The University of Mississippi, long known for its exclusive federal license to grow marijuana for research, is stepping into a bigger role. With funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Ole Miss will host the new Resource Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research (R3CR), a major federal effort to boost scientific studies on cannabis.
Partnering with Washington State University (WSU) and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), the center will focus on regulatory guidance, research support, and standard-setting. Ole Miss will manage regulatory strategy, WSU will assist researchers directly, and USP will handle the quality standards side.
R3CR’s mission is to make cannabis research more accessible and rigorous. It will offer an online platform, webinars, seed grants, and conferences, helping scientists better navigate complex regulations and build stronger, evidence-backed studies.
Donald Stanford, assistant director at Ole Miss’s Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, said the center would spotlight critical changes happening in cannabis research — from improved regulatory compliance to generating real safety data for products like edibles and supplements.
Mahmoud ElSohly, a longtime leader in cannabis research at Ole Miss, will head the regulatory guidance efforts. He emphasized that researchers often struggle with the patchwork of federal and state regulations and need clear, practical advice. Joining him is Robert Welch, director of the National Center for Cannabis Research and Education, who noted that confusion around human subject research rules has been a major roadblock.
The creation of R3CR comes at a time when federal agencies are acknowledging that scientists have been stymied for decades by restrictive cannabis laws. While the new center can’t change marijuana’s Schedule I status by itself, it aims to ease the burden by helping with regulatory costs and compliance, creating a smoother path for future research.
Meanwhile, the DEA is currently reviewing a recommendation to reclassify cannabis to Schedule III — a move that could fundamentally reshape the research landscape.