NIDA Looking for Cultivator to Provide 12.5 Million Joints for Research

The NIDA is now officially soliciting proposals for contractors to grow, harvest, and analyze millions of grams of cannabis and marijuana for research purposes.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recently published a request for proposal (RFP) notice last week, stating that the NIDA is looking for manufacturers that can cultivate, test, and roll four million grams of cannabis joints over the next five years.

Over the last 50-odd years, the NIDA has exclusively relied on one cannabis farm situated at the University of Mississippi for studies that the NIDA conducted. However, in recent months, several additional cultivators have been licensed to work for the NIDA.

If a marijuana-manufacturing company is awarded a contract under the new RFP, the company will finally end the century-long monopoly that the University of Mississippi oversees. In recent months, several additional cannabis farmers have been granted licenses by the NIDA. The NIDA stated it “reserves the right to make a single award, multiple awards, or no award at all to the solicitation of the RFP.”

Applicants applying for the RFP must possess a Schedule I research registration from the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) to supply the NIDA with bulk cannabis.

The 172-page RFP states the extensive requirements for contractors and descriptions of the tasks.

“The primary purpose of this contract is to provide materials to support research on cannabis (marijuana) and its constituents. The studies that need to be conducted require a source of marijuana materials with consistent and predictable potency. The cannabis needs to be free of contamination and be supplied in amounts that will be sufficient to support a variety of research needs.”

The RFP further states that the contractor awarded the contract will produce or procure cannabis, cannabis extract, and other marijuana-derived materials for primary and clinical research purposes. The RFP expects cultivators to conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis, stability determinations, and recommended storage conditions for these products for approved research. The supplied cannabis is to be used in a large variety of research projects, and this contract serves as a source of such materials within the United States from the federal government. The awarded contractor shall be responsible for providing sufficient quantities of cannabis to meet the anticipated needs as directed by the NIDA COR Contracting Officer’s Representative.”

The proposals further stated the manufacturers should be able to cultivate roughly 4,000 kilograms (approximately 4 tonnes or about 8,800 pounds) of marijuana throughout the five-year contracted period, starting on March 23, 2023, through to March 22, 2028.

The NIDA has stated that it expects to obtain 500 kilograms of cannabis within the contract’s first year. The contractor will need to grow roughly 12.5 million joints worth of marijuana.

The NIDA expects the contractor to “grow cannabis, produce research and cGMP-grade bulk cannabis and cannabis cigarettes while maintaining a stock of cannabis preparations such as supplying bulk cannabis with a multitude of different potencies of various cannabinoids, and cannabis extracts for distribution.”

The federal agency received messages from current lawmakers and scientists stating that the current cannabis supply of “research-grade” cannabis is not up to current standards. A widely cited study found that the content that the government’s cannabis is more chemically similar to non-intoxicating hemp than cannabis which is available in legal, commercial markets across the US.

The NIDA’s RFP mentions that the contractors must “make a sound effort to grow and produce cannabis products that match the current formulations and cannabinoid profiles of confiscated samples and products that are available on the recreational and/or medical marijuana market.”

Cannabis experts, including NIDA Director Nora Volkow, pushed to diversify the supply of cannabis that is currently available to researchers by allowing them to obtain marijuana from other state-legal retailers. However, this still isn’t allowed.

President Joe Biden signed an infrastructure bill last November. The bill includes provisions allowing researchers to study cannabis available in dispensaries. However, this bill is only an incremental reform that requires officials to produce a report with recommendations on further actions after two years.

The new RFP suggests that the NIDA is doing what it can within its administration to better align with the cannabis products available to researchers and consumers.

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