The school awards almost $100,000 in grants to support marijuana research
Florida may not be as talked about as states like Colorado, Washington or California when it comes to marijuana, but it is certainly starting to make an impression on the national market. Its latest example comes out of Florida A&M University, which has recognized the necessity of additional marijuana research and has distributed grants to help the cause.
According to an announcement by the school, it has issued almost $100,000 in “mini-grants” to over 20 faculty personnel for marijuana research in relation to Florida’s minority population. Each grant is worth $7,000 and some research projects involve multiple grant recipients. All findings are expected to be delivered no later than June 30 of next year.
Florida A&M, through an order by Governor Rick Scott in 2017, was tasked with the responsibility of providing education on the benefits of medical marijuana and the drawbacks to illegal cannabis. Scott earmarked $10 from each medical marijuana card issued – at a value of $75 each – to go to the university, which had received $885,000 as of last October. In total, for the first year of the program, Florida A&M is expected to receive $1.2 million total.
In order to facilitate the program, Tallahassee consultant Peter Harris was brought on board as of October 1 of last year. He said in a recent announcement that the university “will be rolling out a public information and education campaign” in six regions throughout the state between now and July. However, a statewide campaign is contingent upon receiving funding from the Florida Department of Health (FDOH), and Harris adds, “We are working closely with FDOH on their release of funds. We plan on spending all dollars on hand between now and the end of the fiscal year. The public media campaign will be launched based on the release of funds from the department but no later than July.”