be available in one of the studies that was funded, though if all goes well, a second round of funding may include up to two more human studies.

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