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. 2017 Apr 19:7:46528.
doi: 10.1038/srep46528.

Compromised External Validity: Federally Produced Cannabis Does Not Reflect Legal Markets

Daniela Vergara  1 , L Cinnamon Bidwell  2 , Reggie Gaudino  3 , Anthony Torres  3 , Gary Du  3 , Travis C Ruthenburg  3 , Kymron deCesare  3 , Donald P Land  3 , Kent E Hutchison  4 , Nolan C Kane  1
Affiliations

Compromised External Validity: Federally Produced Cannabis Does Not Reflect Legal Markets

Daniela Vergara et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

As the most widely used illicit drug worldwide, and as a source of numerous under-studied pharmacologically-active compounds, a precise understanding of variability in psychological and physiological effects of Cannabis varieties is essential. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is designated as the sole legal producer of Cannabis for use in US research studies. We sought to compare the chemical profiles of Cannabis varieties that are available to consumers in states that have state-legalized use versus what is available to researchers interested in studying the plant and its effects. Our results demonstrate that the federally-produced Cannabis has significantly less variety and lower concentrations of cannabinoids than are observed in state-legal U.S. dispensaries. Most dramatically, NIDA's varieties contain only 27% of the THC levels and as much as 11-23 times the Cannabinol (CBN) content compared to what is available in the state-legal markets. Research restricted to using the current range of federally-produced Cannabis thus may yield limited insights into the chemical, biological and pharmacological properties, and medical potential of material that is available in the state markets. Investigation is urgently needed on the full diversity of Cannabis chemotypes known to be available to the public.

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Conflict of interest statement

D.V. is the founder and president of the non-profit Agricultural Genomics Foundation. R.G., A.T., G.D., K.dC. and D.P.L. are employees of Steep Hill Labs. T.C.R. is an employee of S.C. Labs Inc. N.C.K. and K.E.H. are board members of the non-profit Agricultural Genomics Foundation.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Average percent cannabinoids for five different locations.
(A) CBD (N = 313) and THC (N = 2923). (B) CBG (N = 411) and THC-V (40). Significant values between the comparisons are given in the horizontal bars above: ***P < 0.001; **P < 0.01; and *P < 0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Median and range for cannabinoids by location.
Median (line within the box), 25th and 75th percentile (bottom and top of the box respectively), and range (bars outside the box). Outliers are dots outside the box and range. The Y axis differs by panel.
Figure 3
Figure 3. The diversity and variability of Cannabis samples across sites in terms of THC, CBD.
The ellipses represent 95% confidence (N = 1152).
Figure 4
Figure 4. PC1 vs PC2 for three locations.
Most of the points from the two main PC axes overlap demonstrating similarities between the three locations in their content. The black boxes represent the means of the two clusters after the k-means analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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