Developing and strengthening cannabis warnings

Active Project Grant Awarded Last action

Award ID
R01DA058003
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$3,483,720

Award facts

Assistance listing
93.279 Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs
Completion date 50% complete
Place of performance
Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

Abstract
Cannabis is the third most commonly used substance in the united states (US), with almost half of all US adults reporting lifetime use. Cannabis use is associated with physical harms (e.g., respiratory diseases), psychological harms (e.g., cognitive deficits), and other types of harms (e.g., car crashes). Despite these harms, many adults underestimate or do not know about the risks of cannabis use. Warning labels on cannabis packages are a population-level intervention that can increase risk perceptions, knowledge, and recall of cannabis harms, however, there is a lack of research on how cannabis warnings can be improved. Currently, most US states with legalized cannabis require text-only cannabis warnings, but they are often placed on the back of packages, are small (e.g., 6-point font), are wordy (e.g., more than 100 words), and read like a legal disclaimer. As a result, current cannabis warnings are unnoticed, hard to read, and confusing. Accordingly, the long-term goal of this research is to develop cannabis warnings that inform people about cannabis harms and that states can implement into their cannabis warning regulations. The overall objective of this research is to rigorously examine the current landscape of cannabis warning regulations and experimentally determine which warning characteristics most effectively communicate the harms of cannabis use. The central hypothesis is that large cannabis warnings with characteristics found to be promising (e.g., have icons, include colors) will increase risk perceptions of cannabis harms. To accomplish our long-term goal and objective, the proposed study will include three specific aims: aim 1: examine the legal and regulatory landscape of US cannabis warnings; aim 2: develop a set of evidence-based cannabis warnings and identify which warning characteristics increase perceived warning effectiveness; and aim 3: experimentally determine if large cannabis warnings with characteristics found to be promising in aim 2 increase risk perceptions, knowledge, and recall of cannabis harms. Included within these aims are rigorous and innovative methods: a comprehensive legal analysis, key informant interviews with cannabis regulators, an expert panel review, online experiments, and a discrete choice experiment. Throughout the project, we will disseminate findings from our study to regulators so that they can implement evidence-based warnings and impact change in the cannabis regulatory landscape. This project is significant because each state that legalizes cannabis is tasked with developing regulations on warning labels, but there is a lack of rigorous published research, especially from the US, on the effectiveness of different cannabis warning themes (e.g., content), characteristics (e.g., text length, color) and format (e.g., size). Therefore, our project can help meet a critical need for a comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of cannabis warnings. The proposed study directly addresses nida's priorities by assessing the impact of state-level policies on cannabis use as well as a notice of special interest on public policy effects on cannabis-related outcomes.

Transactions

Action Obligated Date
Amendment $570,398
Amendment $543,953
Amendment $543,953
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $608,472
Amendment $608,472
Original award $608,472
Show all 11

Subawards

Subrecipient Amount Awarded
Multnomah County In support of this study, the Multnomah County Health Department investigator will: a) Support legal analysis of cannabis policy by coordinating with cannabis… $39,745
Cannabis Regulators Association The Cannabis Regulators Association will assist in examining the legal and regulatory landscape in developing and strengthening cannabis warning labels in the… $41,576
Public Health Law Center Inc. The Public Health Law Center will conduct a legal analysis of regulations for warnings in US states with legalized cannabis. $266,809

Quick answers

Who received award R01DA058003?

R01DA058003 was awarded to University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill by National Institute on Drug Abuse (National Institutes of Health) on June 15, 2024.

How much is award R01DA058003 worth?

$3,483,720 has been obligated on R01DA058003.

On GovTribe

See this award's full record

  • Every transaction and subaward
  • The recipient's other awards and teaming partners
  • Similar grant awards
  • Ask GovTribe AI about this award